Bonsai wrote on 06/13/09 at 11:41:20:

I think the assessment of 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Ne5 Nc6 8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. Nxc6 Qe8 10. Nxe7+ Qxe7 being okay for black is still up to date. E.g. 11. Qa4 e5 12. dxe5 Qxe5 13. Qxc4 Be6 14. Qd3 Rad8 15. Qe3 Qh5 16. f3 Bc4.

There are some games, which go further:
17.Nc3 Rfe8 18.Qf2 Nd5 19.Re1

In my opinion White has real Chances getting an advantage, because if he is able to neutralize blacks initiative, he will be just a pawn up

there is also interesting move 14.Qc2, i remember a recent game of this week played by German Top player Georg Meier, it went 14...Bf5 15.Qd2 Rfe8 16.Re1 Rab8 17.Nc3 Rb4 and now white would have been able to neutralize blacks initiative with strong move 18.Rd1. In such a position Blacks only way to increase the initiative is playing for h5-h4, so after 18...h5 white can play 19.f3! h4 20.Qe1! and has nothing to worrie about, cause 20...hxg3 21.hxg3 Nh5 is answered by 22.Rd5! +-

so in general in this sharp variation we are far away from a final jugdement, but as i said, if White finds clear ways of neutralizing blacks initiative, he will just be a pawn up

Bonsai wrote on 06/13/09 at 10:41:20:


The other critical main line is 8. a4.

7. Ne5 hasn't been critical for awhile now.

As I was browsing the content of the 1. d4 d5 eBook, there was a variation of the Catalan that seemed conspicuous to me by its absence. I was under the impression that, once upon a time, the variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 0-0 6. 0-0 dxc4 7. Ne5!? had been relevant or even critical. About fifteen years ago I remember looking into this in Informator (along with 7. Na3!?), with the continuation 7...Nc6 8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. Nxc6 Qe8 10. Nxe7+ Qxe7, with ...e5 to follow soon with good play for black, rather than ...c5. I wonder if this has been cast into the theoretical dustbin, and if so, why?