4. cxd5 seems pretty clear to me in this situation. If black recaptures with Qxd5 5. Nc3 gains tempo, and if exd5 black is all but certain to be saddled with an isolani (isolated queen's pawn) at some point in the game. Either way, white is stronger in the center.
what to do against 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 a6 for catalan players?
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Dsmith42 wrote:
4. cxd5 seems pretty clear to me in this situation. If black recaptures with Qxd5 5. Nc3 gains tempo, and if exd5 black is all but certain to be saddled with an isolani (isolated queen's pawn) at some point in the game. Either way, white is stronger in the center.
That's some dangerous thinking. Nobody plays a6 by accident here. The Janowski can get extremely sharp and if you see it, do not assume you are just better or you could lose pretty quickly.
OP, there are a few lines you can choose from to play against this depending on your style. G3 is a move that could transpose back to a Catalan though.
If you're a Catalan player, then your next three moves should be:
g3, Bg2, 0-0
Funnily enough Carlsen has played several games with after 4cxd5 exd5 5Nc3 with 5...h6.
Also 5...Nf6 6Bg5 Be6 6e3 Nb-d7 intending c6 or c5 later is quite alright for black too
KnightChecked wrote:
If you're a Catalan player, then your next three moves should be:
g3, Bg2, 0-0
This.
Considering you're a Catalan player, just play a regular Catalan setup and wait for your opponent to take on c4. You can basically treat it as a gambit from that point forward. In the case Black doesn't take then it's similarly cramped to how the Catalan usually is cramped for Black.
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