Queen's Gambit Accepted : how should White continue after 3.e3 Be6?

Question

The Wikipedia article on Queen's Gambit Accepted simply notes that "... White has good compensation after 4.Ne2".

  [FEN ""]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3.e3 Be6 4. Ne2 (4.Qc2)

What about Qc2 to add further pressure to the c4 black pawn?

Answer 1

Queen's Gambit Accepted : how should White continue after 3.e3 Be6?

[FEN ""]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3.e3 Be6 4. Na3!?

seems good to me-Black would not be able to hold the c4 pawn. I would take c4 pawn with the knight and head for e5. The other knight can bolster him from f3 and there will always be threats to f7 or to Blacks light squared bishop with Ng5.

The Wikipedia article on Queen's Gambit Accepted simply notes that "... White has good compensation after 4.Ne2".

[FEN ""]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3.e3 Be6 4. Ne2 b5? 5.a4! c6 ( 5...a6 6.axb5 ) ( 5...bxa4 6.Nf4 Bd5 7.Nc3 c6 8.e4! ) 6.axb5! cxb5 7.Nec3!! Bd7 ( 7...Qd7 8.Qf3 Nc6! 9.Nxb5! ( 9.d5?-+ Nb4 10.dxe6 Nc2+ 11.Ke2 Qd3#) Bf5 10.Nd2 Bd3 11.Nxc4+- ) 8.Qf3 Bc6 9.d5 Bd7 10.b3! Qc8 ( 10...b4 11.Bxc4!! bxc3? 12.d6!+- Bc6 13.Qxf7+ Kd7 14.Qe6+! Ke8 15. d7+! Qxd7 16.Qf7+ Kd8 17.Qxf8++-) 11.bxc4 b4 ( 11...bxc4 12.Na3 ) 12.Na4 Bxa4 13.Rxa4 a5

I bet that strong engine can find even better compensation for White than one I provided above, but I also think that my lines are sufficient as well.

What about Qc2 to add further pressure to the c4 black pawn?

It should work, but you will needlessly complicate matters too much.

Hopefully this answer is what you were looking for.

If you have further questions leave a comment.

Best regards.