I can’t decide whether to play the Neo-Catalan or the Catalan. In specific, I can’t choose on which chessable course to purchase:
GM Sam Shankland’s (2711 FIDE) Neo-Catalan
GM Alonso Rosell’s (2564 FIDE) Catalan
What is the difference between the two openings you may ask, Well The Neo-Catalan doesn’t involve pushing d4. This makes most of the Anti-Catalans unavailable whilst the opening still being as powerful as the normal Catalan and I am assuming it will catch a lot of players off guard too because it is not that popular. However, the Neo-Catalan course I want to buy says “part 1” which implies it will have more parts and more money down the drain.. It also does not cover other openings like the dutch, benoni, grunfled, KID, ect when the catalan course does (although this would probably be included in other parts or in his other courses, but once again that is more money on an opening where I could spend it on a coach or a middlegame course.)
What do you guys think i should do?
![What are The Rules of Chess [Beginner’s Guide]](https://thechessforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/What-are-the-rules-of-chess-2.png)
![How to Get Better at Chess [14 Proven Methods]](https://thechessforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/how-to-get-better-at-chess.png)
![What is the Sicilian Defense in Chess [23 Variations]](https://thechessforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/What-is-the-Sicilian-Defense-in-Chess.png)
![Evans Gambit Accepted [Attack and Win]](https://thechessforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/The-evans-Gambit.png)
![Benko Gambit Accepted [Win with Black]](https://thechessforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Benko-gambit-accepted-2.png)
I thin you should ask to an expert about choosing catalan is good for you or not, the. you should decide which course to buy.
Personaly I will choose Sam Shankland, because i wacthed his lectures on other openings, and i like his explaination, and his style of teaching.