(1) Razuvaev - Geller [E04] USSR, 1988 [Kopylov Michael] Let's start with the following nice miniature. Complete domination at the end and Black resigned after 15 moves. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 a6 6.0-0 c5?! [At this point, Black usually plays 6...b5 ; or 6...Nc6 ] 7.dxc5 Qxd1 [7...Bxc5 is hardly any better: 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Ne5 Ke7 10.Nd2+/= ] 8.Rxd1 Bxc5 9.Ne5! Nbd7 10.Nxc4 Ra7 [The pressure exerted by the Bg2 is so strong that Black is practically forced into this clumsy rook move. 10...0-0 makes little difference. 11.Nc3 Ra7 12.Na4+/- ] 11.Nc3 b5 12.Nd6+ Ke7?! [There was the somewhat better 12...Bxd6 13.Rxd6 Ke7 (13...Bb7? 14.Be3+- ) , but after 14.Rd1+/= Black still has major problems.] 13.Nce4 Nxe4 14.Nxe4 Rc7 15.Bd2!+- [15.Bd2 After 15...Bb7 (15...Bb6 16.Bb4+ ; 15...f5 16.Nxc5 Nxc5 17.Ba5 Rd7 18.Bb4+- ) 16.Ba5 Rcc8 17.Rxd7+ Kxd7 18.Nxc5+ Rxc5 19.Bxb7+- Black is completely lost, so his resignation was hardly premature.] 1-0

(2) Geller,Efim P - Milic,Borislav [E02] YUG-URS Belgrade, 1956 [Kopylov Michael] 1.c4 e6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.d4 Nbd7 7.Qc2 dxc4!? Black's last move is a serious inaccuracy. If Black wants to play the "extended fianchetto" (the setup with d5xc4 and then a7-a6, b7-b5, Bc8-b7, c7-c5 etc.), then he should do so without Nb8-d7 or a move earlier. After 6...Nbd7 the transposition to the closed system with 7...c6 looked much more logical. 8.Qxc4 c5 [Instead of 8...c5 the move 8...a6 would also be possible. 9.Qc2 c5 10.Nbd2!? (10.Rd1+/= ; 10.Nc3+/= ) 10...cxd4 11.Nxd4 Bc5 12.N2b3 Bb6 13.Bd2!+/= Eliskases - Golombek, Stockholm 1952] 9.Rd1! The best reply, which leaves Black no time for the "extended fianchetto". This means that Black has not achieved equality. 9...Qb6 [9...a6 10.Qc2 Ra7 11.Nc3 b5 12.a4 b4 13.Ne5!|^ Larsen - Prins, Moskow 1956] 10.Nc3 Qb4 11.Qd3 cxd4 12.Qxd4! [is much stronger than 12.Nxd4 Rd8! After the exchange of queens, there arises a typical Catalan ending in which Black is quite unable to neutralise the pressure from White down the h1-a8 diagonal.] 12...Qxd4 13.Nxd4 Nc5 14.Bf4!+/- Ne8 15.Rac1 g5 16.Be3 Na6 17.Ndb5 Nc5 18.b4 a6 19.Na7! Rxa7 20.bxc5 Ra8 21.Rb1 Rb8 22.Ne4 Nc7 23.Bxg5 Bxg5 24.Nxg5+- f5 25.Nf3 Nd5 26.Rb2 Bd7 27.Ne5 Ba4 28.Rd4 Bc6 29.Bxd5 exd5 30.Rb6 Rfe8 31.f4 a5 32.Kf2 Rbc8 33.Rd3 Re7 34.Nxc6 bxc6 35.Re3 1-0

