The Dutch Defense


Overview

The Dutch Defense is a chess opening in which the following moves are played:


The idea behind the Dutch Defense is: Black uses his f-pawn to gain center control and attack White’s Kingside. Black’s goals in the opening are to quickly developing his pieces and castle.


The Dutch Defense can be divided into three major variations.

Black can choose to play in many different ways: to attack in the king side or to develop pieces and control the center.

The three major variations are:

  • Leningrad Dutch (3.g6)
  • Classical Variation (3.e6 and 6.d6)
  • Stonewall Variation (3.e6 and 6.d5)


In the Leningrad variation, Black decides to fianchetto to protect his King. With the pawn on f5, Black intends to attack White´s King.

The idea of playing f5 is to develop the Knight to f6 behind the pawn, and to eventually push f4 after developing all of the pieces.

In the Classical variation, Black decides to play very simple and make castle as fast as he can without creating any weak spot in his setup.

The idea is to develop the king side pieces and start creating a possible attack on the White´s King.

In the Stonewall variation, Black setups the control of the white squares in the center.

The idea of playing the pawns to white squares is to create some kind of wall in the center and develop the pieces behind them.

This is a very solid and more strategical system.


What is The Dutch Defense?

The Dutch Defense is a chess opening.

It is a flank openings because White moves the Queen’s pawn two squares but Black does not reply symmetrically.

You can see what it looks like below.



How To Reach The Dutch Defense

  1. First, White must move the Queen’s pawn two squares (1.d4).
  2. Then, Black’s reply should be to play his King’s side pawn two square (1...f5).

Take a look at the moves below.



Why Play The Dutch Defense

The Dutch Defense is an asymmetrical opening with a great reputation.

Many great chess players, including World Champions, play it.

In the Dutch Defense, Black moves without creating many weaknesses and tries to attack White’s King side.


Every move explained

Leningrad Dutch (3.g6)

How To Reach It

The Leningrad variation appears on the board after the following moves:

  1. d4 d5
  2. c4 Nf6
  3. Nf3 g6
  4. g3 Bg7

You can see the moves here.

Why play the Leningrad variation

The Leningrad variation is the most popular option in the Dutch Defense.

Black tries to start an attack against White’s King by expanding on the Kingside and naturally developing his pieces.

White's Moves

Play Nc3 followed by d5 to gain space

White wants to develop the Knight to c3, to help the control of the center.

The idea behind this move is to push d5 and win space in the center. This is a good idea as the advance is supported by the Knight.

Play b3 followed by Bb2 to avoid e5 push

White wants to develop his other bishop before the knight to counter if Black move his pawn from e7 to e5.

The Bishop on b2 also helps control the center.

Black's moves

Challenge the center with c6 and e5

Black wants to challenge the center and fight for the initiative.

This plan is the most played and the most aggressive of the Leningrad variation.

If Black controls the center, he can attack on both sides of the board.

Expand with Queenside

Black wants to expand his game with ideas like a5 and Na6 and later challenge the center!

Black improves is Queen side before going into action in the center. The Bishop on g7 is a ticking bomb waiting for the center to open.

Classical Variation (3.e6 and 6.d6)

How To Reach It

The Classical variation with 3.e6 and 6.d6 appears on the board after the following moves:

  1. d4 f5
  2. c4 Nf6
  3. Nf3 e6
  4. g3 Be7
  5. Bg2 0-0
  6. 0-0 d6

You can see the moves here.

Why play the Classical variation

The Classical variation is the oldest option in the Dutch Defense.

It is an ambitious, aggressive setup, that can cause a lot of problems if White don't know what to do.

Black tries to start an attack against White’s King by Blocking the Queenside and naturally developing his attack in the Kingside.

White's Moves

Play Nc3 followed and push slow e4

White wants to develop the Knight to c3, to help the control of the center.

The idea behind this move is to push e4 and win space in the center. This is a good idea as the advance is supported by the Knight and eventually by other pieces.

Expand with b4 in the Queen side

White can expand on the queenside with moves like b4 and a5 and later win the center.

The idea: White wants to improve Queenside space before fighting over the center.

Black's moves

Block the Queenside and attack White King

Black wants to block the queenside and fight for the initiative in the kingside.

This plan is the most played and the most aggressive of the classical variation.

If Black controls the queenside, he can attack on the other side of the board.

Stonewall Variation (3.e6 and 6.d5)

How To Reach It

The Classical variation with 3.e6 and 6.d appears on the board after the following moves.

  1. d4 f5
  2. c4 Nf6
  3. Nf3 e6
  4. g3 Be7
  5. Bg2 0-0
  6. 0-0 d5

You can see the moves here.

Why play the Stonewall variation

The Stonewall variation is the safest option in the Dutch Defense and the simplest to play.

Black just plays the very specific pawn formation and develops the pieces rather than trying to memorize long lines of different variations

White's Moves

Play Ba3 to exchange Black´s good bishop

White protects the c4 pawn and follows the plan with Ba3 to exchange blacks ́s good bishop.

The idea of this plan is to trade off Black’s best piece and make the e5 square even more weak.

This idea is good because White trades his worst piece on the board for Black’s best, and is very simple idea to execute.

Naturally develop the pieces and control e5 square

White will naturally develop the pieces to their best squares and then fight for the e5 square.

This plan is very simple and doesn’t require a lot of memorization. It is more about strategic understanding rather opening knowledge.

Black's moves

When white wants to exchange dark square bishop

The most used plan by white is to exchange the dark square bishop on a3 so black should do the same with his white square bishop.

This plan consists of moving the bishop from c8 to h5 and then coordinate the knights.

Most typical ideas on the stonewall variation

Usually black moves his knights to e4 and then try to move the Queen or the Bishop to h5 to have some pressure on the Kingside.

This plan is used against all white plans with the exception of the Ba3 plan.




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