English Opening

Your time would be better spent learning the basics, and not dropping material.

"... Probably the main reason why the English has proved so popular over the years, with players of such diverse styles as Botvinnik and Petrosian on the one hand, and Tal and Kasparov on the other, is its great flexibility. It can be interpreted in many different ways, ranging from slow, manoeuvring games to slashing kingside attacks. …" - FM Steve Giddins (2011)

Definitely not "passive". The English is a hypermodern opening geared towards giving black enough rope to hang himself. It invites black to play like white would in the Sicilian defense only a tempo down. If black gets too aggressive it can boomerang badly.

It's passive agressive.

Depending on Blacks response, it can overrun the Q side, attack the K side or play a positional game with endgame advantage.  Playing the KN to G2 gives a lot of flexibility.

Isn't the bishop on that square?

Digressive. 

I was going to joke that it's passive-aggressive but someone got there first.

The English is sly. White cannot really control Black's Queen-four square and Spassky always responded with 1...e6 followed by ...d5.

White sets out to surround the center and however Black replies, White has numerous options, and against most players White can get them out of book without having to resort to, say, 1. a3.

Perhaps the canniest response to the English is 1....c5 and now White's Queen Pawn is more "backward" than Black's was after 1.c4 (because White can't support the move d4 with c3, the c-Pawn has already moved forward)!

It how Your opponent is playing, if You are young player or if You are beginner it is better to play e4. When you played c4 it is better to combine with something else. 

That depends on the line.

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Nc3 (3.Bg2 f5! and White has ZILCH!) f5 4.Nf3! Nf6 5.d4! e4 6.Nh4 (looking to entice g5 or pressure g6/f5) and the LSB is developed on e2 or d3, the Knight goes to g2 once g5 is played, then White plays h4, looking to entice g4, and once g4 (or gxh4) is played, the Knight has a beautiful outpost on f4.

None if this is possible after the horrid 3.Bg2??.  In the 2.g3 lines, any time Black plays ...Nc6, it should be answered by the waiting move, Nc3!

From what I have gathered browsing different chess dissertations on the opening foremost chess analysts (after aligning heaps of variations) are still uncertain who is better after, for example 1. c4 e5(?!) 2. Nc3 Bb4 (?) 3. Nd5 Be7 (?, maybe ...Bf8 is still better), when, in reality White has the winning capture 4. Nxe7!, getting the pair of bishops with zilch compensation for black.

The 2 bishops, even in the early opening, with no other salient factors favouring the other side, should be sufficient for a win.

Now, at the 2500 and even 2700 level this might play out the way you want, but, objectively, White should be winning.

Maybe not 100% certain, but very very close to that.

It might take more than 100 moves (200 plies) to convert the advantage with optimal play, though.

So that, if a main line is won for White, the English is very good opening choice indeed.

It requires outstanding positional play though.

Don't ask me how I know this.

Too many top engine databases browsed where the early pair of bishops wins, and too many SF analysis sessions with similar patterns.

Well, some might think I am crazy, but do a pain-staking analysis yourselves...

For example, play 100 games with SF at longer TC after 4. Nxe7

Gotta love the advice of a 1400 player...

I played the English consistently for about year's worth of tournaments. Around 30 games, and scored .500 with it. So that's not super but it's not terrible either. I found that most opponents hadn't seen it but weren't too concerned about it.  They generally played e5 and play went from there - I fianchettoed maybe half the time, again with coin flip results. It's a "safe" opening in that you won't get toasted by little sandbaggers who spend their practice hours playing tactical speed chess...you'll get out of the first ten moves with a solid position but rarely with anything triumphant. That was my mileage, anyway.  Recently I've gone back to some older openings like the Vienna, Bishop's and Scotch to sharpen up my game.

It seems that Lyudmil doesn't play rated games here, scared to be banned for cheating. Indeed, his whole repertoire are long Stockfish lines. 

LoL Actually, it's a normal Slavic name:

Lyud = People

Mil = Nice

Tsvetok = Flower