This is a free sample of the full course Lifetime Repertoires - Neo-Catalan - Part 1
10 Ways to Get Champion-Style Catalan Setups
The Catalan is in the upper tier of openings - timeless yet still suitable for modern players. It's been adopted by almost every Super-GM over the last 50 years and is still played regularly by world champions.
One needs to look no further than the 2022 Candidates Tournament where it was a mainstay.
You might be thinking, "oh, but I don't play 1.d4, the Catalan is not for me".
That's where the Neo-Catalan comes in.
Short and Sweet: Shankland's Neo-Catalan gives you 10 unique starter lines to get you playing Catalan-style setups without having to commit to the traditional Catalan and the d2-d4 pawn push.
What does that mean? All the power of the Catalan with none of the drawbacks, with subtle move orders that will make Black's typical anti-Catalan responses all but useless.
That makes the Neo-Catalan
suitable even for the most devoted 1.e4 players. And it's a low-risk high-reward repertoire, meaning you'll get quick development, a powerful fianchettoed light-squared bishop, and will seldom have to worry about aggressive kingside attacks and gambits.
What's not to love?
You'll start off by playing 1.c4, and against nearly every single second move by Black, you'll play 2.g3, giving you a monster light-square bishop (and leaving Black with a light-square bishop desperate to try to get into action).
Concretely, the lines covered in this starter repertoire are:
♟
g6/Bg7 setups - and how to neutralize Black's attempts at a Fianchetto Grunfeld and King's Indian Defense setups
♟
e6/d5 setups - what to do if Black tries to steer the opening into Benoni or Queen's Gambit Declined territory
♟
c6/d5 setups - when Black goes for a Slav-type configuration and tries to get his light-square bishop out or capture and keep the pawn on c4
In the
full course, author and US Champion Sam Shankland, has developed a full repertoire full of fresh theory, making it the first course of its kind on the Neo-Catalan.
It's true to his devotion to finding innovative yet solid openings.
If you're ready to take the Neo-Catalan for a test drive and leave Black stunned, you'll want to get
Short and Sweet: Shankland's Neo-Catalan.
Be at the forefront of Neo-Catalan theory and get Lifetime Repertoires - Neo-Catalan - Part 1
