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"Earth-Shaking" Question for 2000+ players
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Jun 22, 2025
0
#3
68-JWST wrote:
Hey folks,
As the lowest rated guy at my local chess club, I've realized I lose most OTB games against 1.d4. My trusty Dutch Defense with a queen-side fianchetto used to be my weapon, but now "hard players" are making better moves (ouch! Pun intended!). I'm struggling to get an opening advantage and end up losing due to small endgame mistakes. Looking for a new opening that'll give Black a better shot. Any suggestions against 1.d4?
Is the Dutch Defense really that good at the top level (within 2000-2200) or am I just playing it wrong?
I play the Dutch and currently Over the Board I am 2069.
The queenside fianchetto only works if White doesn't fianchetto first, and before you can fianchetto, you need to have the light squares solidly covered. Something like 1.d4 f5 2.c4 b6 is a mistake.
Before you attempt to play ...b6 and ...Bb7, you need to play, in some order, ...f5, ...Nf6, and ...e6. What order you do that in depends on what sidelines you can tolerate. By playing 1.d4 f5, you need to have knowledge of what to do against 2.e4, 2.g4, 2.Nc3, and 2.Bg5, By playing 1...e6 first, you have to be willing to play the French if White plays 2.e4. 2.Bg5 and 2.g4 are stupid, and 2.Nc3 can be answered by 2...Bb4!
What you do after those 3 moves depends on what White has done:
1) If White has played g3 by move 4 or earlier, you have to go for either a Stonewall or Classical. On the flip side, ONLY if White has played g3 should you go Stonewall or Classical. Which one you play is personal preference. I play both, but far more often I play the Stonewall.
2) If White has played d4, c4, Nc3 and Nf3, where the Knight can no longer go to e2, then Black should play 4...Bb4! It plays similar to a Nimzo-Indian (the line with 4...b6 where Black plays 7...Ne4 and 8...f5), but with ...f5 already played, no need to go Ne4 unless there is another purpose for the move besides just getting the f-pawn out.
3) If White has not played g3 AND White has not played d4/c4/Nc3/Nf3, then your answer is 4...b6!
4) A little known line against the London that you should know. 1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 f5 3.Bf4 Nf6 4.e3 b6 5.Bd3 Bb7 6.O-O Be7 7.Nbd2 O-O 8.h3 (or 8.Re1), Black should play NOT 8...Ne4, but rather, 8...Be4! It prevents White from cutting off the Bishop's control of e4 via d5, and White cannot take with the Knight on d2 as Black takes with the pawn with a fork. This gets rid of White's good Bishop, and then depending on how White follows, Black can often get a Stonewall setup with the bad bishop gone.
Hope this helps.
Jun 22, 2025
0
#5
you could certainly play this at even the highest levels , but if you facing stronger players, you will face more and more challenging replies. As thriller correctly pointed out, with black (unlike the bird opening with white) you simply dont have the luxury to always play for the queen flank from dutch positions in which case you need to revert back to some other formation like the classical dutch, leningrad or the stonewall. Even when you can play for the flank it is not always particularly good. you will also start facing more opponents who play early d4-d5 which requires some obstuse development from black. Then there is the existential question of what to do with the queen knight in those positions.
If you losing in the endgame you seem to be at least surviving the opening. Your options are 1. learn the opening really well, preferably get a good book or course on it, 2. learn a different defense, 3.both. I recommend all players to have at least two replies vs 1.d4, and at least one of those should be a "safe" one . dutch is not "unsound" but i certainly woudnt call it safe.
Jun 22, 2025
0
#6
ThrillerFan wrote:
68-JWST wrote:
Hey folks,
As the lowest rated guy at my local chess club, I've realized I lose most OTB games against 1.d4. My trusty Dutch Defense with a queen-side fianchetto used to be my weapon, but now "hard players" are making better moves (ouch! Pun intended!). I'm struggling to get an opening advantage and end up losing due to small endgame mistakes. Looking for a new opening that'll give Black a better shot. Any suggestions against 1.d4?
Is the Dutch Defense really that good at the top level (within 2000-2200) or am I just playing it wrong?
I play the Dutch and currently Over the Board I am 2069.
The queenside fianchetto only works if White doesn't fianchetto first, and before you can fianchetto, you need to have the light squares solidly covered. Something like 1.d4 f5 2.c4 b6 is a mistake.
