The Sam Collins book says the development advantage by White, control over d6 and the fact that even after Nxc3 g6 (freeing one bishop), Black's c8 bishop still can't be freed easily make this line a risky proposition for Black.
Needless to say, White must be decently skilled enough to do something with this advantage ... just as a Gambit player would play actively and go for the throat on each move.
Most strong players probably do this as White in this line which is why Black doesn't play this.
I'm a beginner and I'm trying to stick to some simpler openings where I don't have to recall a lot of book moves. I know I want to focus more on end game study, tactics, etc, but I'd like to know enough of the openings so I'm not quickly in a really bad spot 5 moves into some games.
From some searching these forums I've heard a few mention the Alapin variation is good for a beginner on white after black plays c5. I decided to look at some variations in the opening explorer and when I follow some of the most common moves, the following position arises.
My question is, why now is white willing to give up the pawn on c3 after d4xc3? Is it because of the tempo and positional advantage he now has? I'd be afraid, being a newbie, that I'd probably not adequately leverage my positional advantage as well as I should, so being down that pawn might be a pretty bad thing? Maybe I should just roll with it anyway so I learn?
Obviously for someone experienced, losing that pawn isn't a big deal and when I put it into scid and run the analysis the advantage is still to white after taking back with the knight.
(Position below http://www.chess.com/explorer/index.html?id=402324&ply=13&black=0 )