Is c4 move following d4 a good move

Hi Guys, 

I've generally noticed c4 being suggested as an immediate move after playing a d4 pawn opening by white.

My question is whether it is really a good move to play ?

I want a few thoughts on positional strategic advantages and disadvantages of an immediate c4 in 2nd move.

What i have personally experienced is a little weakening of queen side, while the critical e4 square is also not controlled by white on the king side when the declined lines are played and black plays nf6 defending d5 pawn. 

Thanks & waiting. 

Yes generally it is the best way (against normal moves like 1...d5 or 1...Nf6) to fight for the center.  You get your N on c3 behind the c-pawn, and contest the e4 and d5 squares.  You can found a mountain of literature on the Queen's Gambit Declined/Accepted and the Indian Defenses.  You are not going to get a comprehensive answer in a forum post.

I'm aware of the literature, as i went through videos. I was wondering more about the gambit declined lines like c6, where your queen side is generally weakened with c4 played. And if black plays nf6 to defend d5, it becomes difficult to play e4 for white, hence giving up control of centre of board.

Only moves like f3 come to my mind , which control the e4 square, with lesser center control.

I basically would like people who didn't have much success % with c4 followup to respond.

its good if c4 e6 d4 to a kings indian or nimzo

Again, it's hard to generalize in a space this small because we are talking about a huge branch of chess theory.

The "weakening" of the center created by c2-c4 is only significant if the center of the board becomes open before White's kingside is developed.  But the good news is that Black is only able to do this through extreme attempts like the Budapest or Albin - and those are not too good against a well prepared White.

One of, if not the biggest, fundamental differences between 1.e4 and 1.d4 is the ability for White to easily break in the center.  If you play 1.e4 as White, it is assured that, if you want to, you can play d2-d4 in the opening under fairly good circumstances.

Not so if you play 1.d4 and Black responds with either 1...d5 or 1...Nf6.  In either case it is difficult for White to enforce e2-e4 without some kind of drawback.  Therefore true queen pawn players must learn to play with c2-c4, develop the Qside minor pieces, and only then think about whether or not to occupy the center with e4 or be content with e2-e3 - or g3,Bg2 - without playing e4.

I have noticed ofcourse dear. But i wanted details and analysis, not no. of years. 

I think GreenCastleBlock has put it very rightly, it was what i was looking for.

After d4, c4 is the only way to put immediate pressure on black. Thus it's the best move to keep the initiative.

Thanks  chessmicky. As i have already mentioned above, i have seen videos.Since this is a forum, i was expecting some interaction over the merits and demerits, as i have played that opening myself and have expressed my opinions above.

Needless to say i am benefitting from this post, but for your personal opinions.

1. d4 usually signifies a queenside attack (there are a few exceptions though). Thus, it is logical to follow with 2.c4, gaining more queenside space. f3 to control is of lesser importance than the availability of a cxd5 or c5 break.

Also what i had in mind is that in d4 opening, Queen side pieces develop first, and subsequently kingside.

So castling is also delayed if it were to take place on king side.

So is it wise to castle queenside, keeping in mind that c4 is already played and pawn structure is also not that strong ?   

Generally, no. You should not castle queenside with a c4 weakening. There is a particular variation of the English that is an exception, though.

This is exactly what needed to be said.

After 1.d4, black has three ways to immediately control the e4 square and discourage the e2-e4 push:  d5, Nf6, f5.  Now, f5 is the Dutch Defense, and while it has its own problems, it does an excellent job of covering the e4 square--the merits of 2.c4 in response are debatable.  However, by challenging the d5 square with 2.c4 after 1...d5 or 1...Nf6, white indirectly challenges for control of the e4 square by weakening (QGD), eliminating (QGA), or delaying (Indian Defenses) the occupation of d5 by a black pawn.

In the end, the key to understanding 2.c4 is to understand the refutation of the Marshall Defense:  1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6 or 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d5.  It is very difficult for white to maintain an advantage if he has allowed Nf6 and d5 in the first two moves, but 2.c4 forces an intermediate move by black between the two (Slav, QGD, Gruenfeld, etc.).  Otherwise, 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.e4 and white gains time and space (some say it may be even better to delay e4 and play Nf3 first), or 3.cxd5 Qxd5 4.Nc3 and white again gains time and probably space as well, plus the potential to trap the queen.

The other point to note is that white may want to play an early Nc3 to claim the e4 square, and if the pawn is blocked on c2 (as in the Veresov), his longterm ability to challenge the d5 square and therefore prepare the e4 square will be crippled.  Most non-c4 queen's pawn systems put the knight on d2, giving up all attempts to control d5 and instead focusing on e4 directly (and d4).  After 1.e4, by comparison, white already controls the d5 square and the merits of playing Nc3 (pressuring d5 and protecting the e4 pawn) as necessary usually outweigh the benefits of a pawn on c4.