Before you attempt to play ...b6 and ...Bb7, you need to play, in some order, ...f5, ...Nf6, and ...e6. What order you do that in depends on what sidelines you can tolerate. By playing 1.d4 f5, you need to have knowledge of what to do against 2.e4, 2.g4, 2.Nc3, and 2.Bg5, By playing 1...e6 first, you have to be willing to play the French if White plays 2.e4. 2.Bg5 and 2.g4 are stupid, and 2.Nc3 can be answered by 2...Bb4!
What you do after those 3 moves depends on what White has done:
1) If White has played g3 by move 4 or earlier, you have to go for either a Stonewall or Classical. On the flip side, ONLY if White has played g3 should you go Stonewall or Classical. Which one you play is personal preference. I play both, but far more often I play the Stonewall.
2) If White has played d4, c4, Nc3 and Nf3, where the Knight can no longer go to e2, then Black should play 4...Bb4! It plays similar to a Nimzo-Indian (the line with 4...b6 where Black plays 7...Ne4 and 8...f5), but with ...f5 already played, no need to go Ne4 unless there is another purpose for the move besides just getting the f-pawn out.
3) If White has not played g3 AND White has not played d4/c4/Nc3/Nf3, then your answer is 4...b6!
4) A little known line against the London that you should know. 1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 f5 3.Bf4 Nf6 4.e3 b6 5.Bd3 Bb7 6.O-O Be7 7.Nbd2 O-O 8.h3 (or 8.Re1), Black should play NOT 8...Ne4, but rather, 8...Be4! It prevents White from cutting off the Bishop's control of e4 via d5, and White cannot take with the Knight on d2 as Black takes with the pawn with a fork. This gets rid of White's good Bishop, and then depending on how White follows, Black can often get a Stonewall setup with the bad bishop gone.
Hope this helps.
Thanks. I didn't know about the London line.
Jun 22, 2025
0
#7
ThrillerFan wrote:
The queenside fianchetto only works if White doesn't fianchetto first, and before you can fianchetto, you need to have the light squares solidly covered. Something like 1.d4 f5 2.c4 b6 is a mistake.
Hope this helps.
Hi,
can you explain precisely why 2...b6 is a mistake? How should white respond? White's not forcing in e4 anytime soon. The "main" move is 3 Nc3. Yes I am fully, completely aware of the engine recommendation, which seems to exploit b6 as a "tempo loss" but let's just ignore that engines exist for a bit, and talk on human terms, because no white player is going to play the engine move without direct targeted prep vs a specific player.
In the database, there are higher rated players playing this move order as black than as white (2300-2400's, versus 2279 as white!).
Jun 23, 2025
0
#8
Falkentyne wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
The queenside fianchetto only works if White doesn't fianchetto first, and before you can fianchetto, you need to have the light squares solidly covered. Something like 1.d4 f5 2.c4 b6 is a mistake.
Hope this helps.
Hi,
can you explain precisely why 2...b6 is a mistake? How should white respond? White's not forcing in e4 anytime soon. The "main" move is 3 Nc3. Yes I am fully, completely aware of the engine recommendation, which seems to exploit b6 as a "tempo loss" but let's just ignore that engines exist for a bit, and talk on human terms, because no white player is going to play the engine move without direct targeted prep vs a specific player.
In the database, there are higher rated players playing this move order as black than as white (2300-2400's, versus 2279 as white!).
Because you need stable control of the light squares. Why do players play 1...d5, 1...Nf6, or in this case 1...f5, in response to 1.d4? To prevent e4.
How can White grab control of e4? By getting more pieces to control the e4-square than Black.
With just 1...f5, Black eyes e4 only once. Now what is the difference between 2...Nf6 and 2...b6? One directly controls e4, the other requires another move in 3...Bb7. What else is different? To dislodge the Knight, White must give up the dark-squared Bishop and our good one is unopposed! The Bishop, because it cannot jump, does not need to be dislodged. It can be BLOCKED! After 1.d4 f5 2.c4 b6 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.d5, the threat is 5.e4 again. Also, now a move like ...e6, White can take and saddle Black with a weak e6-pawn when he recaptures! Remember, your Bishop is now on b7, not c8, where lines like 1.d4 e6 2Nf3 f5 3.d5 Nf6 4.dxe6, Black can respond with 4...d6 and recapture with the Bishop (Any Ng5 or Nd4 move the Knight isn't staying there long).
