which do you prefer 1. Nf3 or 1. c4? (reti or English)

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gingerninja2003

what appears often is the question e4 vs d4 (or something of that nature) but what about the English or Reti. They do tend to transpose into e4 or d4 lines but the question can still be asked as they do have individual lines that don't transpose. 

what do you think. 

i think 1.c4 (the English)

Neskitzy

I usually use 1. Nf3 with b3, Bb2, e3, d4, c4, Nbd2 and Bd3. Achieves a similar position as a Colle-Zukertort but a completely different move order. If my opponent replies in a way that makes that system infeasible, I'll transpose to a KIA-like structure. This is with fast time controls only, of course. In classical controls, I tend to play in a more unorthodox manner with the Sokolsky as white :) TL;DR - I prefer 1. Nf3 but the two moves are interchangeable in many lines

kindaspongey

The July 2017 issue of Chess lists the top twenty openings compiled from a list of 2094 May games where both players were rated over 2400 Elo. One can not take position on this list too seriously because it is greatly influenced by how the openings are grouped. For example, all the Retis are grouped together, while English is separated into 1...c5, 1...e5, etc. Nevertheless, for what it is worth, some of the list entries are: 116 Retis, 95 King's Indians, 92 Caro-Kanns, 76 Slavs, 70 Nimzo-Indians, 63 Najdorf Sicilians, 61 1...c5 Englishes, 61 declined Queen's Gambits, 52 1...e5 Englishes, 47 Catalans, 41 Classical Gruenfelds, 41 Queen's Indians, 37 Berlin Ruy Lopezes, and 36 Kan Sicilians.