Symmetrical Variation, Botvinnik System Reversed, with e3

After the mirrored fianchettoes, White chooses 5. e3 over e4. This prepares Nge2 so that the knight can support a later d4. Black answers 5...e5 and takes up the Botvinnik structure with colors reversed. The pawns on c5 and e5 control d4 and make that break harder to achieve. White nearly always continues 6. Nge2, while the engine also considers d3 and a3. It rates the position as roughly balanced, and results in practice are close to even.