Openings is a matter of fashion , and even grandmasters don't know why some lines or openings , although not bad ,are completely forgotten at times.

"The most important novelties are hidden in the games of the old masters." Savielly Tartakower.

    Old openings have the advantage of being well tested and ill remembered.A.S.

That is good advise to remember.

I think the dutch is popular because typical queen pawn openings are traditionally positional as opposed to the tactical nature. Most king pawn players are lovers of the tactics, so playing the dutch vs 1. d4 creates an immediate imbalance where tactics can be a larger part of the defense. the only real downside to it is the queen bishop tends to lag behind in finding an active role. As for the reason it's seldom seen is king pawn players tend to outnumber queen pawn players by a large degree, and there are also a number of other defenses employed against it as well, such as the tarrash, pirc, etc.,

strange interpretation of the Dutch Stonewall emerging here. Whatever happened to Bf8-d6 and ..b7-b6, Bc8-b7 and an eventual ...c6-c5!?

Anyway, 1.d4 d5 and a variety of the Queen's Gambit lines will stand the OP in good stead for a long time to come and help improve his chess quicker.

I've got a few games going in online chess now with the 1. d4 d5 Tarrasch Defense.  I like the Tarrasch quite a bit.  Black's bishops are very active and using the IQP is very fun.

In my first game with alexlaw I dropped the Queen pawn early on, which he immediately pointed out so thank you Alex.  It made me realize the importance of protecting that IQP.   

An equal and fairly open position is available with correct play from black.

If white makes a blunder or mistake black has many attacking peices with good lines available to capitalize.  And I will also add it worked well in a live game against a Colle opening by white, as the 3.. c5 pawn push completely throws a Colle player.  I've played the Colle a few times and always dreaded the c5 move by black if the attack on e4 is not ready..

I'm happy you like it :) against 2.e3 you can even skip 2...e6 and play 2...c5 immediately, keeping open the option of developing the LSbishop outside the pawn chain!

If you're a beginner trying to look for weapons against 1. d4, don't try complicated theory openings. First off I do NOT recommend the Dutch as there are many pet lines against it; you must know your lines perfectly to play this. Playing the Semi-slav is fine if you are patient and positional while the Tarrasch is a good option if you are dynamic and willing to play with an IQP. I'd partially recommend the Indian defenses. The Kings indian I don't recommend because it has bookloads of theory but the Queens indian and Nimzo indian are very playable and offer good chances. The Gruenfeld is also fine, too. 

The Tarrasch Defence, Queen's Indian Defence and Old Indian are solid lines against d4 that internet players don't study, thus giving you an adventage.

The lines you recomend are loaded with Tons of theory. Just play openings that fit your style and stick with them.

Save yourself a lot of time and frustration.  If you don't learn to play the 1 d4 d5 positions first, you will struggle in your development. 

The Dutch and King's Indian are perfectly fine defenses, but you cannot hope to truly understand what is going on, the logic behind these alternatives, until you experience the pluses and minuses of Black's side of the QGD.  If you want to improve your game, you need to learn the basics first, and the more complex later.

You don't study calculus before you've learned algebra.

Definitely correct.I hope you take Estragons advice.

To Helltank, CHCL, Estragon and ori0:

I've gone with the Tarrasch and really like it.  The IQP positions are really outstanding for my style of play and I have won 10 of the last 12 games with it as black.  I'm going to play a dozen or so more games with it against 1.d4 and then explore some of the French variations that transpose into it.

@satxusa, glad to hear it is working for you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarrasch_Defense       http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen%27s_Gambit

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/explorer?node=1142174&move=4&moves=d4.d5.c4.e6.Nc3.c5&nodes=10703.75972.75973.75974.241699.1142174

Semi slav might not be appropriate for begginer, in semi slav there is the reynolds attack, shabalov attack,the d5, e5 and a4 lines vs meran, opponent might also play Bg5 where you can choose moscow or go to botvinnik system

OK, you are happy with an opening you are trying out, but being a diamond member please go to the chess videos and look at the the three "stonewall" videos, that can really tie up an over aggressive player.