Dutch Defence
One pawn move takes the e4-square away from White for the whole game and tells them the fight is on the kingside. Most 1.d4 players under 1200 have a comfortable routine against ...d5 and ...Nf6; against ...f5 they have nothing, and you get the attacking chances.
Spar this openingYour setup
- Knightf6 / e4
- Bishope7 / d6
- Knightd7 / c6
- Queene8 / h5
- Bishopd7 / b7
- Pawnsf5 e6 d6
- CastleO-O
d6 before e5. ...d6 first. ...e5 with the d-pawn still on d7 is met by dxe5 and there is nothing to take back with: you are simply a pawn down.
Ideas
...f5 stops e4. Keep it stopped: ...Nf6, then a knight of your own lands there.
White's whole 1.d4 plan is to get a second pawn to e4 and own the centre. The f5-pawn says no, the f6-knight says no again, and once you have castled the e4-square becomes a home for your knight rather than their pawn. If you are unsure what to do, ask whether e4 is still yours.
The break is ...e5, but only after ...d6 guards it.
...e5 is the move the whole Classical setup is built for: it opens the e7-bishop, frees the f5-pawn to advance and hits d4. Played too early it just drops a pawn to dxe5. The order is ...e6, ...Be7, ...O-O, ...d6, ...Qe8, ...Nbd7 and then ...e5.
...f5 loosened e6, g6 and the e8–h5 diagonal. Castle early and don't chase bishops with pawns.
Your king's cover now leaks on the light squares: a queen on h5 is a check, e6 is a target for a knight or a bishop on b3, and ...g5 or ...h6 pawn moves make it worse. The cure is boring and effective: ...Nf6, ...e6, ...Be7, ...O-O, and only then think about attacking.
Meet 2.Bg5 with ...Nf6. ...h6 and ...g5 walk into Qh5 mate.
White's bishop on g5 looks annoying, and the pawn-kicking reflex (...h6, ...g5) is exactly what it wants: after e3 the h4-bishop is bait, and Qh5+ is checkmate because ...f5 opened the diagonal. Play ...Nf6 and let Bxf6 exf6 happen if it must; your two bishops and e4-grip are worth the doubled pawn.
After 2.e4, take the pawn and put the knight on f6. Give it back rather than fall behind.
2.e4 fxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 is White's most aggressive try. You are a pawn up and White has the moves. Develop with ...Nc6 or ...c6 and ...d5, keep the king safe, and if the pawn costs too much to hold, hand it back with a normal position. Greed is what the gambit is fishing for.
...Qe8 unpins the e-pawn, backs ...e5, and eyes h5.
It looks odd, but the queen on e8 does three things at once: it takes the queen off the d-file so ...e5 doesn't run into dxe5 and Qxd8, it backs the e-pawn once a knight supports the break, and it can swing to h5 for a kingside attack when the centre closes. One catch: with the bishop on e7 the queen does not see e5, so ...Nbd7 goes in before the pawn goes forward. Learn it as a set piece: ...d6, ...Qe8, ...Nbd7, ...e5.
Castled, ...d6, ...Qe8 and ...Nbd7 in? Break with ...e5, or plant a knight on e4 and attack.
The Dutch is a plan, not a memory test. With the king safe and the setup complete, you have two ways forward: ...e5 (once two pieces guard it) to open the position and free your pieces, or ...Ne4 followed by ...Qh5, ...Rf6 and ...g5 for a direct kingside attack when White has closed the centre with d5. Pick one and commit; sitting still is the only real mistake.
The structure
Traps
The tell: White's bishop lands on g5 on move two and the pawn-kicking reflex kicks in.
...f5 opened the e8–h5 diagonal, and ...h6 and ...g5 open it further. The bishop on h4 is bait: take it and the queen arrives on h5 with checkmate, because g6 and f7 have no defenders left. Meet 2.Bg5 with ...Nf6 and let Bxf6 exf6 happen if it must.
The tell: The urge to strike in the centre before the setup is finished.
The break is the point of the opening, but without a pawn on d6 there is nothing to recapture with. dxe5 wins a pawn, ...Ng4 attacks it and Nf3 simply defends it. Play ...d6 first, then ...Qe8, then ...e5.
The tell: White plays e4 without any piece behind it, hoping you will not take.
The whole point of ...f5 is that e4 is not available. After ...fxe4 the pawn is yours, and ...d5 holds it: if Nxe4 dxe4 Bxe4 then ...Nxe4, and if Bxe4 Nxe4 Nxe4 dxe4 you have won a piece for a pawn. White must play f3 or Nc3 first to make e4 work, and both cost time.
Model games
The whole plan: develop behind the f-pawn, castle, ...d6, ...Qe8 and ...Nbd7, then ...e5 opens the position. After the trades on e4 your rook owns the f-file and the bishop on d6 points at their king.
The other main Dutch setup: bishop on g7 instead of e7, same ...d6, ...Qe8 and ...e5 idea. When White closes with d5 your knight goes to a6 and c5 and the kingside attack begins.
White gambits a pawn for speed. You take, develop with ...Nc6 and ...Ne5, and when White finally regains the pawn you have a solid position, two bishops, and no weaknesses.
How the coach grades a move
Every move you play gets one of six grades, from the engine’s view of the position, with the book’s verdict taking over when it is harsher. The sentence beside it is always the reason. Tap it for what the move did, why this opening wants it, and whether anything was better.
- Best
- Nothing better was available.
- Good
- Within a few percent of best. Noise at this depth.
- Playable
- A small real gap. The better move is named, play goes on.
- Inaccuracy
- Seven to twelve points of winning chances. The game stops to show you.
- Mistake
- Twelve or more, or a move the book warns against, or a broken order rule.
- Blunder
- Twenty-five or more. Usually material.
Catalogued as A80–A99 in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, the reference index most databases sort by.