Reti question

Hi everyone,

I was looking at Davies' book, "The Dynamic Reti", and I was confused by his claim that white can transpose to the QGA after the Reti accepted (1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 dxc4). He claims that if white plays 3.e3 4.Bxc4 5.d4 he will be in a QGA. But isn't 3.e3 just met by 3...c5 protecting the pawn? And any attempt at d4 by white can be stopped by the en passant capture. Am I missing something?


Thanks,
Scott

I am not sure what you mean if Black has played dxc4 his pawn is now moved to c4, if he moves past the pawn on c4 that is to play d4, there is no en passant to be had. In any case 1Nf3 d5 2.c4 d4 is not that bad for white, and if Black exchanges on c4, after 2...dxc4 3.e3 (Even 3. Qa4 + and 4. Qxc4 isn't that bad) is prefferable for the white.

Originally posted by smrex13
Hi everyone,

I was looking at Davies' book, "The Dynamic Reti", and I was confused by his claim that white can transpose to the QGA after the Reti accepted (1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 dxc4). He claims that if white plays 3.e3 4.Bxc4 5.d4 he will be in a QGA. But isn't 3.e3 just met by 3...c5 protecting the pawn? And any attempt at d4 by white can be stopped by the en passant capture. Am I missing something?


Thanks,
Scott