E01 Catalan: Early deviations (1.Nf3 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c6 4.d4 d5 5.O-O e6 6.Nbd2 Bd6 7.c4 O-O 8.b3 Nbd7 9.Bb2 Ne4 10.Ne5)

The first move by my opponent, 1...f5 (17832 games, score 55%), was the 5th most common reply to 1.Nf3. More common moves were 1...Nf6 (239780 games, score 55.7%), 1...d5 (143901 games, score 55.6%), 1...c5 (59809 games, score 53.6%) and 1...g6 (28633 games, score 53.2%). Then I played 2.g3 (5810 games, score 58.1%), which was the most popular move played in the position. Kojjootti's next move 2...Nf6 (5146 games, score 58.3%) was also the most often tried move. The game continued with another most often played move 3.Bg2 (4784 games, score 58.8%). The next move was the rather rarely seen 3...c6 (26 games, score 67.3%), it was the 6th most played move in the position. The moves 3...g6 (2857 games, score 57.5%), 3...e6 (1079 games, score 63.3%), 3...d6 (847 games, score 57.2%), 3...d5 (57 games, score 61.4%) and 3...Nc6 (47 games, 60.6%) were more often played than 3...c6. My 4th move, d4 (2 games, score 100%), was the rarest move that has been played in the position. 4.O-O (25 games, score 68%), 4.c4 (4 games, score 62.5%) and 4.d3 (4 games, score 75%) are the other moves seen in the position.

The next move that appeared on the board was 4...d5 (9 games, score 75%), which is the 4th most common move in the position. More common are the moves 4...d6 (45 games, score 68.9%), 4...g6 (37 games, score 55.4%) and 4...e6 (20 games, score 72.5%). With the move 5.O-O (47 games, score 62.8%) the game followed the most often played line once again. The reply 5...e6 (45 games, score 64.4.%) continued to be most popular move in the position. I then played 6.Nbd2 (51 games, score 56.9%), which was the 3rd most often played move. More popular moves were 6.c4 (366 games, score 62.2%) and 6.b3 (188 games, score 64.4%). The next move, 6...Bd6 (48 games, score 58.3%), is the most played move in the position, according to my reference database. Same was true with my 7th move, c4 (34 games, score 48.5%). The next move 7...O-O (498 games, score 57.9%) also followed the most often played line. Players such as Yi Wei (2734), Michal Krasenkow (2661), Pavel V Tregubov (2642) and Vladimir Burmakin (2627), for instance, have played the move 7...O-O in their games. The following move, 8.b3 (227 games, score 52.4%), is the most often occurred move and strong players like Alexander G Beliavsky (2649), Evgeny Postny (2642), Yuri Vovk (2628) and Alexander Graf (2613) have played the move.

8...Nbd7 (79 games, score 57%) is the most popular move as a reply to 8.b3. My next move 9.Bb2 (156 games, score 52.6%) is the most natural move in the position and therefore it is no surprise that it was the most often played move. It has been played by strong players such as Ruslan Ponomariov (2756), Alexander G Beliavsky (2649), Yuri Vovk (2628) and Zdenko Kozul (2619). The reply 9...Ne4 (130 games, score 53.1%) was the most popular move in the position. The same goes for the move 10.Ne5 (117 games, score 54.3%). And for the reply 10...Nxe5 (47 games, score 51.1%). Not a huge surprise that taking back the knight with 11.dxe5 (47 games, score 51.1%) is the only move played in the position. The next move, 11...Be7 (4 games, score 75%), is the second most played move, only behind the more active 11...Bc5 (35 games, score 50%). Once again it says in the notation prematurely that the move 12.Qc2 is a novelty, when it is not a novelty as it had been played once before this game. That game found in the reference database was a short draw in which Black's 12th move was b6. Therefore the real novelty was the move 12...g5 played by my opponent.

