[Event "?

"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Introduction"]
[Black "Introduction to 2. Nc3"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3
{ the 2. Nc3 variation, aiming to go e4. In Lichess amateur database this is the
fourth most popular move in this position after c4, Nf3, and e4 (the Staunton
Gambit) with 50 000 games. Play now branches as follows: Black's first and
overwhelmingly most common option is 2...Nf6 Lichess: ~38 000 games. We meet it
with 3. Bg5 and then Black usually plays the Classical setup with ...e6 (Chapter
2) , ~ 13 000 games. However, the better try is the Stonewall move 3...d5
(Chapters 3-4) , ~9000 games. The second option is the Leningrad move 2 ...g6.
However, it doesn't really work here (Chapter 5) , ~1600 games Blacks' final
option is (2 ...d5) which leads to two different Stonewalls depending on whether
Black follows up with 3...Nf6 or 3...a6/c6 (Chapters 6-7) , ~ 7000 games. }
*

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...Nf6, Classical with ...e6 or ...Ne4?!"]
[Black "Introduction"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 { Black's first option, controlling e4 with a piece. } 3.

Bg5
{ Pre-pinning the knight and threatening to take it. In this chapter we will look
at the Classical move 3...e6 , 13 000 games, and the knight jump 3...Ne4?! ,
~1000 games. Keep in mind that if Black ever plays ...h6 then 3...h6 4.Bxf6
followed by e4, and White has a solid advantage. }
*

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...Nf6, Classical with ...e6 or ...Ne4?!"]
[Black "Classical, 8...Nc6, 11...Re8"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 { The main idea is to play e4. } 2... Nf6

{ Black's first option. } 3. Bg5 e6
{ Black wants to play the Classical Dutch, but here the move is a mistake since it
does nothing to stop e4. }
4. e4
{ As GingerGM says in his 'Killer Dutch' (Everyman 2013) : 'This is the type of
position that I would aim to avoid'. p. 391 }
4... fxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7
{ Here you take with the bishop. Doing this removes Black's best defender of the
kingside, maintains your nice centralized knight and puts his bishop on a square
where it will look at the b2, c3, d4 pawn wall. }
6. Bxf6
{ We take the knight with the bishop, maintaining our nice central knight. }
6... Bxf6 7. Nf3 O-O 8. Bd3
{ This is Black's first real choice point. The best plan is to play 8...Nc6 with
the idea of trying to get in ...e5. Another option is to try to develop the bishop
by playing ...b6. }
8... Nc6 { Attacking d4 } 9. c3 { Defending d4 } 9... d5
{ If Black plays ...d5, bothering our knight then we take his bishop } 10.
Nxf6+ Qxf6 { Black's aim now is to play the liberating ...e5. But... } 11. Qe2
{ ...we stop this. Now Black can continue with Re8 or Bd7. } 11... Re8
{ Trying to force through e5. If 11...Bd7 12.O-O followed by Rfe1. } 12.
Bb5 { ...we stop it indirectly. } 12... Bd7 13. O-O
{ White is positionally dominant and engines show around +1 here. A simple plan is
to make it into a good knight (on) e5 vs bad bishop scenario. }
*

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...Nf6, Classical with ...e6 or ...Ne4?!"]
[Black "Classical, 8...b6"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bg5 e6 4. e4 fxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Bxf6 Bxf6 7. Nf3 O-O 8.
Bd3 b6
{ Black eschews the ...Nc6 idea and tries to fianchetto the bishop instead. This is
the second most common move. }
9. c3 Bb7 10. Qc2
{ Since Black has failed to put any pressure on White's centre, nor threatening to
liberate himself with e5, we can play Qc2, threatening Nxf6, followed by Bxh7+.
This is not at all easy to meet. For example... }
10... g6 11. h4
{ White has a strong kingside attack. If Black plays 11...h6 12.O-O-O } *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...Nf6, Classical with ...e6 or ...Ne4?!"]
[Black "3...Ne4?!"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bg5 Ne4

