Catalan

The Catalan opening looks as if it should be relatively harmless, combining as it does the Queen’s Gambit with the modest fianchetto development of White’s king’s bishop. But various endgame virtuosi, notably Petrosian, Korchnoi and Kramnik, have demonstrated that the Catalan can be dangerous. In particular, the nagging pressure exerted at first by White’s light-squared bishop may persist long into the middlegame and endgame. The following notes are based on those by Neil McDonald in The Catalan: Move by Move (Everyman Chess)
 
Grischuk-Potkin: Villarrobledo 2009;
Catalan Opening
 
1 Nf3 d5 2 c4 e6 3 d4 Nf6 4 g3 dxc4 5 Bg2 a6 6 0-0 Nc6 7 Bg5 Other moves for White leading to a sharp game are 7 Nc3 and 7 e3. 7 … Be7 8 e3 Bd7 9 Nc3 0-0 10 Rc1 Rb8 At first glance it looks like Black is doing well as he is ready to support his extra pawn with … b7-b5.