Page 1 of 5 A system against the Dutch Stonewall Defence Index Abstract Starting position Conclusions Relevant links Games download Further reading Abstract This technical white paper provides a system of playing against the Dutch Stonewall defence. This is one flavour of the dutch defence which was favoured by great players such as Botvinnik. Modern Grandmasters that play the Dutch Stonewall defence with frequency include Nigel Short, Simon Agdestein, In this flavour of the Dutch, black has a committed pawn structure on the light squares. The system recommended is very clear cut system featuring a dark square strategy to exploit the weakened dark squares by trying to exchange off blacks dark squared bishop. Starting position Black's pawn structure gives opportunities for later having a strong grip on the e4 square, and prospects of a king side attack, if white does not play carefully. The system this paper recommends is a positional method of gaining control of the weakened dark squares in the black position. Bg2 Bd6 b3!
Page 2 of 5 Black can try and prevent White's plan temporarily by now playing Qe7. White has two systems at his disposal. The first which is not as popular as the second, is White playing a4. This suffers from the drawback of weakening the b4 square, but can prove effective as the example game below shows. System with a4 against Qe7 Event Chalapathi GM White Ibragimov, I (2611) vs Rahman, Z (2465) Result 1-0 1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 f5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 d5 5. O-O Bd6 6. c4 c6 7. b3 Qe7 8. a4 This move persistently pursues the plan of exchanging off black's dark squared bishop, not worrying about the weakening of the b4 square. O-O 9. Ba3 Bxa3 10. Nxa3 a5 11. Qc2 Na6 12. Rfc1 Ne4 13. Ne5 Nb4 14. Qb2 f4 15. f3 Nd6 16. c5
Page 3 of 5 White is not afraid to play this committal pawn move, which removes the tension on d5. Ne8 17. Qd2 g5 18. Nc2 Nxc2 19. Rxc2 Ng7 20. g4 This moves leaves white with a slight but solid positional advantage. The exchange of dark squared bishops, and the playing of c5, has resulted in White's knight on e5 being very well placed. White can now think about pawn breakthroughs to increase the advantage. Ne8 21. e3 and White went on to win with... Qg7 22. Re1 fxe3 23. Qxe3 Nf6 24. Bf1 Nd7 25. Nd3 Kh8 26. Rf2 Rb8 27. f4 b6 28. fxg5 Rxf2 29. Qxf2 bxc5 30. Rxe6 Ba6 31. Nxc5 Bxf1 32. Nxd7 Qxd7 33. Qf6+ Kg8 34. Re7 Qxg4+ 35. Kxf1 Qh3+ 36. Kg1 Qg4+ 37. Kf1 Qh3+ 38. Ke1 Qc3+ 39. Kf2 Qc2+ 40. Re2 Qg6 41. Qxg6+ hxg6 42. Re6 Kf7 43. Rf6+ Kg7 44. Rxc6 Rxb3 45. Rc5 Rb4 46. Rxd5 Rxa4 47. Ke3 Ra2 48. Rd7+ Kf8 49. Ra7 a4 50. Ke4 Rxh2 51. Ke5 Rf2 52. Ke6 Rf5 53. d5 Rxg5 54. d6 Rg1 55. Ra8+ Kg7 56. d7 Re1+ 57. Kd6 Rd1+ 58. Kc6 Kf6 59. d8=q+ Rxd8 60. Rxd8 Ke5 61. Ra8 1-0 System with Qc1 against Qe7 White playing Bb2, is much more popular than a4. White will follow with Qc1, and exchange the dark squared bishops. This obviously does not compromise the b4 square and arguably is a strong plan than a4. Stem game This game demonstrates a set up for white of putting the queen on b2, and simply bringing the rooks to the centre, to anticipate any releasing of tension in the centre. Black in this game, plays for a