{ Some Black players will definitely try this knight jump a la Trompowsky, but here
it is dubious since you can just take it... Lichess: ~900x }
4. Nxe4 fxe4
{ Lots of moves are ok here (e. g. c3, e3) , but the simplest plan is to
undermine the Black pawn immediately with f3. }
5. f3 d5 6. e3 { Black has some options, but here's one sample line } 6... Nc6
7. fxe4 dxe4 8. d5 Ne5 9. Qd4 Nf7 10. Bf4 e5 11. dxe6 Bxe6 12. Qxe4
{ White is clearly much better with the bishop on e6 under attack and pinned and
a variety of moves available like Rad1, Bc4, Bd3, Nf3 etc. depending on what Black
does. }
*

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...Nf6, Stonewall with ...d5"]
[Black "Introduction"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bg5 d5 { the Stonewall move, stopping e4. } 4. Bxf6 exf6
{ This is our starting point. We play against d5 and f5 , and his king,
depending on where he castles. Black might play ...c6 to protect d5. We usually
develop with e3, Bd3, Qf3 and Nge2 to attack the f-pawn. However, if Black
indicates that he will castle O-O-O, then we will keep the queen home to swing it
over to the queenside. }
*

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...Nf6, Stonewall with ...d5"]
[Black "Inspirational Game: Gyula Breyer / Arthur Havasi vs. Lajos Asztalos /
Zsigmond Barasz, 1915"]
[Result "*"]

{ This inspirational game shows one way to conduct a kingside attack after Black
castles kingside. }
1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 f5 3. Bg5 Nf6 { We've arrived at our line by transposition. }
4. Bxf6 exf6 5. Nh3
{ Our move is 5. e3 and the g1-knight usually goes to e2. However, White shows here
a nice way to deploy the knights. }
5... c6 6. e3 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. Qf3 { Forcing g6 } 8... g6 9. Ne2
{ One of the knights will get to stay on f4 } 9... Be6 10. Nhf4 Qe7 11. h4
{ Harry goes up the board } 11... Bf7 12. g4 { and Garry follows } 12... fxg4
13. Qxg4 Kh8 14. h5 gxh5 15. Qf5 Be8 16. O-O-O Bxf4 17. Nxf4
{ The knight takes up its post } 17... Na6
{ Black only now gets to develop his final piece } 18. Rxh5
{ The finish after this is textbook } 18... Bxh5 19. Qxh5 Qg7 20. Ng6+ Kg8 21.
Rg1 hxg6 22. Bxg6 Rfd8 23. Bh7+ Kf8 24. Rxg7 Kxg7 25. Qg6+ Kh8 26. Qh6 *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...Nf6, Stonewall with ...d5"]
[Black "5...c6 with 9...Ne5"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bg5 d5 4. Bxf6 exf6 5. e3 c6

{ Here Black tries a very concrete computerish idea that comes at the 9th move... }
6. Bd3 Bd6 7. Qf3 { Forcing g6 } 7... g6 8. Nge2 Nd7
{ The third most common move, with an interesting idea. The most common moves
are ...O-O and ...Be6. }
9. h3 { With the idea to play g4 } 9... Ne5
{ Black aims for a fork. 2020 update: I have to say, in all my years of playing
this system, I've never seen this line and lichess database has a whopping 0 games
with it so the likelihood of ever encountering is basically non-existent. }
10. dxe5 fxe5 11. e4 dxe4 12. Bxe4 fxe4 13. Nxe4 Rf8 14. Nxd6+ Qxd6 15. Qc3
{ White will continue with Rd1, and then, at some point O-O and Rfe1 playing
against the isolated pawn. It'll be a little while before Black can castle. }
*

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...Nf6, Stonewall with ...d5"]
[Black "5...Be6 with 6...Nc6 and 0-0-0"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bg5 d5 4. Bxf6 exf6 5. e3 Be6 6. Bd3 Nc6

