The Leningrad Dutch is a very complex, double edged, but fighting and aggressive opening black could employ to win games! You don’t play it for a draw!
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The Dutch Defense is a very powerful weapon to add to your repertoire. It’s an opening system rather than an opening with an exact move order, and it can be reached via many different moves, and played against many different openings white chooses.
It can be employed against the Reti, English, and even Nimzo-Larsen, but the main line Dutch is played against d4.
The idea behind the Dutch is to challenge the center straight away by playing f5, thus taking control of the e4 square, and making it very hard for white to expand in the center. The downside of the move f5 is that it weakens the black king in more ways than one. It weakens the seventh rank, and both diagonals looking at f7.
Both sides have plenty of options at their disposal after the starting moves 1.d4 f5. White could choose to enter the main lines, but he could also play the London system (with Bf4), the Raphael variation (with Nc3), the aggressive Staunton Gambit (with e4, giving up a pawn), or the Hopton attack (Bg5). The normal way for white to play, though, is with c4, g3 and Bg3.
Against these main setups for white black can choose between three different systems withing the Dutch defense; the Leningrad Dutch, the Classical Dutch, and the Stonewall Dutch.
The Leningrad Dutch is a combination of the King’s Indian and the Dutch. Black plays a KID setup with the pawn already on f5, which means all kingside attacks are quicker, and the f pawn is already where it belongs.
The goal is often to get a favorable KID. The downsides of moving the f and g pawns are apparent too, and a single mistake could mean defeat.
The Leningrad Dutch is very theory heavy and it will require both theoretical knowledge and the understanding of plans. I hoped this video helps with both!
#chess