positional conversation in the stonewall

Consider the end position. White or black? I'll tell my thoughts on the position later.

I think White is slightly better because black has doubled pawns in front of the king and white has a strong knight on e5

I'd say it's more or less even, white does have the possibility of bringing the rook out and attacking the kingside but that doesn't work, especially since white doesn't have many pieces developed, black doesn't have any attacking potential either but it isn't vulnerable to any threats, so, since neither side seems to have an edge over this looks like a draw to me.

I hate them too

What's a stonewall?

You usually get it as black from the dutch. However, one day some stupid genius decided to play it from the white side and tell all his friends, who told their friends, who told their friends, and now nobody plays it from the black side anymore.

i'd say black is better by about .2-.3 depending on engine

it's a stonewall so it means that white position can't be good in very long time perspective.. its just an opening ala We will build a wall... ehm... and then we will very slowly die behind it because of the lack of space..  yeah or alternatively it will end in total blocked drawish position...

however thats the ussual continuation only in long games what takes few hours... in blitz games and even in rapid its just a kinda solid defensive opening...

About the exchange.. i mean.. does it really matter? Those two bishops are gonna be exchanged anyway because its good for the black to do it because they have color on which are black pawns. Only difference is if the pawn is beter on g6 or f5..
i would say that on f5 its a little bit better for black because the pawn is just more near to the center there and some action like h3 g4 are a bit less likely after that..

Four educational posts?! I’d say you’re off the hot seat for demotion 😂

I just post whatever I feel like whenever I feel like 

I’d say it’s probably equal

Hard to tell. White has a strong knight on e5, but black has a strong e4 post to make up for it. The g-file is open. But black can occupy the g-file, not just white. White's dark squared bishop looks absolutely terrible behind the pawn chain. So I would say it's equal or black has a slight advantage. 

Looks like I am the only one who thinks white has an advantage

10. b4 1-0

hold on I take that back fianchetto DSB doesn't do anything

so black is winning by a large margin due to Kh8 and b5

Wait is the title supposed to be “conversation” or “conversion”?

conversation

Here is my take on this. In the current position, black has the plan of queenside invasion, maybe taking on d4 or pushing b5-b4. White, meanwhile, does not have any reasonable pawn break except g4. 

The pawn on f5 is very strong, making the g4 break difficult. In the future, black might play f6, kicking out the knight on e5, white's only strong point. 

So statically speaking, black is better. However, there are dynamic factors such as whether or not white can attack the king.

First, we should consider if white tries for a direct attack without playing g4.

Since the immediate rook life doesn't change anything, we should look at white's next logical plan, playing g4 immediately. If this cannot produce enough play, then there isn't really much else white can do for an advantage.

playing solidly doesn't help matters much either.

Well, you titled this "positional conversation" but I'm not so sure if the positional aspects of this position will decide the game. At an initial glance, I see a couple things: Black is two tempi ahead in development, black's bishop is wayyy better then white's bishy but white has the ne5 knight, and black has great control over the e4 square which is usually bad for white in a stonewall position such as this because white usually lazarbeams the b1-h7 diagonal with his lsb but then again white doesn't have his lsb anymore. I think, based on those characteristics of the position, black is positionally better. What keeps white in the game and potentially makes him better is attacking ideas down the g-file. And black's counter-play isn't so clear. c4, b5-b4, and stuff seems to slow and I honestly can't find anything other concrete ideas for black. I like the idea of kh1, rg1, g4, prying open the g-file. But then again, black might be able to defend with not to much effort but at my level I'm bent towards taking the attacking side of a position always because noone knows how to defend at my level. So I would definitely choose white if I were to play out this position myself. That being said I think white is probably still objectively slightly better because the pin along the g-file(bishy to king) once it opens looks very, very deadly and hard to defend against.

Oh, didn't even see you already posted. Got to go though, I'll read you analysis later. 

Black white died so black last one standing