(3) Alekhine,Alexander - Bogoljubow,Efim [E00] Warsaw m Warsaw (2), 1943 [Kopylov Michael] A masterpiece signed Alexander Alekhine demonstrates what can happen in a Catalan ending if Black castles queenside. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 dxc4 5.Qa4+ Qd7 6.Qxc4 Qc6 7.Nbd2 Qxc4 8.Nxc4 Bb4+ [Nor does 8...b6 achieve equality for Black. 9.Bg2 Bb7 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.Bd2! Be7 12.Rfc1 c5 13.Bf4 0-0 14.Bd6+/= ] 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Ncxd2?! [A better move is >=10.Nfxd2 see Botvinnik - Vidmar, Groningen 1946. The idea behind 10.Nfxd2 is that after 10...Bd7 11.Bg2 Bc6 White can play 12.e4!, after which Black is once more put under positional pressure.] 10...Nc6? [10...Bd7! 11.Bg2 (11.Ne5 Nc6 12.Nxd7 Nxd7= ) 11...Bc6= ] 11.Bg2 Bd7 12.0-0 0-0-0 13.Rac1 Rhe8 14.Nc4 Re7 15.a3 Be8 16.Rfd1 Nd5 17.b4+/- 17...Nb6 18.b5 Nb8 19.Nxb6+ axb6 20.a4 f6 21.Bh3 Bd7 22.Nd2 Rf8 23.Bg2 c6 24.Nc4 Kc7 25.e4 cxb5 26.axb5 Bxb5 27.d5! decides the game quickly. 27...exd5 28.Na3+ Bc6 29.exd5 Rd7 30.Nb5+ Kd8 31.dxc6 bxc6 32.Nd4 1-0

(4) Ivkov,Borislav (2460) - Makarichev,Sergey (2510) [E03] Sochi Chigorin mem Sochi, 1983 [Kopylov Michael] Another interesting point is that even the exchange of white-squared bishops does not always secure equality for Black. The latter frequently develops his queenside with the following moves: a7-a6, b7-b5, c7-c5. Doing this weakens a whole complex of squares. The best way for White to exploit this can be clearly seen in Ivkov-Makarychev. 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 dxc4 5.Qa4+ Nbd7 6.0-0 [6.Qxc4 c5 7.Qb3 Be7 8.Nc3 0-0 9.0-0 and now 9...a6 is too passive. (Nor is 9...Rb8 quite enough for equality. 10.d3 b5 11.Bf4 Rb6 12.a4 b4 13.Nd1 Nd5 14.Bd2 Bf6 15.Ne3 Ba6 16.Rab1 Nc3!? 17.bxc3 bxc3 18.Qc2 cxd2 19.Nxd2+/= ) 10.a4 Nb8 11.Ne5 Qc7 12.Nc4 Nc6 13.Qb6 Qd7 14.Bxc6 Qxc6 15.Qxc6 bxc6 16.d3 Nd5 17.Bd2+/= Chernin - van der Sterren, Holland 1986] 6...c5 7.Qxc4 b6 8.d4! [‹8.Nd4?! Ne5! 9.Nc6 Nxc4 10.Nxd8 Nd5 11.Nc3 Kxd8 12.Nxd5 Bb7 13.Nc3 Bxg2 14.Kxg2 Ne5 15.b3 Nc6= Tal - Polugaevsky, USSR 1977; 8.b4!? Bb7 9.b5 Be7 10.Bb2 0-0 11.a4~~ Georgiev - Arnason, Plovdiv 1986] 8...Bb7 9.Nc3 Rc8 [9...a6!?<=> Karpov - Lubojevic, Tilburg 1983 ] 10.Rd1 a6 11.dxc5 Bxc5 12.Qh4 b5?! [12...Be7!? was well worth considering.; 12...0-0 was not bad either, e.g. 13.Bg5 Be7 14.Ne5 Bxg2 15.Kxg2 h6 16.Ne4!~~ with a very complicated position.] 13.Ne5 Bxg2 14.Nxd7 Nxd7 15.Qxd8+ Kxd8 16.Kxg2 Ke7 The position looks almost level, but after his next move White seizes the initiative. 17.Ne4! Rc6 18.Bd2 Rhc8 19.a4 bxa4 20.Rxa4 f5 21.Nxc5 Nxc5 22.Bb4 Kf6 23.Ra3! [23.Bxc5? Rxc5 24.Rxa6 Rc2= ] 23...R8c7 24.Bc3+ Kg6 25.Be5 Rd7 [25...Rc8 26.f3! intending b2-b4, Rd1-d7 +-] 26.Rc1 Rd5 27.Bf4 Rb6 28.Be3 Rb5 29.b4 Ne4? [29...Nd7! 30.Rxa6 Rxb4 31.Rxe6+ Nf6+/= ] 30.Rxa6 Rxb4 31.Rc7! This is the move that makes the decisive difference! Ra6-a7 is now a threat. 31...Nf6 32.Rxe6 Re4 33.Ra6 h6? [>=33...Rd8 34.Raa7 Rg8+/- ] 34.h4! Rd8 35.h5+ Kxh5 36.Rxg7 Rxe3 37.Rxf6 Re5 38.Kh3 Rd4 39.f4 1-0

