2012 Santa Monica Bay Chess Club - Jan Swiss: Geroge Witcomb vs Srikanth Bangalore

1.c4

How does one answer so flexible a move as 1.c4? Does one prepare a completely different reply to 1.c4 than from 1.d4? What if his second move is 2.d4? Then, won't learning 2 different openings for 1.d4 2.c4 and 1.c4 and 2.d4 be a completely stupid thing to do?

I was thinking these thoughts on the very first move as my opponent played 1.c4 ... I play Benko Gambit against 1.d4 2.c4, so I was willing to play 1...Nf6.

He then played 2.Nc3 ... And my dreams of playing Benko Gambit were thrown out of the window. Now, he can play pure English, or transpose into a Queens Gambit by playing 3.d4.

So, I played 2...e6, ready to play QGD if he plays 3.d4.

So, essentially, I have tacitly committed to being stupid and learning 2 different openings against 1.d4 2.c4 ...

I didn't realize that until I started playing this game. I think in future, I will play mainline QGD exclusively in tournaments and give up on playing Benko for some time.

At some point in the game, I had thought to myself, "push pawns like capablanca". What I meant by it is the following game: