We already saw earlier how the Dutch Defense can create bizarre attacks and punish passive White openings. Yet there is a reason it is falling out of favor (and has been for a while)- opening theory has caught up to it. Themes from older variations, like the Blackburne variation, have been proven true and the top GMs of the last 20-30 years have discovered that White can make due with a flexible set up and activity on the Queen side, rather than targetting the center and king side with Black (for a good study on the development of that theme for White, look into the World Championship matches between Smyslov and Botvinnik). First, we'll look at how Kasparov beats Nigel Short with the White pieces in the Dutch Defense. In 1987. In 61 moves. Twice. It's a little eery. If you want to search these games, make sure to look at the location or ECO numbers as everything else is the same.
We already saw earlier how the Dutch Defense can create bizarre attacks and punish passive White openings. Yet there is a reason it is falling out of favor (and has been for a while)- opening theory has caught up to it. Themes from older variations, like the Blackburne variation, have been proven true and the top GMs of the last 20-30 years have discovered that White can make due with a flexible set up and activity on the Queen side, rather than targetting the center and king side with Black (for a good study on the development of that theme for White, look into the World Championship matches between Smyslov and Botvinnik). First, we'll look at how Kasparov beats Nigel Short with the White pieces in the Dutch Defense. In 1987. In 61 moves. Twice. It's a little eery. If you want to search these games, make sure to look at the location or ECO numbers as everything else is the same.