[Event "Live Chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.07.18"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Kojjootti"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E01"] [WhiteElo "1762"] [BlackElo "1730"] [Annotator "Stockfish 9 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. Nf3 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c6 4. d4 d5 5. O-O e6 6. Nbd2 Bd6 7. c4 O-O 8. b3 Nbd7 9. Bb2 Ne4 10. Ne5 {E01 Catalan: Early deviations} Nxe5 11. dxe5 Be7 ( 11... Bc5 12. Nxe4 (12. e3 b6 13. Nf3 Be7 14. Qe2 c5 15. Rfd1 Bb7 16. h4 Qe8 17. Nh2 g5 18. hxg5 Bxg5 19. Nf1 Bh6 20. f3 Ng5 21. Nd2 Qh5 22. Kf2 Qg6 23. Rh1 Rad8 24. Rh4 Bg7 25. f4 Ne4+ 26. Nxe4 fxe4 {Otalora,C (2175)-Pachon,A (2006) Medellin 2017 1-0 (36)}) 12... dxe4 13. Qxd8 Rxd8 14. Rfd1 Rxd1+ 15. Rxd1 Be7 16. f3 exf3 17. exf3 a5 18. a4 Kf7 19. f4 Ra7 20. Kf2 c5 21. Ke3 b6 22. Bc6 Rc7 23. Bb5 Bb7 24. Rd6 Bxd6 25. exd6 Rc6 26. Be5 {Ricardi,P (2500)-Lorenzini,M (2466) La Plata 2012 1-0 (72)}) 12. Qc2 $146 (12. cxd5 Nxd2 (12... exd5 13. Qc2 Be6 14. e3 h5 15. f3 Nxd2 16. Qxd2 h4 17. b4 Qb6 18. a3 c5 19. bxc5 Bxc5 20. Bd4 Bxd4 21. Qxd4 Qxd4 22. exd4 hxg3 23. hxg3 Rac8 24. Rfc1 Rxc1+ 25. Rxc1 Rc8 26. Rxc8+ Bxc8 27. Kf2 {Mertens,M-Lange,C Kassel 1996 1/2-1/2 (36)}) 13. Qxd2 cxd5 14. Rac1 Bd7 15. Bd4 a5 16. Bc5 Bc6 17. e3 Qc7 18. Qd4 Bxc5 19. Rxc5 b6 20. Rc3 Qb7 21. Rfc1 Rac8 22. Bf1 Bd7 23. b4 Rxc3 24. Rxc3 axb4 25. Qxb4 Rc8 26. Rxc8+ Bxc8 {Telitsyn,A-Savchenko,A (2263) Odessa 2008 1-0 (46)}) (12. e3 a5 13. cxd5 exd5 14. a4 Be6 15. Nf3 Qc7 16. Qc2 Bb4 17. Rfd1 Qe7 18. Nd4 Bd7 19. Ne2 Rac8 20. Nf4 Nc5 21. Nd3 Nxd3 22. Qxd3 Be6 23. Bc3 Rfd8 24. Bxb4 Qxb4 { 1/2-1/2 (24) Kastner,O (2137)-Starek,S (1995) Litomysl 2011}) (12. Nxe4 fxe4 13. Qc2 $11) 12... g5 (12... Nxd2 13. Qxd2 dxc4 14. Bd4 $11) 13. Nxe4 $14 ({ Inferior is} 13. Bxe4 fxe4 14. Rad1 Bd7 $11) 13... fxe4 {Black has new doubled pawns: e4+e6} 14. Qd2 (14. f3 Bd7 $11) 14... g4 (14... Bd7 15. Bd4 $14) 15. f4 (15. Rad1 $5 $16) 15... gxf3 $11 16. exf3 exf3 (16... dxc4 17. Qf2 exf3 18. Bxf3 cxb3 19. axb3 $11) 17. Rxf3 $14 Rxf3 18. Bxf3 Bg5 (18... dxc4 19. Qxd8+ Bxd8 20. bxc4 $14) 19. Qd3 (19. Qd4 $142 Qb6 20. c5 $14) 19... Qf8 $2 (19... Qa5 $142 $14 {and Black can hope to survive}) 20. Rf1 $18 Qg7 $2 (20... Qh6 $142 21. Kg2 Bd7 $18) 21. cxd5 cxd5 22. Rf2 $4 {instead of simply winning the game} (22. Bxd5 $142 {and White has prevailed} Bd7 23. Bxb7 $18) 22... Bd7 ( 22... Qg6 23. Qd4 Bd7 24. Kg2 $14) 23. Rc2 (23. Bxd5 $5 Rd8 24. Be4 $16) 23... Bc6 (23... Be8 24. Rf2 Bg6 25. Qe2 $11) 24. b4 (24. Bd4 Rf8 $11) 24... a6 25. Qd4 (25. Bg4 Be3+ 26. Qxe3 Qxg4 $11) 25... Rf8 $15 {Black threatens to win material: Rf8xf3} 26. Bg2 $2 (26. Kg2 $142 $15 {would bring relief}) 26... Qh6 27. Re2 (27. Rc3 Qg6 28. Rf3 Rxf3 29. Bxf3 Qb1+ 30. Kf2 Bb5 $19) 27... Bb5 28. Re1 Bd2 29. Qg4+ Kh8 30. Rd1 $4 {a blunder in a bad position} (30. Ra1 Rf2 31. Kh1 $19) 30... Qe3+ $18 31. Kh1 Be2 32. Qxe6 Bxd1 33. h4 (33. Qb6 {doesn't change anything anymore} Qxb6 34. e6+ Kg8 35. e7 Kf7 36. exf8=Q+ Kxf8 37. h4 Qf2 38. Bg7+ Kxg7 39. h5 Bf3 40. Bxf3 Be3 41. h6+ Kxh6 42. a3 Qg1#) 33... Qxg3 34. Qxd5 (34. Bd4 {cannot change what is in store for White} Bf3 35. Bxf3 Qxf3+ 36. Kh2 Qe2+ 37. Kh3 Rf3+ 38. Kg4 Rd3+ 39. Kf5 Qf3#) 34... Rf1+ $1 {Deflection: f3} 35. Bxf1 (35. Bxf1 Bf3+ {Mate attack Deflection}) 35... Bf3+ 36. Bg2 (36. Qxf3 {does not solve anything} Qxf3+ 37. Kh2 Bf4+ 38. Kg1 Qg3+ 39. Bg2 Be3+ 40. Kh1 Qxh4+ 41. Bh3 Qxh3#) 36... Bxd5 (36... Qxg2#) 37. Bxd5 (37. e6+ {is no salvation} Kg8 38. Bxd5 Qh3+ 39. Kg1 Be3#) 37... Bc3 (37... Qh3+ 38. Kg1 Be3#) 38. Bxc3 $19 Qxc3 39. e6 Qxb4 (39... Qe1+ 40. Kg2 Qd2+ 41. Kg3 Qxd5 42. e7 Qe5+ 43. Kg4 Qxe7 44. Kf4 Qxh4+ 45. Ke5 Qxb4 46. Kd5 h5 47. a3 Qe7 48. a4 h4 49. a5 h3 50. Kc4 h2 51. Kb3 h1=Q 52. Kc3 Qc1+ 53. Kd4 Qee3+ 54. Kd5 Qc6#) 40. Kg2 ( 40. Bf3 {does not improve anything} Qxh4+ 41. Kg2 Qc4 42. Kg3 Qxe6 43. a4 Qe5+ 44. Kf2 Qd4+ 45. Ke1 Qxa4 46. Bd1 Qd4 47. Bc2 a5 48. Ke2 a4 49. Bxa4 Qxa4 50. Kf3 Qd4 51. Ke2 h5 52. Kf3 h4 53. Ke2 Qc3 54. Kd1 h3 55. Ke2 h2 56. Kd1 h1=Q+ 57. Ke2 Qhe1#) 0-1

Here are some of the latest and highest rated games from my reference database that reached the position after 10.Ne5.