{ The main move. Black intends O-O-O. Against this, it's better to keep our Queen
at the home square to swing it over to the queenside at the appropriate moment
(instead of playing Qf3) . }
7. Nge2
{ We shouldn't fear ...Nb4 yet. This is only the third-most common move by White in
this position. }
7... Qd7
{ If 7...Nb4 8.Nf4! Nxd3 9.Qxd3 or 7...Nb4 8.Nf4! Qd7 9.Be2 followed by
a3. }
8. a3
{ Prophylaxis, preventing Nb4 and Bb4. Attack, preparing b4. Nf4 is fine as well. }
8... O-O-O { Black can choose to castle here which is indeed most common. } 9.
Na4 { Intending to play b4 and Nc5. } 9... g6 10. b4 Ne5
{ One option for Black is to look for simplifications with a discovered attack on
the knight on a4 . Again, in practical play this is very unlikely with exactly
zero games in the lichess amateur database, again. However, it has occurred at
master level twice. }
11. Nc5 Nxd3+ 12. Qxd3 Qe8
{ ...Bxc5 would be pretty miserable after bxc5, opening the b-file. We've been
following Akobian vs Tregunov, 2009 (see the next, video chapter for the rest of
the game) }
*

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...Nf6, Stonewall with ...d5"]
[Black "5...Be6 with 6...Nc6, and Ne7"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bg5 d5 4. Bxf6 exf6 5. e3 Be6 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Nge2 Qd7 8.
a3
{ GM Roland Pruijssers recommends 8...h5 here. You can meet this with 8. h4 and
then still go for the regular plan of Na4-b3-c4, even though you probably do have
to castle Queenside yourself here. For example, 8...h5 9.h4 O-O-O 10.Na4 }
8... Ne7
{ Black forgoes castling and tries to maneuver the knight to a good square on c4
or e4 . This is the most common move at master level, but only 4th most common at
amateur level. }
9. b3 { Preventing Nc4 and preparing c4. } 9... Nc8 10. Na4
{ Aiming to play Nc5 } 10... b6 11. c4 Be7 12. Nf4 dxc4 13. Nxe6
{ Attacking g7 } 13... Qxe6 14. bxc4
{ White has the better structure and safer king. } *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...Nf6, Stonewall with ...d5"]
[Black "6. Qf3!?"]
[Result "*"]
1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bg5 d5 4. Bxf6 exf6 5. e3 Be6 6. Qf3
{ Moskalenko's preference. He thinks there is no advantage for White in the main
line. The idea behind this move is revealed after Black's next. }
6... Nc6 7. Bb5 { This is the idea. } 7... Qd6 { Most popular. } 8. Nge2 O-O-O
{ Here White has two options. } 9. Nf4
{ Moskalenko's main line. The alternative is the familiar 9.a3 Kb8 10.Na4
Ne7 11.Nc5 Bc8 12.g3 h5 13.h4 g6 14.b4! see Akobian - Spragett, 2007. }
9... Bf7 { Or 9...Ne7 10.a3 Kb8 11.Na4 with the standard plan. } 10. Nd3
g6 11. a3 Kb8 12. b4 Ne7 13. Ba4 Nc8 14. Bb3 h5 15. O-O
{ White will plonk a knight into c5 and attack on the Queenside. } *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...g6, Leningrad"]
[Black "Leningrad 3...Nf6, 4...Nxh5"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 g6 { the Leningrad try, but it doesn't work very well here... }
3. h4 { Harry, Harry! } 3... Nf6 4. h5 Nxh5 5. Rxh5 { A typical sacrifice }
5... gxh5 6. e4 Bg7 7. Qxh5+ Kf8 8. Qxf5+ { White is winning } *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...g6, Leningrad"]
[Black "Leningrad 3...Nf6, 4...Bg7"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 g6 3. h4 Nf6 4. h5 Bg7 5. hxg6 hxg6 6. Rxh8+ Bxh8 7. Qd2

{ The Queen is threatening to go to h6 attacking the bishop and the g6-pawn. Black
can defend in two ways. First, Bg7... }
7... Bg7 8. Qg5 Kf7 { The only way to defend the g-pawn } 9. Nf3
{ Threatening Ne5+. Black can play either ...Nc6 or ...d6, but then we play Nh4
attacking the g-pawn. White is around +2,5 after that. }
9... Nc6 10. Nh4 *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...g6, Leningrad"]
[Black "Leningrad 3...Bg7"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 g6 3. h4 Bg7 { Black chooses to develop the Bishop first. } 4.

