I saw a video by
kingscrusher in which he recommended this opening, and I've started to play around with it and have had some positive results.
One main continuation that I have been encountering is:
2. c4 e5
3. dxe5 dxe5
4. Qxd8+ Kxd8
which looks very tempting to lower rated players who are playing white because it breaks black's castling. However, I believe that black has an advantage here, and according to the 365chess.com database, black wins about 51% to white's 13% in a sample of over 800 games (for whatever that is worth). Also, even if black does not have an advantage in the optimal play sense, black will have much more familiarity with the position than the typical Queen's gambit player who sees 1. ...d5 all day.
My plan for black in this position to play c6, a5, Na6, Nc5, Kc7 as appropriate, and it seems to result in a good position.
I realize that this line will often transpose into other openings if white plays something other than 2. c4, but I think that comes up enough for this to be a decent surprise weapon.
Thoughts?