In
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...
, the Katalymov Variation (also spelled Katalimov) is a less popular line of the
Sicilian Defence
The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the following moves:
:1. e4 c5
The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4. Opening 1.d4 is a statistically more successful opening for White be ...
that begins with the moves:
:1.
e4 c5
:2.
Nf3 b6
Discussion
The Katalymov is considered inferior since it commits Black to a plan with ...b6 rather than more aggressive Sicilian defences incorporating ...b7–b5. Black must protect the b5-square, as an invasion by a white knight or bishop would be very annoying. For example, White retains a slight plus after 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Bb7 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bd3 g6 7.f4 Bg7 8.Nf3 d6 9.0-0 Nf6 10.Qe1 0-0 11.Qh4 Nbd7 12.Bd2.
The opening is a favorite of French
GM Christian Bauer
Christian Bauer (born 11 January 1977) is a French chess grandmaster and author. He is a three-time French Chess Champion (1996, 2012, 2015).
In 2005 he won the 2nd Calvia Chess Festival. In 2009, came first at Vicente Bonil ahead of 21 GMs an ...
, with which he managed to draw a game in 2005 against currently top-ranked GM
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has ...
. It has also been used by top players such as
Gata Kamsky
Gata Kamsky ( tt-Cyrl, Гата Камский, italics=no; russian: Гата Камский; born June 2, 1974) is a Soviet-born American chess grandmaster, and a five-time U.S. champion.
Kamsky reached the final of the FIDE World Chess Ch ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
n GM
Pavel Ponkratov
Pavel Ponkratov (born 15 July 1988) is a Russian chess player. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 2010.
Together with 43 other Russian chess players, Ponkratov signed an open letter to Russian president Vladimir Putin, protesting ...
and Soviet GM
Lev Psakhis
Lev Borisovich Psakhis ( he, לב בוריסוביץ' פסחיס; ; born 29 November 1958 in Tver (then Kalinin), Russia) is a naturalised Israeli chess grandmaster, trainer and author. Born in Siberia, he is also a two-time former champion of th ...
.
The opening is named after Soviet
IM Boris Katalymov
Boris Katalymov (russian: Борис Николаевич Каталымов, translit=Boris Nikolaevich Katalymov or ''Katalimov''; 13 June 1932 – 1 February 2013) was a Soviet (Ukrainian) and later Kazakhstani chess player. He spent in youth ...
(1932–2013).
See also
*
List of chess openings
This is a list of chess openings, organized by the '' Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'' () code. In 1966, Chess Informant categorized the chess openings into five broad areas ("A" through "E"), with each of those broken down into one hundred subc ...
*
List of chess openings named after people
''The Oxford Companion to Chess'' lists 1,327 named openings and variants. Chess players' names are the most common sources of opening names. The name given to an opening is not always that of the first player to adopt it; often an opening is nam ...
References
Bibliography
*
{{Chess
Chess openings