So f5 and Nf6 need to be played to control e4, and e6 needs to be played to contest d5, where if d5 is played, it won't sit there for long protected UNLESS Black is ready for ...d6 and ...e5, getting the pawn duo on e5 and f5, like in the Classical Dutch, in which case all d5 does is Block White's own pieces because now e4 will usually be answered by ...f4 with the center blocked and a kingside attack.
So you need to get a grip on e4 and contest d5 before you start trying to fianchetto that light-squared Bishop.
Jun 23, 2025
0
#9
ThrillerFan wrote:
Falkentyne wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
The queenside fianchetto only works if White doesn't fianchetto first, and before you can fianchetto, you need to have the light squares solidly covered. Something like 1.d4 f5 2.c4 b6 is a mistake.
Hope this helps.
Hi,
can you explain precisely why 2...b6 is a mistake? How should white respond? White's not forcing in e4 anytime soon. The "main" move is 3 Nc3. Yes I am fully, completely aware of the engine recommendation, which seems to exploit b6 as a "tempo loss" but let's just ignore that engines exist for a bit, and talk on human terms, because no white player is going to play the engine move without direct targeted prep vs a specific player.
In the database, there are higher rated players playing this move order as black than as white (2300-2400's, versus 2279 as white!).
Because you need stable control of the light squares. Why do players play 1...d5, 1...Nf6, or in this case 1...f5, in response to 1.d4? To prevent e4.
How can White grab control of e4? By getting more pieces to control the e4-square than Black.
With just 1...f5, Black eyes e4 only once. Now what is the difference between 2...Nf6 and 2...b6? One directly controls e4, the other requires another move in 3...Bb7. What else is different? To dislodge the Knight, White must give up the dark-squared Bishop and our good one is unopposed! The Bishop, because it cannot jump, does not need to be dislodged. It can be BLOCKED! After 1.d4 f5 2.c4 b6 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.d5, the threat is 5.e4 again. Also, now a move like ...e6, White can take and saddle Black with a weak e6-pawn when he recaptures! Remember, your Bishop is now on b7, not c8, where lines like 1.d4 e6 2Nf3 f5 3.d5 Nf6 4.dxe6, Black can respond with 4...d6 and recapture with the Bishop (Any Ng5 or Nd4 move the Knight isn't staying there long).
So f5 and Nf6 need to be played to control e4, and e6 needs to be played to contest d5, where if d5 is played, it won't sit there for long protected UNLESS Black is ready for ...d6 and ...e5, getting the pawn duo on e5 and f5, like in the Classical Dutch, in which case all d5 does is Block White's own pieces because now e4 will usually be answered by ...f4 with the center blocked and a kingside attack.
So you need to get a grip on e4 and contest d5 before you start trying to fianchetto that light-squared Bishop.
Your move order doesn't work. 4 d5?! gives up half of white's advantage, and 5 dxe6? the remaining part, and black is now better, whether black full gambits with 5...Nf6 or plays 5...Bb4. 5 a3 is forced for White to retain any control over the position. He should have aimed for more. Your moves basically gave black a dream version of the English Defense, with ...f5 already thrown in.
The top engine move is the same move after 3 Nc3 Bb7, and 2...b6. Bg5! is the move that counter's black's setup. 3 Nc3 Bb7(?!) 4 Bg5, since ...e6 can't be played and 4...g6 allows 5 e4 and 4 h6 5 Bh4 g5 6 e3.
The presence of 3...Bb7 vs the B on c8 (2...b6) does not alter anything after 3 Bg5! or 4 Bg5, which is why 3...e6 is a better attempt. But after 4 a3, black's entire setup looks like he's living in dreamland:
1 d4 f5 2 c4 b6 3 Nc3 e6!?, (better than 3....Bb7 4 Bg5!) the best move is 4 a3, since otherwise ...Bb4 is annoying. But white wouldn't have had to take time out for 4 a3 yet if he had played 3 Bg5!
Jun 23, 2025
0
#10
Uhohspaghettio1 wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Falkentyne wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
The queenside fianchetto only works if White doesn't fianchetto first, and before you can fianchetto, you need to have the light squares solidly covered. Something like 1.d4 f5 2.c4 b6 is a mistake.
Hope this helps.
Hi,
can you explain precisely why 2...b6 is a mistake? How should white respond? White's not forcing in e4 anytime soon. The "main" move is 3 Nc3. Yes I am fully, completely aware of the engine recommendation, which seems to exploit b6 as a "tempo loss" but let's just ignore that engines exist for a bit, and talk on human terms, because no white player is going to play the engine move without direct targeted prep vs a specific player.