h5
{ Here Black can choose between several moves, but e4 is always a reliable
response, ripping the center open. }
4... d6 5. e4 *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...d5 with 3...Nf6"]
[Black "Introduction"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3
{ This is Black's third and best option, immediately clamping down on e4 and
playing the Stonewall. }
2... d5 3. Bf4
{ Without ...Nf6 yet played, the London style Bf4, controlling e5 and attacking
c7 is perhaps better than the Trompowsky style Bg5 (even though that move can be
played as well) . From here on, Black will play either ...Nf6 (most common with
~1100 games, this chapter) or ...a6 or ...c6 (together about ~11000 games, next
chapter) . }
*

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...d5 with 3...Nf6"]
[Black "6...Bb4+"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 Nf6 { London style } 4. e3 e6 5. Nb5

{ Attacking c7 and unblocking the c-pawn to allow for c4! } 5... Na6
{ The logical reply } 6. c4
{ Black normally plays c6 here, but he could try ...Bb4+ (or ...dxc4) . }
6... Bb4+ { Second most common move with only 17 games. } 7. Nc3
{ White has been able to push the c-pawn and now play will depend on what Black
does with too many options to try to go over. The main feature of this position is
Black's awkward knight on a6 so one should play with that in mind. }
*

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...d5 with 3...Nf6"]
[Black "8...Bd6 and 13...exd5"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nb5 Na6 6. c4 { } 6... c6

{ The logical and most common reply } 7. Nc3 Nb8 8. Bd3
{ Develop the bishop first } 8... Bd6
{ Black's main move here is ...Be7. If they play ...Bd6 it's best just to exchange
it. They're giving up their good bishop and get stuck with their bad one. }
9. Bxd6 Qxd6 10. Nf3 O-O 11. O-O Nbd7 12. Qb3
{ Putting pressure on d5 and f5 . } 12... Ne4
{ The typical stonewall jump, but this is problematic here. I've gotten this trap
at least 5-10x in Blitz&Rapid. }
13. cxd5 exd5 14. Nxe4 fxe4 15. Bxe4
{ Winning a pawn due to the pin. White's plan after this could be Bd3, Qc2 putting
pressure on h7 together with Rb1 and the minority attack with b4-b5. }
*

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...d5 with 3...Nf6"]
[Black "8...Bd6 and 13...cxd5"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nb5 Na6 6. c4 c6 7. Nc3 Nb8 8. Bd3

Bd6 9. Bxd6 Qxd6 10. Nf3 O-O 11. O-O Nbd7 12. Qb3 Ne4 13. cxd5 cxd5
{ Black recaptures with the c-pawn. Even though this is safer in this position, in
my experience Stonewall players normally don't do this because it allows for Nb5,
attacking the queen. }
14. Nb5
{ White's plan is simple: occupy the c-file with the rooks and penetrate on the 7th
rank. }
*

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...d5 with 3...Nf6"]
[Black "8...Be7 and 10...Nbd7?"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nb5 Na6 6. c4 c6 7. Nc3 Nb8 8. Bd3

Be7 { Black's main move } 9. Nf3 O-O 10. Qc2
{ Putting pressure on f5 and h7 } 10... Nbd7
{ This is a typical mistake...played 400!! times } 11. cxd5 cxd5
{ Black has three recaptures. exd5 drops the f-pawn to Bxf5 11...exd5 12.Bxf5 ,
Nxd5 is met by Nxd5, and 0-0, with the easy plan of dominating the c-file with the
rooks and penetrating on c7 . cxd5 is met by... }
12. Nb5 { Again, White threatens to penetrate on c7 . } *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...d5 with 3...Nf6"]
[Black "8...Be7, 10...Ne4!, 11...fxg4"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nb5 Na6 6. c4 c6 7. Nc3 Nb8 8. Bd3

