When white plays 1.d2-d4, black replies 1… f7-f5, and we have the Dutch Defence!
I guess there are easier openings for a player of my strength to play, but just after I started my adult chess career back in the early 1990s, I took it up for essentially two reasons:
1) There is no way for white to stop you playing it (other than not play 1.d4, of course)
2) At that time no one else (at least in my playing strength category) was playing it!
It is just rather unfortunate that more club players are now playing it – probably having taken it up for the same reasons I did – so it has lost much of the surprise value it once had.
The Dutch Defence is a very rich opening, with white’s main line – i.e. where white fianchettoes the king’s (i.e. light squared) bishop – offering black a choice of two very different main line systems to choose from, as well as a few lesser known ones also. The main lines for black are the Leningrad and Stonewall variations, and it the Leningrad that I like to play. Having said that, many people playing white avoid the main line (i.e. they don’t fianchettoe on the king’s side). “Anti-Dutch” systems such as 2.Nc3 and 2.Bg5 are very popular, but for me, the richest and most interesting games arise when white goes straight down the main line and allows me to play the Leningrad!
Why do I enjoy playing Leningrad Dutch positions so much? After all, black voluntarily weakens the king’s side by playing both 1… f5 followed by … g6 very soon after. Well, it is the potential for activity in black’s positions that seems to carry the day for black. Black is relying on his/her position becoming very active, whereas white attempts to contain black and win using a positional squeeze. This situation can lead only to highly double edged play. I think it’s this double edged play that is such an attraction.
At the time of writing I reckon I’ve been playing the Dutch Defence for twelve years or more. In that time it has led to some terrible losses, but also some terrific wins. One thing it has never led to is a dull game!
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