Analysis of the black side of the main line Catalan

Motivation

Someone once commented that I convert this into a blog, and now that lichess gives this option to us, here we are. This blog post is mainly designed for those 2000+, but perhaps those lower rated can get something out of it too!

For a long time, my main issue in my black repertoire was the Catalan. As I was improving my overall chess, I basically just ignored the theory, and kept getting rotten positions in the Catalan by trying to apply my normal QGD ideas to these slightly different positions. Eventually, I sat down and decided to actually learn some theory, so I decided upon the following main line variation: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6!? While 7. Qc2 isn't forced, I started to explore all the different tries white had and found that the play was reasonably straight forward against everything except 7. Qc2. With a 2100 OTB sparring partner, I improved my play in the common follow-up: 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qc2 Bb7. Self-analysis after these games has really helped me explore all the different options available, and honestly I now like black's chances in that position.

8. a4!

This post is actually about the line 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4! During my exploration of the Catalan, I came across this variation, but whenever I got a game in it, I just never really enjoyed the positions I got as black. It always felt like I was either behind in queenside development, or getting run over in the center with e4+d4. Here's the game that finally forced me to reassess my understanding of these positions:

Ignore the game from 27. Rxg5+ and onwards, where FM Gauri decided to sacrifice "for the content" while streaming. You can see how the graph showed how my "equal position" according to the engine quickly becomes +1 after some natural moves that miss the salient points in the positions. Going over these positions with an IM and this game in particular I've now compiled the following (hopefully useful to you all as well) actionable advice:

1. This whole line really doesn't give black any huge chances to play for a win. The main line Catalan is really strong for white, but there may be better alternatives in some variations of the closed Catalan.
2. Within this line, however, Bxf3 followed by c6 is only good if we can also win white's dark squared bishop.
3. One of the best ways to accomplish said task is to gain a few tempi on the queen with Bd5 and/or Be4 as in Bareev-Anand, 2000.
4. Our dark squared bishop is just as important to our strategy as white's light squared bishop. Specifically because it supports the two pawn breaks e5 or c5. Don't trade it, unless you're equalizing in the center.

Getting Results

Since doing this deep dive into this opening, I've gotten a chance to prove my understanding in two blitz games: one against GM Jesse Kraai, and one a rematch with FM Gauri. Both games are annotated in this lichess study as chapters 58 and 59:

I'm quite proud how I fully equalized against GM competition (with only one silly move-order mistake), and indeed was the one fighting for the win throughout the entire game. Against Gauri, I had the chance to exactly follow the Bareev-Anand game to mostly equalize, but still had to find a few more moves myself to prove the position was fully equal, following along with the above advice.

I'm hoping any players out there who play the main line Catalan can benefit from my personal actionable advice!