Be7 9. Nf3 O-O 10. Qc2 Ne4
{ Black's best move is ...Ne4. Now, f5 is defended so they can aim to play
...Nbd7 & ...Ndf6 }
11. g4
{ Aiming to open the g-file to attack the castled king. Surprisingly, this is the
most common move at Lichess at amateur level (is it because of this
repertoire?) , but has been played only once at master level. }
11... fxg4 12. Ne5 Nf6
{ Ne4 is attacked 3 times so it has to return to f6. 12...Nxc3 13.Bxh7+ first
and then bxc3. }
13. O-O-O { White has a fierce kingside attack. } *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...d5 with 3...Nf6"]
[Black "8...Be7, 10...Ne4!, 11...Na6"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nb5 Na6 6. c4 c6 7. Nc3 Nb8 8. Bd3

Be7 9. Nf3 O-O 10. Qc2 Ne4 11. g4 Na6
{ With the idea of ...Nb4 and killing our Bishop } 12. a3 Qa5 13. Ke2
{ The king is best in the centre. } 13... Nxc3+ 14. bxc3 Nc7 15. Ne5 Ne8 16. c5
{ White is positionally dominant and can continue with his kingside attack. } *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...d5 with 3...Nf6"]
[Black "Inspirational Game: Timur Ivanov vs. Sarhan Guliev, 1995"]
[Result "*"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 e6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 f5 5. Bf4 Nf6 6. e3 Be7 7. Bd3 O-O 8. Qc2

{ Something like our line by transposition } 8... Ne4 9. g4
{ The required response to ...Ne4. } 9... Na6 10. a3 Qa5 11. Ke2 Nxc3+ 12. bxc3
Nc7 13. Ne5 Ne8 14. Rhg1 Nd6 15. gxf5 exf5 16. c5 { ...Ne4 then Bh6! } 16...
Ne8 17. Bg5 Qd8 18. f4 Bxg5 19. Rxg5 Qf6 20. Rag1 b6 21. Qa4 b5 22. Qa5 Kh8 23.
R1g3 Kg8 24. Kd2 Kh8 25. Be2 Qe6 26. Bf3
{ Bh5, aiming to remove the defender of g8 and c7 seems more logical } 26...
Bb7 27. h4 Qe7 28. h5 Qd8 29. Qxd8 Rxd8 30. h6 Rf6 31. hxg7+ Kg8 32. Bh5 h6 33.
Bf7+ Rxf7 34. Nxf7 *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...d5 with 3...Nf6"]
[Black "8...Be7, 10...Ne4!, 11...Qa5, 12...fxg4"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nb5 Na6 6. c4 c6 7. Nc3 Nb8 8. Bd3

Be7 9. Nf3 O-O 10. Qc2 Ne4 11. g4 Qa5 { The best move } 12. O-O
{ Ke2 is ok as well } 12... fxg4 13. Ne5 Nf6 14. f3 gxf3 15. Rxf3
{ White has again a vicious kingside attack. } *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...d5 with 3...Nf6"]
[Black "8...Be7, 10...Ne4!, 11...Qa5, 12...Na6"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nb5 Na6 6. c4 c6 7. Nc3 Nb8 8. Bd3

Be7 9. Nf3 O-O 10. Qc2 Ne4 11. g4 Qa5 12. O-O Na6 13. a3 Nxc3 14. bxc3
{ White has very good kingside attacking chances. } *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...d5 with 3...Nf6"]
[Black "5...Bd6"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nb5 Bd6

{ Some people have suggested that this voluntary parting with the bishop is Black's
objectively best (~26 games) . White usually takes, but c4 can be considered as
well. }
6. Nxd6+
{ After ...cxd6, White can choose between 7. Nf3 or 7. c3 with the idea of 0-0-0.
White scores better at all levels - you can look up the games in the database. }
*

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...d5 with 3...a6/c6"]
[Black "6...fxg4"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 a6
{ Black's best move, stopping Nb5. c6 could work in a similar fashion. } 4.
e3 Nf6 5. h3
{ This is a suggestion by GM Mesgen Amanov. The aim is to play g4 next. It's likely
that your opponent will not have studied it. For example, Neil McDonald recommends
3...a6 in his 'Play the Dutch' (Everyman 2010) but doesn't cover this move. }
5... e6 6. g4 fxg4 { Taking is bad, but some people might try it } 7. hxg4
{ The e6 pawn is backward. You threaten Bd3, g5, Qh5+. The e6 -pawn is a
weakness and you can use the e5 square and the open h-file. }
*

