How To Play the Dutch Defense

I guess I have an affinity to almost unorthodox openings which the Dutch Defense should qualify as because usually when White plays d4, the best response is for Black to play d5 since that's the most popular thing nowadays and people have gushed over it a thousand times. But also because it seems to be the most solid response and it can also lead to complicated positions. It's the same with e4-e5, d4-d5 is just less risky in a sense because when you push the d-pawn, your queen is already protecting it. Moreover, in a sense, you don't expose your king too much although the diagonal to the king is wide open, there are many ways to parry attacks from that direction. Anyway, d4-d5 is a popular opening and there are so many theories behind different lines and variations which I don't really want to go into. However, the Dutch Defense, though it has been studied by professionals and masters, it still seems uncharacteristic for elite players to play unless you have a special affinity to it like Hikaru Nakamura. But I like it because it looks like a reverse Sicilian, and you know how much I love the Sicilian Defense.

It goes like the photo you see above. In response to d4, Black plays f5 which is weird because you know that White isn't planning on playing e4 anytime soon as he wants to expand on the queenside with c4 but you're just ignoring that fact and saying that you're going to focus on the kingside and indirectly attack your center with my pieces there. Most of the action will be on the queenside anyway so I'd rather tuck my king away from that and launch my attacks there later when I'm all set. I haven't really played the Dutch Defense that much so I don't much about the standard moves that people play so whenever I do play it, I just do my own thing. That's the thing as well. I like openings that give leeway for some creativity. I'd like to be flexible in a game wherein flexibility is more or less a disadvantage. I say that because no matter what you do, at the end of the day, there is an objective way to win and computers have shown us that so that's why flexibility as I said is somewhat a disadvantage. Though it's not completely a disadvantage when you're playing against humans. In fact, the ability to improvise in an otherwise unknown territory is the characteristic of some of the greatest minds in chess but we will not go into that right now. Instead, let us focus on the Dutch Defense.

I have a friend who loved to play the Dutch Defense, in particular the Stonewall variation because he says it's impenetrable. And the first few times I played him, I was convinced he was right. There was no direct way for White to break down the Stonewall without compromise. However, I guess there are several ways to do that but I'm not familiar with them. Better look for someone who's an expert on the matter. I'm just going to give my honest opinions on the Dutch here. In fact, my friend loved the Stonewall so much that he even did it as White and even then, I was left frustrated. Though that didn't mean I didn't win, I was just frustrated at the fact that this seemingly simple structure sufficed to secure his stance. So if you're thinking of playing the Dutch, then I recommend the Stonewall because it's strong like a stone wall.

There are other ways to play the Dutch Defense both as White and Black. And since it's not that popular in top-level play, you'll find it very interesting because at least in my point of view, it's not too technical which is my issue with the Queen's Gambit games and stuff like the King's Indian Defense where there's so much theory behind it that everyone and their mother know how to play until move 20 and if you don't, well you won't be able to keep up and get decimated right away. Since the Dutch doesn't gain much attention, you can try to explore it and probably get some good results.