Are the any problems with an English opening?

[Anonymous]

I've been playing this English opening all day, and so far I think it's really powerful. It sets up a nice queen-side attack and leads to an excellent positional and tactical game. But what are the weaknesses? I feel like no one will be able to resist this.

Updates

+1 y

Enjoyed the chess discussion. After I practice a bit, I'll send you old guys my chess. com profile.

[AviatorTom]

Let me see. I'm no chess expert but I do have some opinions on this position:

1. Both White and Black have unprotected pawns, making both vulnerable
2. Black's two knights effectively control the entire middle of the board, and both are well protected
3. White's King-Knight-Pawn opens up an avenue for Black to attack White's Rook, and also makes it unlikely that White can Castle King-side
4. White's Queen is open to start a Queen side attack, but it will take a few moves to do that

From this position, I think Black has more options than White. White must attack while Black can either attack or defend. I would expect Black to get at least a Draw from this position, and possibly a Win.

[Asker]

It's a fair analysis, but why English opening works so well, I think. It doesn't look very threatening at the beginning and black has the illusion of control. But the pawn on C4 isn't under any threat, and dominates D5. And look what happens when white moves bishop to F2. A long range missle attack to back up the knight's short range. Try this opening some time, it throws everything off wack for black.

[Asker]

@aviatortom I believe you can step through this without a bunch of annoying commentary: www.chess.com/.../dominating-with-english-opening--iv-carlsen-vs-kramnik

[EnglishEuropean]

I think you meant g2, but yes.

[EnglishEuropean]

It's a perfectly sound opening which tends to lead to complex strategic positions. The only downside might be that black has a lot of options to counter it. He can play e5, claiming the centre immediately, Nf6 playing it like a queen's pawn opening or c5 leading to symmetrical positions, plus other less popular systems... g6 etc.

At a certain level any opening that doesn't start with 1. e4 creates a level of confusion.

[KrakenAttackin]

You are much more technical than I am, but I like to open with Knights as well.

[Guy13]

It’s racist…

[Asker]

Why, because you give black a sense of control but then flank them?