Dutch Defense

The Dutch Defense meets 1. d4 with 1...f5, contesting e4 with a flank pawn instead of ...d5 or ...Nf6. The move develops nothing and weakens Black's king, especially along the e8–h5 diagonal. In return it creates an asymmetrical structure in which Black can later build kingside pressure. Draws are rare, and the engine gives White a slight edge after 1...f5.

White's standard plan is a kingside fianchetto with g3, Bg2, Nf3, short castling and c4, reached by various move orders. In the database 2. c4 is the most frequent second move, followed by 2. Nf3 and the London-style 2. Bf4. Black's main decision concerns the king's bishop. In the Leningrad Dutch it goes to g7, as in 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7, where it guards the king and bears down the long diagonal. Alternatively Black plays ...e6 and ...Be7. After 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O, the move 6...d6 gives the Classical Dutch, whose ...Qe8 line is the Ilyin-Zhenevsky Variation. The move 6...d5 builds the Stonewall and fixes control of e4. Alekhine's 6...Ne4 keeps both d-pawn advances in reserve. In the Modern Stonewall, Black plays ...d5 earlier and develops the bishop to d6.

The loosened kingside invites sharper second moves. The Staunton Gambit, 2. e4 fxe4, was long treated as the critical test. In 1931 Tarrasch judged 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 c6 5. f3 exf3 favorable for White, but current opinion holds that the gambit yields equality at most, though it remains effective in blitz. The Hopton Attack, 2. Bg5, develops the bishop before e3 and threatens to double Black's pawns after ...Nf6. The reply 2...h6 3. Bh4 g5 4. Bg3 gains space with tempo, but 4...f4 5. e3 fxg3?? 6. Qh5# is a known trap. The Raphael Variation, 2. Nc3, usually leads to Bg5 and e3 setups or supports e4. The Korchnoi Attack, 2. h3 with 3. g4, goes back to Mayet in 1839 and was revived by Korchnoi in 1979; declining with 2...Nf6 3. g4 d5 is considered good for Black. The Krejcik Gambit, 2. g4, and the Alapin Variation, 2. Qd3, are rarer. Some Black players begin with 1...e6 to avoid these lines, accepting a French Defense after 2. e4.

Elias Stein recommended 1...f5 in his 1789 book Nouvel essai sur le jeu des échecs. The opening has never been a main line and is now uncommon at elite level. Its best-known outing came in the 1951 World Championship, where both Botvinnik and Bronstein played it. Alekhine, Larsen, Morphy, Najdorf and Nakamura have used it, and Simon Williams is a leading advocate of the Classical form. Yusupov, Dolmatov, Short and Agdestein revived the Stonewall in the 1980s and 1990s, and Carlsen has won with it against Anand and Caruana.