In the database, there are higher rated players playing this move order as black than as white (2300-2400's, versus 2279 as white!).
Because you need stable control of the light squares. Why do players play 1...d5, 1...Nf6, or in this case 1...f5, in response to 1.d4? To prevent e4.
How can White grab control of e4? By getting more pieces to control the e4-square than Black.
With just 1...f5, Black eyes e4 only once. Now what is the difference between 2...Nf6 and 2...b6? One directly controls e4, the other requires another move in 3...Bb7. What else is different? To dislodge the Knight, White must give up the dark-squared Bishop and our good one is unopposed! The Bishop, because it cannot jump, does not need to be dislodged. It can be BLOCKED! After 1.d4 f5 2.c4 b6 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.d5, the threat is 5.e4 again. Also, now a move like ...e6, White can take and saddle Black with a weak e6-pawn when he recaptures! Remember, your Bishop is now on b7, not c8, where lines like 1.d4 e6 2Nf3 f5 3.d5 Nf6 4.dxe6, Black can respond with 4...d6 and recapture with the Bishop (Any Ng5 or Nd4 move the Knight isn't staying there long).
So f5 and Nf6 need to be played to control e4, and e6 needs to be played to contest d5, where if d5 is played, it won't sit there for long protected UNLESS Black is ready for ...d6 and ...e5, getting the pawn duo on e5 and f5, like in the Classical Dutch, in which case all d5 does is Block White's own pieces because now e4 will usually be answered by ...f4 with the center blocked and a kingside attack.
So you need to get a grip on e4 and contest d5 before you start trying to fianchetto that light-squared Bishop.
"white can take and saddle black with a weak e6 pawn when he recaptures".
Curtains for black so at that point?
It may not be "Curtains", but a clear advantage for White. White should never have a clear advantage in the opening. That signifies that Black's choice of line is unsound. If Black plays a legitimate opening, the position will be = or +/=. If it is +/-, Black's play is unsound, and if +-, it is completely busted/ refuted.
But "unsound" and "curtains" are not synonymous. Only an extremist would think such!
Jun 23, 2025
0
#11
Falkentyne wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Falkentyne wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
The queenside fianchetto only works if White doesn't fianchetto first, and before you can fianchetto, you need to have the light squares solidly covered. Something like 1.d4 f5 2.c4 b6 is a mistake.
Hope this helps.
Hi,
can you explain precisely why 2...b6 is a mistake? How should white respond? White's not forcing in e4 anytime soon. The "main" move is 3 Nc3. Yes I am fully, completely aware of the engine recommendation, which seems to exploit b6 as a "tempo loss" but let's just ignore that engines exist for a bit, and talk on human terms, because no white player is going to play the engine move without direct targeted prep vs a specific player.
In the database, there are higher rated players playing this move order as black than as white (2300-2400's, versus 2279 as white!).
Because you need stable control of the light squares. Why do players play 1...d5, 1...Nf6, or in this case 1...f5, in response to 1.d4? To prevent e4.
How can White grab control of e4? By getting more pieces to control the e4-square than Black.
With just 1...f5, Black eyes e4 only once. Now what is the difference between 2...Nf6 and 2...b6? One directly controls e4, the other requires another move in 3...Bb7. What else is different? To dislodge the Knight, White must give up the dark-squared Bishop and our good one is unopposed! The Bishop, because it cannot jump, does not need to be dislodged. It can be BLOCKED! After 1.d4 f5 2.c4 b6 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.d5, the threat is 5.e4 again. Also, now a move like ...e6, White can take and saddle Black with a weak e6-pawn when he recaptures! Remember, your Bishop is now on b7, not c8, where lines like 1.d4 e6 2Nf3 f5 3.d5 Nf6 4.dxe6, Black can respond with 4...d6 and recapture with the Bishop (Any Ng5 or Nd4 move the Knight isn't staying there long).
So f5 and Nf6 need to be played to control e4, and e6 needs to be played to contest d5, where if d5 is played, it won't sit there for long protected UNLESS Black is ready for ...d6 and ...e5, getting the pawn duo on e5 and f5, like in the Classical Dutch, in which case all d5 does is Block White's own pieces because now e4 will usually be answered by ...f4 with the center blocked and a kingside attack.