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...d5 with 3...a6/c6"]
[Black "6...Bb4"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 a6 4. e3 Nf6 5. h3 e6 6. g4 Bb4 7. Ne2

{ Developing and protecting the knight, making ...Bxc3 unlikely. } 7... O-O 8.
a3 Be7 9. gxf5 exf5 10. Be5 { So you can play Nf4 } 10... Nc6 11. Rg1
{ Starting the attack. Notice that...Nxe5 is impossible because after dxe5 the Nf6
has to move and the d-pawn hangs, e. g. 11...Nxe5 12.dxe5 Ne4 13.Qxd5+ }
*

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...d5 with 3...a6/c6"]
[Black "6...Bd6, fxg4"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 a6 4. e3 Nf6 5. h3 e6 6. g4 Bd6

{ The most common move. } 7. Nge2 { Developing and protecting the Bf4. } 7...
fxg4 { Black goes for the pawn } 8. hxg4 Nxg4
{ Black wins a pawn, but White will develop an attack. } 9. Bxd6 Qxd6 10. Nf4
Nf6 11. Bd3 Nc6 12. Nh5 { Removing the defender } 12... Qe7 13. Nxf6+ Qxf6 14.
Qh5+ Kd8 15. f4 Bd7 16. f5
{ Softening up the d-pawn. If 16...exf5 17.Nxd5 , if 16...Nb4 17.fxe6 }
*

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...d5 with 3...a6/c6"]
[Black "6...Bd6, 0-0"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 a6 4. e3 Nf6 5. h3 e6 6. g4 Bd6 7. Nge2

{ Black can just castle. } 7... O-O 8. gxf5 { Open the g-file. } 8... exf5 9.
Rg1 Nc6 10. Bxd6 { Trading, leaving f4 for the knight. } 10... Qxd6 11. Nf4 Be6
12. f3 { Preventing the knight from coming to e4 } 12... Rae8 13. Qd2 Bf7 14.
O-O-O b5 { Black tries to start an attack. } 15. Bd3 Nh5 16. Ncxd5
{ A little tactical sequence, inviting Bxd5. } 16... Bxd5 17. Nxh5 Bxf3 18.
Nxg7 Kh8 19. Nxe8 Rxe8 20. Rdf1 *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...d5 with 3...a6/c6"]
[Black "6...c5, 7. dxc5, Bxc5 with 8...exf5"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 a6 4. e3 Nf6 5. h3 e6 6. g4 c5

{ Objectively the best move, but not very common } 7. dxc5
{ Modern chess. Stockfish actually likes Nf3 here as well. This position has NOT
been reached in Lichess amateur games. }
7... Bxc5 8. gxf5 exf5
{ Not a good move since this leaves Black with an IQP and a somewhat weak f5
-pawn. }
9. Bg2
{ Pressuring the d5-pawn. White will continue with Ne2, Qd3, 0-0-0 and ultimately
take the pawn. }
*

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...d5 with 3...a6/c6"]
[Black "6...c5, 7. dxc5, Nc6, 8. Qf3"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 a6 4. e3 Nf6 5. h3 e6 6. g4 c5 7. dxc5 Nc6

{ The best move. } 8. Qf3
{ The safest way of playing. The aim of this move is to prepare a quick 0-0-0 to
evacuate the king from the center. I give some analysis of 8. Bg2 as an
alternative. Another possible move with similar ideas is 8. Nf3. Again, let me
note that the practical likelihood of getting here is exactly 0.00%. }
8... Qa5 { Natural attacking move } 9. O-O-O e5 10. Bg5 fxg4 { Best move. } 11.
Qg2 Be6
{ Defending the d-pawn. If 11...Bxc5 12.Bxf6 gxf6 13.Qxd5 with a huge
advantage. }
12. Bxf6
{ Removing a defender and destroying the kingside. What follows is a forcing line
which is unclear. It's up to you whether you want to enter it. }
12... gxf6 13. Rxd5 Nb4 14. Bc4 Nxd5 15. Bxd5 gxh3 16. Nxh3 Bxd5 17. Qxd5 Qxc5
18. Qxb7 Rc8 19. Qe4 *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2...d5 with 3...a6/c6"]
[Black "6...c5, 7. dxc5, Nc6, 8. Bg2"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 a6 4. e3 Nf6 5. h3 e6 6. g4 c5 7. dxc5 Nc6 8. Bg2

