There are pluses and minuses to inducing Bd2 from white, but this maneuver isn’t as crazy at it first looks! Open Catalan I cover a sample line in the video above. Often, the knight will want to come to this square, and for the time being this bishop also prevents the queen from watching over the d4 pawn. Instead of coming to e7 in one move, black took two moves to get there, and let white develop a piece along the way! This is true, but black could argue that the bishop is misplaced on d2. The surprising 5…Be7 can be played!Īt first glance, this maneuver seems absurd. Nxd2 and the c4 pawn is already defended)īut that’s not what black has in mind. After all, why would black go on a two-move operation to exchange off their “good” bishop and develop one of white’s pieces for them? (5…Bxd2+ 6.
Bd2, it wouldn’t make much sense for black to exchange on d2. Instead of the usual 4…Be7, black can play 4…Bb4+.Īfter 5. Black has another option in the Closed Catalan that I wanted to make you aware of.