[Event "Pardubice Czech op 22nd"] [Site "Pardubice"] [Date "2011.07.30"] [Round "9"] [White "Jedlicka, Ales"] [Black "Totsky, Leonid"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E01"] [WhiteElo "2282"] [BlackElo "2484"] [PlyCount "102"] [EventDate "2011.07.22"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "CZE"] [SourceTitle "CBM 143 Extra"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2011.08.29"] 1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 f5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 d5 5. O-O Bd6 6. c4 c6 7. Nbd2 Nbd7 8. b3 O-O 9. Bb2 Ne4 10. Ne5 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Bc5 12. Nxe4 fxe4 13. e3 b6 14. Rc1 Bd7 15. Rc2 Qe7 16. Bd4 Bb4 17. Qe2 Rad8 18. a4 Be8 19. Rfc1 c5 20. Bb2 Bg6 21. Rd1 Qg5 22. h4 Qe7 23. Rcc1 h6 24. cxd5 exd5 25. Bh3 Bf5 26. Bxf5 Rxf5 27. Qg4 Qe6 28. Rc4 h5 29. Qe2 Rdf8 30. Rc2 Rf3 31. Kg2 Kh8 32. Rf1 Qg4 33. Qd1 d4 34. e6 d3 35. e7 Re8 36. Rc4 Rxe7 37. Rxe4 Rxg3+ 38. fxg3 Qxe4+ 39. Kh2 Qd5 40. Rf8+ Kh7 41. Qf1 d2 42. Bxg7 Rxg7 43. Qb1+ Rg6 44. Qb2 Rg8 45. Qc2+ Kg7 46. Rf1 Re8 47. Qb2+ Qe5 48. Qc2 Qxe3 49. Qf5 Qe2+ 50. Kg1 Qxf1+ 51. Kxf1 d1=Q+ 0-1 [Event "Sao Bernardo do Campo 1st"] [Site "Sao Bernardo do Campo"] [Date "2012.07.04"] [Round "4"] [White "Maia, Luciano Malta"] [Black "Rodi, Luis Ernesto"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A90"] [WhiteElo "2279"] [BlackElo "2363"] [PlyCount "120"] [EventDate "2012.07.03"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "BRA"] [EventCategory "2"] [SourceTitle "CBM 149 Extra"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2012.08.24"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 c6 3. c4 e6 4. Nbd2 f5 5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 Bd6 7. b3 O-O 8. Bb2 Ne4 9. O-O Nd7 10. Ne5 Qe7 11. Ndf3 Ndf6 12. Qc2 Bd7 13. Nd3 Ng4 14. Nfe5 Nef6 15. Bc1 Ne8 16. Bd2 Ngf6 17. f3 Rc8 18. c5 Bb8 19. Rae1 Nc7 20. a4 Be8 21. e4 dxe4 22. fxe4 fxe4 23. Bxe4 Rd8 24. Qb2 Nxe4 25. Rxf8+ Qxf8 26. Rxe4 Nd5 27. Re1 Qe7 28. Qc1 h6 29. Qd1 Bf7 30. Qe2 Re8 31. Rf1 Rf8 32. Bxh6 gxh6 33. Qg4+ Qg5 34. Nxf7 Rxf7 35. Qxe6 Qe3+ 36. Qxe3 Nxe3 37. Re1 Nd5 38. Re8+ Rf8 39. Re6 Kg7 40. Kg2 a5 41. Nb2 h5 42. Nc4 Bc7 43. Re1 h4 44. Re4 hxg3 45. hxg3 Kf7 46. Rh4 Rg8 47. Rh7+ Ke6 48. Kf2 Bxg3+ 49. Ke2 Bc7 50. Kd3 Rg3+ 51. Kc2 Rc3+ 52. Kb2 Rf3 53. Kc2 Rf7 54. Rh8 Kd7 55. Ra8 Rf2+ 56. Kd3 Rf3+ 