It's a cool opening. 
Van't Kruijs Opening Opinions
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1. e3 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. c4 Nc6 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. d4
seems to be a VK system
could be wrong
I used to play Van't Krujis. That was when I was just getting back into chess, at the 700-800 elo range. I no longer play that opening, but simply because I prefer d4. I can see the transpositional possibilities of 1.e3, so I can see how some play it regularly.
Apr 22, 2021
0
#6
I had trouble against it at first because e3 feels weak and I underestimated it. When I see it I play d5 and both my knights out as a start. Got that from explorer
maybe not so good against an early kingside fianchetto plus c5 a la benoni, as you are already committed to e3 so early, but otherwise if you delay playing c4 or d4 or both, then black gets all the center with d5, and possibly e5 too. i know axel smith tried to make the e3 system work against the benoni in his book e3 poison, but i doubt it's better than the systems without an early e3 against the main line benoni.
I understand the Van't Kruijs opening is not popular, but it's not that outlandish. It usually goes into an English or Zukertort like set-up for me at least. I just want some opinions on 1.e3. It can be bad or good, I wont be offended.