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Without a knight on c3, Bb4+ pins nothing
Via 1…e6 2.c4 b6 3.e4 Bb7 4.Bd3, you reach the English Defense structure, but with no white knight on c3. You still play 4…Bb4+ (8 games, 62%) — and after 5.Bd2 Bxd2+, you drop to 33% over 6 games.
Recall: why is …Bb4 so strong against 3.Nc3 and 4.e4?