So you need to get a grip on e4 and contest d5 before you start trying to fianchetto that light-squared Bishop.
Your move order doesn't work. 4 d5?! gives up half of white's advantage, and 5 dxe6? the remaining part, and black is now better, whether black full gambits with 5...Nf6 or plays 5...Bb4. 5 a3 is forced for White to retain any control over the position. He should have aimed for more. Your moves basically gave black a dream version of the English Defense, with ...f5 already thrown in.
The top engine move is the same move after 3 Nc3 Bb7, and 2...b6. Bg5! is the move that counter's black's setup. 3 Nc3 Bb7(?!) 4 Bg5, since ...e6 can't be played and 4...g6 allows 5 e4 and 4 h6 5 Bh4 g5 6 e3.
The presence of 3...Bb7 vs the B on c8 (2...b6) does not alter anything after 3 Bg5! or 4 Bg5, which is why 3...e6 is a better attempt. But after 4 a3, black's entire setup looks like he's living in dreamland:
1 d4 f5 2 c4 b6 3 Nc3 e6!?, (better than 3....Bb7 4 Bg5!) the best move is 4 a3, since otherwise ...Bb4 is annoying. But white wouldn't have had to take time out for 4 a3 yet if he had played 3 Bg5!
4.d5 is actually not dubious. White still maintains a 0.5 to 0.6 advantage after 5.a3 Nf6 6.Bf4 (Preventing ...e5)
Jun 23, 2025
0
#12
You say you are "losing due to small endgame mistakes". Perhaps working to improve your endgame technique would be the best choice.
Jun 23, 2025
0
#16
ThrillerFan wrote:
Falkentyne wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Falkentyne wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
The queenside fianchetto only works if White doesn't fianchetto first, and before you can fianchetto, you need to have the light squares solidly covered. Something like 1.d4 f5 2.c4 b6 is a mistake.
Hope this helps.
Hi,
can you explain precisely why 2...b6 is a mistake? How should white respond? White's not forcing in e4 anytime soon. The "main" move is 3 Nc3. Yes I am fully, completely aware of the engine recommendation, which seems to exploit b6 as a "tempo loss" but let's just ignore that engines exist for a bit, and talk on human terms, because no white player is going to play the engine move without direct targeted prep vs a specific player.
In the database, there are higher rated players playing this move order as black than as white (2300-2400's, versus 2279 as white!).
Because you need stable control of the light squares. Why do players play 1...d5, 1...Nf6, or in this case 1...f5, in response to 1.d4? To prevent e4.
How can White grab control of e4? By getting more pieces to control the e4-square than Black.
With just 1...f5, Black eyes e4 only once. Now what is the difference between 2...Nf6 and 2...b6? One directly controls e4, the other requires another move in 3...Bb7. What else is different? To dislodge the Knight, White must give up the dark-squared Bishop and our good one is unopposed! The Bishop, because it cannot jump, does not need to be dislodged. It can be BLOCKED! After 1.d4 f5 2.c4 b6 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.d5, the threat is 5.e4 again. Also, now a move like ...e6, White can take and saddle Black with a weak e6-pawn when he recaptures! Remember, your Bishop is now on b7, not c8, where lines like 1.d4 e6 2Nf3 f5 3.d5 Nf6 4.dxe6, Black can respond with 4...d6 and recapture with the Bishop (Any Ng5 or Nd4 move the Knight isn't staying there long).
So f5 and Nf6 need to be played to control e4, and e6 needs to be played to contest d5, where if d5 is played, it won't sit there for long protected UNLESS Black is ready for ...d6 and ...e5, getting the pawn duo on e5 and f5, like in the Classical Dutch, in which case all d5 does is Block White's own pieces because now e4 will usually be answered by ...f4 with the center blocked and a kingside attack.
So you need to get a grip on e4 and contest d5 before you start trying to fianchetto that light-squared Bishop.
Your move order doesn't work. 4 d5?! gives up half of white's advantage, and 5 dxe6? the remaining part, and black is now better, whether black full gambits with 5...Nf6 or plays 5...Bb4. 5 a3 is forced for White to retain any control over the position. He should have aimed for more. Your moves basically gave black a dream version of the English Defense, with ...f5 already thrown in.
The top engine move is the same move after 3 Nc3 Bb7, and 2...b6. Bg5! is the move that counter's black's setup. 3 Nc3 Bb7(?!) 4 Bg5, since ...e6 can't be played and 4...g6 allows 5 e4 and 4 h6 5 Bh4 g5 6 e3.
