Themes in an English Setup

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boklettuce

So I was bored and playing around on the openings explorer, and I found that this English setup with e3 and g3 is pretty common.

Anyways, I have a few questions about this opening.

  1.  How does this white setup differ from the Botvinnik one?
  2.  What are some commonly seen strategies for white/black that follow from this board position? Are there any "thematic" moves for white's setup?
  3.  Does this setup lead to relatively calm or violent games?
  4.  Lastly, is there a name for the reversed version of this opening (that is, as a Sicilian), and does it share a lot of ideas with this setup?

Thanks a lot guys. I'm also new to these forums, so feel free to flame me if I'm breaking any obvious rules.

Nerwal

1) the center pawns stand at d3 and e4 in the Botvinnik setup. Here White plays e3 and d3 most of the time with the occasional (or later) d4.

2/3) Except some extreme cases an opening is neither calm or violent, it's left to the interpretation of the players. Here White can choose to play d4 quickly or first keep the center fluid with d3 for quite some time, giving completely different play. Also if White plays Nge2 then Black can try to disrupt White's plans with an early h5 or just develop classically.

4) It's a standard Closed Sicilian.

ThrillerFan

Well, depends on Black's 5th move.

If 5...d6, yes, you have a reversed Closed Sicilian.

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 and now the 5...e6 variation is what you have reversed if Black plays 5...d6.