A new move, gaining space on the queenside.
1. d2d4  1... g8f6  2. c2c4  2... e7e6  3. g1f3  3... d7d5  4. g2g3  4... f8b4  5. c1d2  5... b4e7  6. f1g2  6... c7c6  7. d1c2  7... b7b6  8. e1g1  8... b8d7 Black decides to postpone castling and this can lead to original play. 9. b1c3 This pawn sacrifice is not considered dangerous in the normal lines with 8. ..0-0. 9... c8a6  10. c4d5  10... c6d5  11. f1c1  11... e8g8 Let's take a look at what's happening on the board in this typical Catalan position. The pawn structure is symmetrical and it looks like White doesn't have much. The dominance of the c-file, by itself, is not capable of causing big headaches for Black. In fact, the most important element of the position is the difference between the knights: White's knight on c3 is far superior to Black's knight on d7. Imagine that Black had the bishop on b7 and the knight on c6: his position would have no serious problem. To be honest, this is a very small detail, but in this opening White has to exploit that kind of advantage. The next move is a fantastic concept and one that was used by Nepomniachtchi in his recent game against Mamedyarov. I'm sure it's an impossible move to think about before studying this type of position for dozens of hours. 12. h2h4 The idea is to plant a bishop on f4, sometimes even followed by e2-e3. The bishop is outside the pawn chain and the pawn on h4 helps to avoid the advance g7-g5 that can cause problems for the caged bishop.