The presence of 3...Bb7 vs the B on c8 (2...b6) does not alter anything after 3 Bg5! or 4 Bg5, which is why 3...e6 is a better attempt. But after 4 a3, black's entire setup looks like he's living in dreamland:
1 d4 f5 2 c4 b6 3 Nc3 e6!?, (better than 3....Bb7 4 Bg5!) the best move is 4 a3, since otherwise ...Bb4 is annoying. But white wouldn't have had to take time out for 4 a3 yet if he had played 3 Bg5!
4.d5 is actually not dubious. White still maintains a 0.5 to 0.6 advantage after 5.a3 Nf6 6.Bf4 (Preventing ...e5)
The problem is, the move 4 d5?! I marked as dubious because it can *create* a situation where White can blunder (5 dxe6 question mark). And d5 takes a lot of potential pressure out of the position, which is why the evaluation drops from 0.85 to 0.45. Someone with the White pieces should never be baited into these situations. Yes White is still better after a3 and Bf4 (this is a standard piece setup when both ...g5 question mark and ...e5 are impossible).
It's worth comparing the engine lines coming from the variation 1 d4 f5 2 Bg5!? and 1 d4 f5 2 Nc3 with similar ideas, when Black already has to fight hard in those lines, the move ...b6 does nothing to cross white's idea, since Black does not maintain control over e4 anyway.
It's similar to why 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 f5?! 4 Nf3 c6 5 Bf4 is dubious for black, whether or not he responds with ...Bd6. Black has absolutely no control over e5, and sure, Black can sink the kitchen sink into the e4 square, but White still has pawn control over e4 with f3 to expel invaders (this must be prepared carefully) and it takes accurate moves for White to not *squander* his advantage in this stonewall setup.
You could learn complimentary openings such as the Slav where you can enter stonewall positions, potentially after developing the bad bishop to the kingside. There is also the Zukertort system where you have the queen side fianchetto and are playing for knight in the middle with f5.
Jun 24, 2025
0
#18
those early d4-d5 in these lines of the dutch can be annoying but they are not as dangerous as they were thought to be. Black just needs to play precisely . The danger of those positions is blacks suboptimal play can really make the eval swing heavily in white's favor. its dangerous for black to "wing it" in those positions.
Jun 24, 2025
0
#19
as a 1944 USCF kid (I'm 10 years old) I think playing the King's Indian Defense is pretty solid. although the evaluation doesn't like it for black, I think it's pretty aggressive - but if aggressive isn't your taste, then try something else
also - I'm pretty sure young people like aggressive stuff more than adults
68-JWST wrote:
As the lowest rated guy at my local chess club, ...
The Classical/Stonewall Dutch is kinda okay, but a rough ride against stronger opponents. I used it as my main opening for a few years (1983-1986). Despite knowing more Dutch theory than my higher rated opponents, I think I lost just about all my games when playing up (2200-2400). Discouraging. I switched to Nimzo + Ragozin (at that time nobody played the Ragozin). Despite knowing less Nimzo theory than my higher rated opponents, I was able to win against them sometimes. (Ragozin is not that good though, I put it in the same basket as the Dutch. Pretty useless against +200 Elo white.)
Anyway if you plan to improve you are going to need another defense to 1 d4. So stick with the Dutch for now since it's what you know, but look around for something else. Take your time deciding, especially keep an open mind. For example as a positional player I never trusted the Tarrasch Defense for black. But I became friends with a master who played it exclusively and he was pretty persuasive that it was okay for black. I got great results with it against all levels of opponent. Sure I had to draw a pawn-down rook ending a few times against 2100 players, on the flip side I had some good games against GMs (no wins there though). It's not the opening for everybody, but the point is the Tarrasch really made me re-evaluate what my actual style was, versus what I thought my style was (or should be). So keep an open mind.
Hey folks,
As the lowest rated guy at my local chess club, I've realized I lose most OTB games against 1.d4. My trusty Dutch Defense with a queen-side fianchetto used to be my weapon, but now "hard players" are making better moves (ouch! Pun intended!). I'm struggling to get an opening advantage and end up losing due to small endgame mistakes. Looking for a new opening that'll give Black a better shot. Any suggestions against 1.d4?
Is the Dutch Defense really that good at the top level (within 2000-2200) or am I just playing it wrong?