hicetnunc wrote on 06/14/08 at 10:21:36:


You're right that after 3. g3 c5, Nf3 transposes to the English. However, Black  has restricted White's options. It is much like playing the Benoni against 3. g3 - White is not forced to play the fianchetto variation. It seems to me that both of these choices are inferior to the main lines of the English and Benoni.

On the other hand, after 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 c5, White has all the options open and can transpose into the stronger main lines of the Symmetrical English (usually to a hedgehog structure). No concessions have been made. And in this case, it would mean that I might as well play c5 against c4. However, this is not my preferred choice. I'm trying to stay in my repertoire and not give White a chance to move order me into something inferior or something that I don't usually play.

This is my problem.

But if you play Ben-Oni vs. the catalan (I guess 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 c5), you must probably be ready to face the English, as white can go 4.Nf3 instead of 4.d5, no ?

So 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 c5 looks sensible to me, as it would probably transpose.

As for 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3, if you don't want to play 3...d5, I'm afraid you have to choose between 3...c5 and 3...Bb4 for better or worse...