{ Frankukai suggested that 8. Bg2 is much more natural and better than my initial
recommendation of 8. Qf3. Indeed, it attacks the d-pawn which will become
unprotected after gxf5, exf5. There are some ways for Black to go badly wrong here,
but with best play both lines are messy and drawish. I leave the choice to you. }
8... Bxc5
{ Stockfish considers this developmental move Black's best. It does involve parting
with a pawn though. Trying to keep the pawn with fxg4 is not good. For example:
8...fxg4 9.hxg4 Bxc5 10.g5 Nd7 11.Qh5+ g6 12.Qh2 , and the Black king will
never find safety. }
9. gxf5 O-O 10. Nge2 e5
{ Black's best option here is to expand quickly with e5 and d4. } 11. Bg5 d4
{ Getting the push in. } 12. Ne4 { Here it is important not to take. } 12...
Bxf5 { Best move. The alternative is 12...Qa5+ 13.c3 and White is fine. }
13. Bxf6
{ Here practically the best option seems to be to win the exchange and see what you
can make of it. The alternative is 13.Nxc5 Qa5+ 14.c3 Qxc5 15.O-O }
13... Rxf6 14. Nxf6+ Qxf6 15. exd4 Bxd4 16. O-O
{ The position is more or less equal since Black can get the exchange back. }
16... Rd8 17. Nxd4 Nxd4 18. c3 Nc2 19. Qe2 Nxa1 20. Rxa1 *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Transpo Tricks: 1...e6"]
[Black "Classical with 4...Be7"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 e6
{ Black sometimes enters the Dutch via 1...e6, to avoid 2. Nc3 and 2. Bg5. This is
also recommended by GingerGM. Of course, they then have to be prepared to play the
French after 2. e4. However, if they play 1...e6, you can be pretty sure they are a
Dutch+French player. What you choose here depends on your overall repertoire, but I
recommend playing London style with 2. Bf4. }
2. Bf4
{ Now, play could transpose to London lines after 2...d5 or 2...Nf6 } 2...
f5 3. e3
{ A universally good move in this setup. Now, they can transpose to a Stonewall
line with 3...d5 or 3...Nf6 and a later ...d5. The only independent options
that make sense are the attempt to play the Classical with ...Nf6, ...Be7, and
...d6 or the Nimzo-style ...Nf6 and ...b6. }
3... Nf6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. h3
{ Prophylaxis: giving the bishop an escape square in case of ...Nh5. Attack:
preparing g4. }
5... O-O 6. Bd3 d6
{ White can choose to castle queenside and play g4 or kingside and play more
quietly. The key is to control the e4 square. For example, one attacking plan is
c4, Nc3, Qc2, 0-0-0, and g4, in some order. But it's not clear White can achieve it
if Black will play ...b6, ..Bb7, ...Na6 etc. So instead White might resort to c4,
Nc3, and 0-0. }
7. c4 *
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Transpo Tricks: 1...e6"]
[Black "Nimzo-Dutch with 4...b6"]
[Result "*"]

1. d4 e6 2. Bf4 f5 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nf3 b6

{ Black aims to fianchetto his 'bad bishop' to control e4 . White can continue
with 5. Bd3, 5. Be2 or 5. Nbd2. To me, it seems most logical to fight for the e4
-square with Bd3 and Nbd2 (also protecting the knight) . }
5. Bd3 Bb7 6. Nbd2
{ Here Black can try several moves like the normal ...Be7 (after which h3 and 0-0
are good) , ...Bd6 Bxd6 , or ...Ne4. Let's look at the last one in more depth
since it leads to forcing line. }
6... Ne4 { Black occupies e4 immediately. } 7. Bxe4 fxe4 8. Ng5
{ Attacking e4 } 8... Be7 { Attacking the knight } 9. Qh5+
{ Maneuvering the Queen into the position with check to protect the knight. }
9... g6 10. Qg4 { White can take on e4 soon and then play O-O-O. } *