Dutch Courage

Hi All,

A question to any Dutch defence players - what book is best for a beginner who is looking to get some understanding of basics & strategy of classical Dutch?

I'm thinking of getting one of the following

Killer Dutch ( Simon WIlliams)

Diamond Dutch (Moskalenko)

Play the classical Dutch (Simon WIlliams).

Any other book suggestions welcome.

A separate question: Does white have many anti-Dutch options if one was to open up with 1...e6? What are they?

Thanks!

I cannot speak for the first half as I am a former Stonewall Dutch player that played the Classical "when needed", like against early Nh3 or early Bf4 lines.

But the second half I can help you with as I started with 1...e6.

It avoids 2.Bg5 lines.

Against 2.Nc3, you can avoid the Dutch all together and play 2...Nf6 or 2...d5

Other moves like 2.g4 are nonsense.

The big negative, if it is not your normal defense to 1.e4, is that you must be willing to play the French Defense (2.e4!).  If the French is your normal defense to 1.e4 (like it is mine), and you do not play the Leningrad Dutch, I always suggest 1...e6 over 1...f5.

Thanks - yes, I'm looking into the French too, as a response to 1.e4 and a transposition from 1.d4 e6.

Want to try out the general ideas in classical, stonewall and Leningrad variations and see which one sticks.

Why would I want to avoid Dutch in case of 2.Nc3? 

I recommend KID instead of dutch, the gameplan is the same but you won't get those awkward positions from the dutch.

#4
The King's Indian Defence gets awkward positions too, that is why Kasparov and Radjabov gave up on it and switched to the Queen's Gambit Accepted.

#1
The best resource are annotated grandmaster games.
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1860337 

Yep, KID's also on the menu. Can then play 1. d6 Kid & Leningrad or 1. e6 Classical-Stonewall-Nimzo&Bogo, whatever eventually takes my fancy. That's the plan anyway.

A good starting point is "Starting Out: the Dutch Defence" by Neil McDonald. He is an excellent chess author, and his book covers the basics of all 3 major variations as well as anti-Dutch systems.

McDonald recommends 1...e6 as the response to 1. d4 as a way to avoid most of the anti-Dutch systems. He points out, as did @ThrillerFan in #2 above, that you have to be prepared to play the French if White answers 2. e4. Playing 1...e6 also leaves you with the Classical or Stonewall Dutch, because in the Leningrad you usually want to play ...e5 at some point and ...e6 first loses a tempo. 

It's one less anti-dutch to worry about.  Why add more work?

White has only 2 decent options after 1.d4 e6 2.Nc3 d5.

3.Bf4, the Jobava Attack, but the fact you have not played Nf6 yet does give some flexibility.  The immediate 3...f5 is bad, but I would play the immediate 3...Bd6, which is not possible after 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bf4.

The other option is 3.e4, which is the French Defense.

Anything by Neil Macdonald is likely excellent, he has not published a bad book to date from what I've heard.

Thanks. 

I went with "Play the Classical Dutch" by Williams and I really like it so far. Written in simple enough language that old dumbos like me can understand it.

I'll add MacDonald's book to the list.

I've had a wee play with 2.Nc3 and I can see how it messes up the Dutch, but what's a Jobava attack? Does it not simply transpose to a version of London? In which case Ilyn-Genevsky should be a comfortable way to meet it.

Another Q - would playing 1...d6 be a good way to cut out anti-Dutch when going for Leningrad? Or does one need to learn all the anti lines if he wants to play the Leningrad?

If White responds with 2. e4, you're not going to have a Dutch.