In
chess
Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...
, 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. The opening 1.d4 is a statistically more successful opening for Whi ...
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 Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Championship, World Rapid Chess Champio ...
. It has also been used by top players such as
Gata Kamsky
Gata Kamsky (; ; 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 Championship 1996 at the age of 22, and reached a ranking of fourth in the world ...
,
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
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 (; ; born 29 November 1958) is an Israeli chess grandmaster, trainer and author. He is also a two-time former champion of the Soviet Union.
Biography
He gained the International Master and International Grandmaster title ...
.
The opening is named after Soviet
IM Boris Katalymov
Boris Katalymov ( or ''Katalimov''; 13 June 1932 – 1 February 2013) was a Soviet (Ukrainian) and later Kazakhstani chess player. He spent in youth in Lviv playing in the same junior tournaments and for the same junior team as legendary Leonid ...
(1932–2013).
See also
*
List of chess openings
This is a list of chess openings, organised by the ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'' (''ECO'') code classification system. The chess openings are categorised into five broad areas ("A" through "E"), with each of those broken up into one hundred ...
*
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 name ...
References
Bibliography
*
{{Chess
Chess openings