Answers.Body: <p>It's more practical. After 1.d4, 1...e6 is a rare move. Black probably plays the French every time they face 1.e4, while White hardly ever has the option to go into it.</p>
  <p>So White doesn't want to learn the huge amount of theory the French has, and instead plays something that is more likely to transpose back to other 1.d4 openings that they already know, with 2.c4.</p>
  <p>Similarly with 1...d6 and 1...g6 - the setup with c4/d4/e4 is quite strong, and it gives Black the choice to transpose to a KID (that white is used to seeing) by playing ...Nf6 soon, or going for some weird variation without that natural move where it may be harder to get a good game.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2024-12-14T21:45:03.617Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2024-12-14T21:45:03.617Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: RemcoGerlich
Body: <p>After 1.e4, when White has the opportunity to play 2.d4, the best move according to the engine is 2.d4, and White plays 2.d4 about 90% of the time.</p>
  <p>After 1.d4, when White has the opportunity to play 2.e4 (meaning when Black plays for example 1...e6, 1...d6, 1...g6, any move other than 1...c5, 1...d5, 1...e5, 1...f5, 1...Nf6), the best move according to the engine is 2.e4, but White plays 2.e4 only about 23% of the time.</p>
  <p>Both when White plays 1.e4 and when White plays 1.d4, White often gets a Pawn on e4 and a Pawn on d4 and a Knight on c3. But the difference seems to be that when White plays 1.d4 White also has a Pawn on c4, while when White plays 1.e4 his c-Pawn remains on c2 blocked by his c3 Knight. When White plays 1.d4, he will play c4 first and only then e4, he will not play e4 before playing c4.</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2024-12-14T17:52:07.983Z
Comments.Text: Very closely related: https://chess.stackexchange.com/questions/24117/why-is-3-nc3-played-in-mainline-of-the-modern-defense#comment35620_24117
Comments.UserDisplayName: Ian Bush
Tags: <opening><1.e4><1.d4><transpositions><center>
Title: After 1.d4, why doesn't White play 2.e4 when he has the opportunity to do so?
ThreadText: # After 1.d4, why doesn't White play 2.e4 when he has the opportunity to do so?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2024-12-14)
  
  After 1.e4, when White has the opportunity to play 2.d4, the best move according to the engine is 2.d4, and White plays 2.d4 about 90% of the time.
  
  After 1.d4, when White has the opportunity to play 2.e4 (meaning when Black plays for example 1...e6, 1...d6, 1...g6, any move other than 1...c5, 1...d5, 1...e5, 1...f5, 1...Nf6), the best move according to the engine is 2.e4, but White plays 2.e4 only about 23% of the time.
  
  Both when White plays 1.e4 and when White plays 1.d4, White often gets a Pawn on e4 and a Pawn on d4 and a Knight on c3. But the difference seems to be that when White plays 1.d4 White also has a Pawn on c4, while when White plays 1.e4 his c-Pawn remains on c2 blocked by his c3 Knight. When White plays 1.d4, he will play c4 first and only then e4, he will not play e4 before playing c4.
  
  **Tags:** opening, 1.e4, 1.d4, transpositions, center
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Very closely related: https://chess.stackexchange.com/questions/24117/why-is-3-nc3-played-in-mainline-of-the-modern-defense#comment35620_24117  
  
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  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2024-12-14. Score: 2
  
  It's more practical. After 1.d4, 1...e6 is a rare move. Black probably plays the French every time they face 1.e4, while White hardly ever has the option to go into it.
  
  So White doesn't want to learn the huge amount of theory the French has, and instead plays something that is more likely to transpose back to other 1.d4 openings that they already know, with 2.c4.
  
  Similarly with 1...d6 and 1...g6 - the setup with c4/d4/e4 is quite strong, and it gives Black the choice to transpose to a KID (that white is used to seeing) by playing ...Nf6 soon, or going for some weird variation without that natural move where it may be harder to get a good game.
  
  
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