57. Ke4 Rxb3 58. Nxa5 Re3+ 59. Kf5 Bxa5 60. Rxa5 Re8 0-1 [Event "ARG-ch 86th"] [Site "La Plata"] [Date "2012.07.12"] [Round "11"] [White "Ricardi, Pablo"] [Black "Lorenzini, Martin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E01"] [WhiteElo "2500"] [BlackElo "2466"] [PlyCount "143"] [EventDate "2012.07.04"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "ARG"] [SourceTitle "CBM 149 Extra"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2012.08.24"] 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. b3 Nf6 4. g3 Nbd7 5. Bg2 c6 6. Bb2 Bd6 7. d4 Ne4 8. O-O O-O 9. Nbd2 f5 10. Ne5 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Bc5 12. Nxe4 dxe4 13. Qxd8 Rxd8 14. Rfd1 Rxd1+ 15. Rxd1 Be7 16. f3 exf3 17. exf3 a5 18. a4 Kf7 19. f4 Ra7 20. Kf2 c5 21. Ke3 b6 22. Bc6 Rc7 23. Bb5 Bb7 24. Rd6 Bxd6 25. exd6 Rc6 26. Be5 g6 27. Bxc6 Bxc6 28. d7 Ke7 29. Bc7 Kxd7 30. Bxb6 Kd6 31. Bxa5 e5 32. Bc3 e4 33. Be1 Bd7 34. Bf2 Kc6 35. Kd2 Be6 36. Be3 Bc8 37. a5 Ba6 38. Ke2 Bc8 39. Kf2 Ba6 40. Kg2 Bc8 41. Kg1 Ba6 42. Kf2 Bc8 43. Kg2 Kd6 44. Kh3 Kc6 45. Kh4 h6 46. h3 Kd6 47. g4 Kc6 48. g5 h5 49. Kg3 Kb7 50. Bxc5 Ka6 51. Bb6 e3 52. Kf3 h4 53. Kxe3 Bb7 54. Ke2 Bg2 55. b4 Bxh3 56. b5+ Kb7 57. Bg1 Bg2 58. Kd3 Bf1+ 59. Kd4 h3 60. a6+ Kc7 61. Kc5 Be2 62. Kb4 Bf1 63. c5 Be2 64. c6 Kb8 65. Kc5 Bf1 66. Kb6 Bg2 67. Bh2 Bf3 68. a7+ Ka8 69. Kc7 Bg2 70. Bg3 h2 71. Bxh2 Bf3 72. Kd8 1-0 [Event "Al Ain op 4th"] [Site "Al Ain"] [Date "2015.12.23"] [Round "1"] [White "Anurag, Mhamal"] [Black "Kovalenko, Igor"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A06"] [WhiteElo "2390"] [BlackElo "2680"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2015.12.23"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "UAE"] [SourceTitle "Mega2016 Update 14"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2016.01.08"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. b3 Nf6 3. Bb2 Nbd7 4. g3 e6 5. Bg2 Bd6 6. c4 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. d4 Ne4 9. Ne5 f5 10. Nd2 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Bc7 12. Nxe4 fxe4 13. f3 exf3 14. exf3 Qe7 15. Kh1 Bd7 16. f4 Rad8 17. Qc1 Ba5 18. Bc3 Bb4 19. Bxb4 Qxb4 20. f5 exf5 21. cxd5 cxd5 22. Bxd5+ Kh8 23. Qc7 Be6 24. Bxe6 Qe4+ 25. Kg1 Rd2 26. Rf2 Rxf2 27. Kxf2 Qd4+ 28. Kg2 Qxa1 29. Bf7 Qb2+ 30. Kh3 Qd4 31. e6 Qg4+ 32. Kg2 Qe2+ 33. Kh3 Qg4+ 34. Kg2 Qe2+ 35. Kh3 Qf1+ 36. Kh4 Qe2 0-1