Glad you think the basic idea (transposition to A43) is sound, TN! I’d tentatively suggest the ‘objections’ can be met, but it would be interesting to explore this further. Here are some provisional thoughts (and questions!):
On 4 Nf3, I agree 4 ...cd is best. But I’d like to ask whether Black can still avoid normal lines if he wants with 5 Nd4 Qb6!? 6 Nb3 d6. According to NCO (p. 63, n. 50) this is OK, but there’s an interesting post on this by Marc Narciso Dublan in this thread: http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1084376999/2#2
Returning to 4 d5 d6!? (it’s a moot point whether this or 4 ...e6 is most accurate?) 5 Nc3* e6, now there is:
I 6 de!?. Now all three responses have been seen! I imagine Black’s OK but I admit I’ve never looked at this.
II 6 Nf3 Ne7** and now:
(a) 7 de!? Be6! 8 Bf4 Qa5!, see ChessPub notes to Bu Xiangzhi--Zhou Jianchou.
(b) 7 Be2 0-0 8 0-0 a6 (8 ...e5!?) 9 a4 e5!? (NCO, p. 69/n. 33, gives 9 …ed 10 cd without an assessment and as transposing to a position it seems not to mention, but ECO gives a slight white edge) 9 a4 e5! 10 Ne1 f5. Kylemeister, in another thread, says that ECO calls this equal citing Matamoros-Jo. Armas, Palma Soriano 1987. Can anyone post the score of this game?
(c) 7 Bd3 0-0 (assuming that 8 h4 is no problem because of 8 …ed and 9 …Bg4, but am I right?) 8 0-0 ed!? (8 …a6 and 8 …e5!? are possible but this is simplest?) 9 cd (9 ed is III below) a6 10 a4 Bg4 (Yrjola-Efimov).
III 6 Bd3 ed! (6 ...Ne7?! 7 h4! ed 8 cd! is better for White as you point out while 6 ...Nf6?! 7 Nf3 leads to KID lines [NCO p. 523] where White can obtain a bind if Black takes on d5 and White replies with exd5!, or a small edge if he doesn’t) 7 ed!? (after 7 cd Black doesn’t have to play 7 …Ne7?! 8 h4 but can transpose to a Benoni with 7 …Nf6!) Ne7!? 8 Nf3 (8 Nge2!?) 0-0 9 0-0 Nd7!? (9 ...Bg4!? and 9 ...h6!? have also been seen) intending ...Ne5 with a reasonable position.
IV 6 f4, 6 ...Nf6 7 Nf3 0-0 (or 7...ed first) is a Four Pawns Attack, but Black can also try 6 ...Ne7!?, or 6 ...ed!? 7 cd and now 7 ...Ne7 (7 ...Nf6?! 8 Bb5! being a Taimanov Benoni).
* 5 Nf3, 5 Bd3 or 5 f4 will transpose if Black responds with 5 ...e6, but there might be a few independent possibilities: (1) 5 Bd3 e5!?; (2) 5 f4 e5!?; and (3) 5 f4 Nf6 6 Nc3 0-0 7 Nf3 e5!? (7 ...e6 8 Be2 ed 9 cd is a Benoni).
** Is 6 …ed!? also OK here? After 7 cd a6 8 a4, 8 …Bg4! (Gupta-Koneru) seems fine, while 7 ed Ne7 (Topalev has tried 7 …Bg4) 8 Bd3 0-0 transposes to III. This leaves 8 Be2 and 8 h3 (Vigorito-Anka) as independent. (Does the fact that NCO gives cxd5 in IIb above imply the first of these is fine?)
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