Page 4 of 5 queenside bishop fianchetto for the dreaded light squared bishop. [Event "ch-fra (team)"] [Site "1998-9 French Team Ch FRA"] [Date "1999.??.??"] [White "Rechlis, G"] [Black "Vaisser, A"] [Round "7"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2514"] [BlackElo "2559"] [ECO "A13"] 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d4 c6 4. g3 Bd6 5. Bg2 f5 6. O-O Nf6 7. b3 Qe7 8. Bb2 b6 9. Qc1 Bb7 10. Ba3 Bxa3 11. Nxa3 O-O 12. Qb2 Na6 13. Rac1 c5 14. Rfd1 Ne4 15. e3 White has achieved a comfortable position. Black's dark squares have been weakened, and White has very well harmonised pieces. Nb4 16. cxd5 Bxd5 17. Nb5 a6 18. Nc3 Nxc3 19. Rxc3 Qb7 20. Ne1 Bxg2 21. Nxg2 Rad8 22. Qe2 Nd5 23. Rcc1 cxd4 24. Rxd4 e5 25. Rdc4 b5 26. Rc5 White has achieved a clear advantage by simplifying the position. Black has many weaknesses which can be exploited. Rc8 27. Qb2 Rxc5 28. Rxc5 Re8 29. b4 Kh8 30. Nh4 f4 31. Nf5 Qd7 32. e4 Nf6 33. Qc2 f3 34. Rc7 Qd8 35. Nxg7 Rg8 36. Nf5 Rf8 37. h3 Qe8 38. Ne3 Qg6 39. Qc5 1-0 Other Example games
Page 5 of 5 Where black plays Qe7 [Event "It A"] [Site "Paretana ESP"] [Date "2000.??.??"] [White "Skembris, S"] [Black "Rahal, M"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2477"] [BlackElo "2397"] [ECO "A40"] [Round "7"] 1. d4 e6 2. c4 f5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 d5 5. Nf3 c6 6. O-O Bd6 7. b3 Qe7 8. Bb2 O-O 9. Qc1 b6 10. Ba3 Bxa3 11. Qxa3 Qxa3 12. Nxa3 Nbd7 13. Rac1 Bb7 14. cxd5 exd5 15. Rc2 Rfe8 16. Rfc1 Ne4 17. Ne1 a5 18. Nd3 Nd6 19. e3 Re7 20. h4 Ne4 21. Nb1 Rf8 22. Nc3 Nxc3 23. Rxc3 Ra8 24. Rxc6 Bxc6 25. Rxc6 Rb8 26. Bxd5+ Kf8 27. Be6 g6 28. h5 Kg7 29. hxg6 hxg6 30. Bxd7 Rxd7 31. Ne5 Rd5 32. Rxg6+ Kh7 33. Rf6 b5 34. Rxf5 a4 35. bxa4 b4 36. Rf7+ Kg8 37. Ra7 1-0 [Event "It A"] [Site "Paretana ESP"] [Date "2000.??.??"] [White "Skembris, S"] [Black "Moskalenko, V"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2477"] [BlackElo "2471"] [ECO "A40"] [Round "9"] 1. d4 e6 2. c4 f5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 d5 5. Nf3 c6 6. O-O Bd6 7. b3 Qe7 8. Bb2 O-O 9. Qc1 b5 10. Ne5 Bb7 11. Nd3 Nbd7 12. Nd2 a5 13. c5 Bc7 14. Nf3 Ne4 15. a3 h6 16. b4 axb4 17. axb4 Rxa1 18. Bxa1 Ra8 19. Bb2 Ra4 20. Nfe5 Nxe5 21. dxe5 Qg5 22. e3 Qd8 23. f3 Ng5 24. Qc3 Nf7 25. f4 Nh8 26. Bf3 Ng6 27. Nc1 Bc8 28. Nb3 Bd7 29. Nd4 Ne7 30. g4 Qf8 31. Bd1 Ra8 32. h3 g6 33. Rf2 Kh7 34. Rg2 Qf7 35. Bc2 Bd8 36. Kh2 Bc7 37. Qe1 fxg4 38. hxg4 Kg7 39. Qg3 Rg8 40. Kg1 Kf8 41. Qh4 h5 42. Nf3 hxg4 43. Ng5 Nf5 44. Bxf5 Qxf5 45. Nh7+ Kf7 46. Qf6+ Ke8 47. Qxf5 gxf5 48. Nf6+ Kf7 49. Rh2 Bc8 50. Nxg8 Kxg8 51. Bc3 1-0 Conclusions This is a logical system which seeks to emphasis the dutch stonewall's dark squared weaknesses in a logical manner. Relevant links Exeter chess club's Dutch Stonewall paper (White perspective) Games download 850 Dutch stonewall games to play through! (zipped PGN) Further reading Modern Stonewall Dutch by Eric Schiller