Play the Pseudo-Catalan by GM Mihail Marin

GM Mihail Marin is back with one of the most fascinating projects that he has even made for Modern Chess – Play the Pseudo-Catalan.

This tremendous course contains material that would be enough for several databases. The starting position of the course arises after the moves 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3

In this course, Marin builds full repertoire for White after both 2…d5 and 2…e6. In both cases, we go for 3.g3. Here is how GM Marin comments on his opening choice, “Black has several options, but he cannot alter the positional character White aims to establish. In the opening and early middlegame, play will follow a more static and positional path.

Decades ago, Petrosian famously lamented that he could never find a clear advantage for White when preparing his repertoire, while with Black, he struggled to equalize. By 2024, however, the notion of White’s inherent opening advantage seems outdated. Today, White’s primary objective is to reach a position type that aligns with his style, offering a balanced fight and practical chances to outplay the opponent in the middlegame. This is precisely what we aim for with the repertoire presented in this database. We avoid many forcing lines of the traditional Catalan Opening, allowing Black to adopt a Slav setup instead. Analysis and practice show that this does not compromise White’s prospects of maintaining a small but stable advantage.”

Before delving into the theory, Marin offers a fascinating historical overview, presenting several instructive classical games. In addition to covering key Catalan lines and Slav setups, he also explores several critical lines featuring the Grunfeld Defense with reversed colors. Armed with deep positional understanding and powerful engines, the Romanian theoretician shows how White can create practical problems even in the most critical directions.