alumbrado wrote on 03/23/06 at 14:22:12:
With White comitted to 3.g3, Black does better to avoid ...Nc6 and apply immediate pressure to c4 with an early ...Qc7. Khalifman devotes some time to showing that black can get away with this, and hence recommends d2-d4 only in positions where Black cannot play like this.
Thus after 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5, he recommends 3.Nc3, whereas after 1...c5 2.c4 Nc6, he gives 3.d4
Yes indeed, and I read that argument of Khalifman's with some interest. However, I think that White does have interesting play in those ...Qc7 lines. For one thing, just gambiting the c4 pawn is dangerous. For another, just lumbering ahead with Nbd2 is not all that bad, I opine.
Since, however, you've said here that you're a Catalan player, what do you do about 1...Nf6, 2...e6? Allow the Queen's Indian? The tricky part about having the Catalan in your repertoire is that you can't play 3. Nc3 against the Nimzo.
Part of the appeal of playing 3. g3 c5 4. Nc3 is that you can also play the "anti-Benoni" 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nf3 and pretty well expect transpositions into your pet variations.