Move comparison in this opening In this opening, being White, I want to understand, for the next move, why is e4 not as strong a move as e3 or Nf3? I am a beginner.
[FEN &quot;&quot;]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6
With e2-e4, you create &quot;holes&quot; at d3 and d4 that can never again be attacked by pawns. Any enemy pieces that land on those holes have to be kicked out by your pieces, which is harder to do (because every piece runs away from a pawn job).
World champion Botvinnik used to set pawns on c4-d3-e4 which we call The Botvinnik Triangle. The world champion can live with those holes, but beginners have a tougher time.
Beginners shouldn't be playing 1. c4.  If you'd played 1. d4, we wouldn't be having this conversation.