The Dutch Defense and my confusion about it
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It's a very aggressive response to d4. It seeks to imbalance the position early on and get active play but significantly weakens blacks kingside especially the crucial f7 square which white often zeroes in on. Nevertheless it's a valid opening especially since most people don't know how to face it.
The position depends on the variation. The Stonewall Dutch is more solid, the Leningrad Dutch is pretty sharp and the Classical is somewhere in between. There are way to play against them, you should study up a little it's nothing scary. There is also something called the Staunton Gambit against the Dutch, not the best response but certainly interesting U2000.
Botvinnik played the Dutch and Carlsen has played Stonewall. Look up some of their games.
What are the general ideas of the Dutch defense against d4 and does it lead to more sharp, tactical positions or more positional ones? Also, I just started playing d4, so do you have any suggestions for how I should play against the Dutch? I'm not really sure how to face it. Finally, what are the advantages of the Dutch against d4?