Building a coherent fianchetto repertoire (Catalan/English/Réti) toward IM — where to start?

Hi,

I'm around 1700 on chess.com and working toward building a serious white repertoire. My dream is to one day hit IM or some titled level — I know it's a long road, but that's the goal.

I've realized I naturally gravitate toward these openings and their transpositions:
• Catalan System (1.d4 + g3 + Bg2)
• English Opening (1.c4 + g3 + Bg2)
• Réti (1.Nf3 transposing into the above)

All three share the kingside fianchetto (Bg2) and similar pawn structures (Maroczy bind, Catalan structure), so it feels like one coherent system with different move orders.

The problem: I've been playing all of this mostly on feel and intuition — I don't know any of these openings deeply. And I've come to realize that relying purely on intuition and calculation long-term isn't going to cut it at higher levels.

A few questions:

1. Is this fianchetto system (Catalan/English/Réti) a realistic backbone for a repertoire all the way to IM level?

2. What's the best way to study it — pick one (probably Catalan) and go deep first, or study all three in parallel since they transpose anyway?

3. Should I actually start by studying the shared pawn structures first (Catalan structure, Maroczy bind) before diving into specific opening theory? It feels like understanding the structures would give me a stronger foundation than memorizing moves — but I'm not sure if that's the right order.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Catalan - only playable if Black responds with d5 and e6.
English - you can play a g3 setup against all replies but some are afraid of 1...e5.
Reti - suitable for those afraid of 1... e5.

The Reti move order 1 Nf3 is the most flexible. You can follow up with g3 and Bg2 against almost anything and don't have to later play d4 and transpose to a Catalan unless you want to.

To start, play over Reti's games as many are model examples for the resulting middlegame. Then a dose of Kramnik playing 1 Nf3.

I also recommend A Strategic Opening Repertoire by John Donaldson and Carsten Hansen. Some of the variations may be out of fashion but they provide a coherent collection of lines and games built around 1 Nf3 including the Catalan.

@MichalPatkolo

My white repertoire contains the Catalan against 1...Nf6, and the setup goes like this:

• Develop the fianchetto structure (g3, Bg2, Nf3, 0-0) after 1. d4 and 2. c4.
• Develop the queenside via Nc3 and Bg5.
• Begin to apply queenside pressure with Qb3/a5, the bishop on g2, and possible knight maneuvers. A minority attack can also be present.
• Be prepared to counter an anti-fianchetto plan such as ...c6 and ...d5, ...Qd7 and ...Bh3, or the KID.

I haven't studied the English or the Reti, but they do transpose to similar structures anyway. But I'd recommend not learning the English because 1. c4 e5 is a completely different opening since you can't really play d4 with the same structure.

Also, if you want similar ideas for a Black repertoire, you can play the King's Indian, but instead of attacking, take the good piece coordination instead.

@MichalPatkolo said ^

1. Is this fianchetto system (Catalan/English/Réti) a realistic backbone for a repertoire all the way to IM level?

2. What's the best way to study it — pick one (probably Catalan) and go deep first, or study all three in parallel since they transpose anyway?

3. Should I actually start by studying the shared pawn structures first (Catalan structure, Maroczy bind) before diving into specific opening theory? It feels like understanding the structures would give me a stronger foundation than memorizing moves — but I'm not sure if that's the right order.

Regarding the first question it's a yes

Regarding the second question it's best to pick one and only study lines you transpose into by choice. Otherwise you're duplicating work. Unless you're already 2200+ in FIDE ratings and want to vary openings to bypass opening prep it's better to know one line very well than 3 lines without as much depth. At least way I study openings is find a source of truth (e.g. book, videos etc) with a full repertoire. Then read it, try it out and lines you struggle on you reread those bits till you master it.

Regarding the third question the better you know middlegames that better you can understand opening prep. For example some lines the the slav involve pawn sacrifices and you need to understand compensation.

Getting to FM or IM strength requires strong middlegame and endgames skills. Flank openings are definitely viable but most of the gains will be honing middlegame whether it's tactics, pawn structures, attacking/defending, initiative, weaknesses etc and this knowledge will serve you regardless of opening you use in future

One world champion wrote several books about another world champion.
There are 4 volumes about 1.Nf3 ... 2.c4
There are 3 volumes about 1.Nf3 ... 2d4
There is no Nf3 g2 :-(

"Is this fianchetto system (Catalan/English/Réti) a realistic backbone for a repertoire all the way to IM level?"

• Yes. But it makes more sense to start with black: Sicilian Dragon / Sicilian Accelerated Dragon / Sicilian Hyperaccelerated Dragon, Pirc Defense, Grünfeld, King's Indian Defense.

"What's the best way to study it"

• Play it and analyze your lost games.

Those are my top 3 with white also. Let me also recommend the addition Reti Larsen ( Nf3,b3 ) and if you can get it a reverse grunfeld. I mean if you also learn the Grunfeld lol

then spice it up with the Polish b4. English play 2.g3.

Learn the Sicilian Taimanov then also play the reverse in English. I think Hamman Chess Brah did speedruns for it.

Let me tell you a secret: those (searchings for) similarities in the opening are way overrated. You have to learn millions of subtleties, those similarities („Bg2“) are small potatoes.

Example: g3 English and Dragon are 99% completely different, the Dutch doesn‘t resemble a Bird etc.

Maybe it’s possible, but practically I’d say it’s impossible to reach IM level by specializing in one narrow family of positions.

An IM is filled to the brim with detailed chess knowledge: fianchetto positions, non-fianchetto positions and everything in between, including plenty of obscure sidelines. They are well oiled chess machines.

To reach that level you need to master all areas of the game. The higher you climb, the smaller the differences become, and a slightly better understanding of one particular topic or imbalance can be enough to give you an edge.

You can’t specialize your way into the IM ranks. You need to be universally strong. There are no shortcuts to get there just lots of work a ton of hours and enjoying the journey. Sorry to rain on your parade :)