(5) Sakharov - Borisenko [E04] St.Petersburg, 1971 [Kopylov Michael] The following examples will help you understand the sort of difficulties which Black can expect in a "Catalan" ending. The following two games are very instructive and demonstrate a lot of typical ideas for such positions. 1.c4 e6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 c5 5.0-0 Nc6 6.d4 dxc4 7.Qa4 [The other playable move is 7.Ne5 , which is much more popular nowadays.] 7...Bd7 8.Qxc4 cxd4?! [Probably 8...b5! is stronger, e.g. 9.Qd3 Rc8 10.dxc5 Bxc5 11.Nc3 b4 12.Nb5 0-0 13.Be3 Bxe3 14.Qxe3 Ne7 15.Rfd1 Ned5 16.Qd3 Qb6<=> with counterplay. Yusupov - Sokolov, Riga 1986.] 9.Nxd4 Rc8 10.Nc3 Qa5 [Other possible moves such as 10...Nxd4 , 10...Qb6 or 10...Be7 don't guarantee Black an easy life either.] 11.Bd2 Qc5 12.Qxc5 Bxc5 13.Nb3+/= And once again a typical "Catalan" ending has arisen, in which the Bg2 plays a major role. 13...Bd6 14.Rfd1 Ke7 15.Nb5 Bb8 16.Nc5 a6 17.Na3 Rc7 18.Nc4 Ba7 19.b4! Nd5 [19...Nxb4? 20.Nxd7 Rxc4 21.Ne5+- ] 20.a3 f6 21.Bxd5! exd5 22.Bf4 Rcc8 23.Nd6 Bxc5 24.Nxc8+ Bxc8 25.bxc5+- Ke6 26.Rab1 g5 27.Bd6 b5 28.Rb3 Na5 29.Re3+ Kf7 30.Re7+ Kg6 31.Rxd5 Bb7 32.Rd1 1-0

(6) Timoschenko - Kholmov [E04] USSR, 1982 [Kopylov Michael] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.Bg2 c5 6.0-0 Nbd7 7.Na3! cxd4 8.Nxc4 Be7 9.Nxd4 0-0 10.Nb5 Nc5 11.Nbd6 Ne8 12.Nxc8 Rxc8 13.Qxd8 Rxd8 14.Be3+/- The bishop pair and superior development secure a stable advantage fo White. 14...b6 15.Ne5 Bf6 16.Nc6 Rd7 17.Rad1! Bxb2 18.Rxd7 Nxd7 19.Nxa7 Nef6 20.Rb1 Ba3 21.Rb3 Bd6 22.Bc6 [22.Bxb6? would be impatient and a mistake. After 22...Nxb6 23.Rxb6 Bc5 24.Rb7 Ng4 25.e3 Rd8 26.Bf3 Ne5 27.Be2 Rd2 28.Rb8+ Bf8= Black achieves a draw.] 22...Bb8?! [22...Bc7 23.Nb5 Bd8 24.Nc3+/- ] 23.Bxd7! Nxd7 24.Nc6 Bc7 25.Ra3 Nf6 26.Ra7 Nd5 27.Bd4 Bd8? The decisive mistake. [The only chance was 27...f5 although after 28.Ne7+ Nxe7 29.Rxc7 Re8 30.Rb7+/- White is clearly better.] 28.e4 Nf6 29.Ra8 1-0