IM Cummings is completely right with "one of the most highly transpositional approaches", page 229, the chapter on the Anti QGD.

Page 231: 1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.e3 Nf6 4.Nf3 a6 (c5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.d4 c4!? is a line from the Caro-Kann, Panov Varistion with colours reversed) 5.b3 c5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.d4 Nc6 8.Bb2 Bg4 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Be2 O-O 11.O-O Re8 12.Rc1 Ba7 Aleksandrov-Levin, St. Petersburg 2011, actually began with

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 c5 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.Nf3 d5 7.O-O O-O 8.cxd5 (8.a3 is common) exd5 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.b3 Bg4 11.Bb2 a6 12.Rc1 Ba7 13.Be2.

Page 259: 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.d4 d5 6.cxd5 exd5 (Nxd5 7.Bc4 cxd4 8.exd4 Bb4 and White has not managed to avoid this move - compare page 242 - but White has 9.Qd3) 7.Bb5 Bd6 (Ntirlis and GM Aagaard recommend 7...cxd4 in their book on the Tarrasch, page 258)  8.O-O O-O 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.b3 Bg4 11.Bb2 a6 "and 12.Bxc6! is White's best option here, since after 12.Be2 Qd6 13.Rc1 Rad1 Black keeps his dark-squared bishop on the a1-g7 diagonal" (IM Cummings, page 261).
The issue here is that the position after the inferior 12.Be2 is exactly the same as after 11.O-O in the sequence that would lead to the Aleksandrov-Levin game above, meanaing that 11...Qd6 12.Rac1 Rad8 mproves on 11...Re8 in that line.

Nevermind.

I'm going with 7.d5

So no need to reply to this and my previous post.

The "modern" English with e3 as in Cummings' repertoire (and Georgiev/Semkov) doesn't have much in common with the g3 based setups that are in Kosten's book, IMHO.

For the latter, Marin's double Chessbase DVD may be useful. Sielecki should release a refreshed version of his c4 repertoire on Chessable soon.

Dubbelschaak wrote on 01/02/20 at 15:42:23:

https://www.deslegte.nl/the-dynamic-english-2000541/

To conclude from me I would like to quote from a fantastic book on the English.....a little old (published 1999) and written by GM Tony Kosten.

It's the introduction to Chapter 7 -Other second moves for Black.

1 c4 e5 2 g3

"Here we deal with black second moves other than 2...Nf6 and 2....Nc6, which are quiet rare. In most cases, rather than trying to refute these moves (and possibly walking into the opponent's pet system), it is simpler, and more practical, to continue with Bg2 and Nc3 before deciding on the subsequent piece set-up."

Sound advice in 1999 and still sound advice today and one of the great advantages of the English.....if you know the strategic themes of the English you can, unlike many of the 1 e4 openings work your way through the opening without getting into too much trouble.

I know you are not keen on 2 g3 but if you are thinking of playing the English on an ongoing basis and can get your hands on a copy of Tony's The Dynamic English grab it.

It's only 140 pages but each chapter gives a little introduction about the strategy behind the line being analysed to guide the reader and what he says is still relevant today. IMHO it is still a must read books for any prospective English player.

All the best.

It makes sense to compare this to the rare 1. e4 c5 2. c4, which is not considered to be a challenging response to the Sicilian. As Black, I like going for the Fischer set-up (as IM Cummings recommends), since the game will most likely transpose to a Symmetrical English where White has gone for an early Botvinnik set-up.

After 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 c5, White is effectively a tempo up on this variation. You could play the Fischer set-up with g3, e3, Nge2, etc. again, but remarkably it turns out that this probably not enough for an advantage. The positions are closed enough that a single tempo does not matter much.

The positions in the 4. e3 line are definitely sharp, but I think the jury is still out on whether White has an advantage there too. Besides these two options, I would like to recommend:

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 c5 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 g6 5. a3!

Aiming for a quick 6. b4. If Black continues developing normally, White can transpose to Marin's lines against the Botvinnik set-up for Black where White has managed to secure a favorable queenside expansion. If Black plays 5...a5, then you can continue with the Fischer set-up, since Black has weakened the b5 square before White has determined the placement of his kingside knight.

GMTonyKosten wrote on 01/01/20 at 17:11:18:

Haha yes, but you're a grandmaster facing other masters who understand all that. I'm but a low rated amateur. And you have to deal with all sorts of stuff at my level 

Hi,

After 1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 c5, I have two suggestions:

1) 3 g3 is a good move, and very logical after Black has left the gaping hole on d5. If you are looking for a simple solution for the (rare) occasions you’ll face 2...c5, I’d recommend the system with g3, Bg2, e3, Nge2, 0-0 etc. Depending on how Black develops, you can then either go for a d2-d4 break, or b2-b4 (prepared by a3 and Rb1). If Black advances his kingside pawns, you can usually counter with f2-f4. Also drop the c3-knight into d5 when it makes sense. There are other systems for White, of course, but this one should be a low maintenance option regardless of how Black continues.

2) 3 Nf3 Nc6 4 e3 Nf6 5 d4 e4 transposes into a line that is quite sharp and has its own body of theory. I’ve covered this in my Chess Publishing Updates, so if you are a subscriber, you can check the games to see if this appeals. The main moves now are 6 d5 (see Aronian - Vachier Lagrave, Grenke 2017) and 6 Ne5 (Mamedyarov - Vachier Lagrave, Biel 2018.)

Happy New Year to all!

David