Here’s a cool video on the English. It is of course a general introduction and concentrates of Black’s response 1. …e5.
jacklemoine.com/2010/01/english-opening.html
Thanks. You are right in your blog commentary that there may be overemphasis in the video on “book moves” - the English certainly has myriad transposition possibilities.
I have played this a few times in the last year, and to be honest nobody has responded with 1… e5. (I think I might consider that as Black, but that’s another story.) 1. c4 e5 almost by definition has to be at least “good” for White - because we know the Sicilian offers Black a lot of play (look at its sustained popularity, particularly at top levels) - and now with this pair of moves White is basically playing the Sicilian from the other side, with a move in hand. Simply by that rationale it has to offer a lot for White.
Other lines, which I have encountered as White after 1. c4 (admittedly limited experience) put me into a QGD (usually Slav or semi-Slav) with an early …c6 by Black, or in a Reti with White’s Nf3, and eventually c4-c5, or other Queen-pawn games. The last major option is the “symmetrical” English, with Black playing 1…c5 and both sides quickly developing the Kingside with fianchetto on b2 (and …b7).
I agree that this offers White a solid repetoire, but he has to be ready for all of those possibilities, imo.
Thanks for posting the link.
And you didn’t even mention my two responses to 1. c4. I used to play e6, planning d5 and c5, usually transposing to the Tarrasch Defense to the QGD. Now I usually play the Dutch (1. … f5) against almost anything but 1. e4. The advantage of both of these systems is that they can be played against 1. d4, 1. c4, 1. Nf3, or just about anything else besides 1. e4, so I don’t have to learn a bunch of different openings as black.
Gee I never heard of the opening named after a battery before. The author mentioned the alkaline opening having been previously reviewed 
Be7 is wrong! Correct for Black is to play Nc6. The “Main Line” listed is just a way to show people that the English can become a reverse Sicilian. YOU DO NOT PLAY THE ENGLISH TO PLAY A REVERSE SICILIAN! I Don’t care if some GM [old Chess Life column] makes that suggestion, it is not the reason to take up this opening. I have been playing the English for over 15 years, having originally learned it from the Soltis book. That book also had a line [6 moves long: some chapter] in which Black retreated the Bishop to e7 after White plays Nd5. Master Billy Colias showed me why this is not a clear plus for White in a game we played many years ago where Billy won as Black.
And why should Bb4 on move 2 be considered a main line, especially when teaching someone about openings. What ever happened to that old chestnut: Knights before Bishops. ??
Larry S. Cohen