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After looking over the position some more, I think that TomR is likely correct that White's best option after 1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 Bg4 3.e3 Nd7 is 4.d4 followed by 5.Bd3 or 5.Be2 (since Black has forever given up Bc8-a6 ideas, it is not clear that d3 is a better square for the B than e2), transposing into a Stonewall structure for White. Although I called White's position "insipid" in my last post, I did not mean to imply that White is actually worse and I doubt that he is. In fact, the word "insipid" is probably not particularly apt.
I play the Stonewall as Black from time to time and usually Black does not play d5 (thus completing the "Stonewall") until either White has commited to the kingside fianchetto or White has played Pe2-e3 with the White B still on c1. But this is mostly because there are some Bd3+Bf4 set-ups that are quite dangerous for Black due to White's ability to open lines on the kingside with a quick Pg2-g4. (Serper-Sequera, San Felipe 1998 is a good example of the dangers lurking in such positions.) This same concern would not appear to apply to White's Stonewall setup here because (i) Black's Bc8 has gone to g4, not f5; and (ii) White is, of course, a tempo up on the normal Black Stonewall position, making any hyperagressive tries by Black much more dangerous.
So I would say that this is actually a quite decent Stonewall position for White. Although Black's position is obviously not bad, his early Bg4 may prevent him from playing some of the most promising plans, at least without a loss of tempo. It doesn't seem that significant that Black has not yet committed to c7-c5, because Black will likely want to play that move anyway and will find it hard to generate play on the queenside if he doesn't. And if Black goes for a kingside fianchetto (the most popular set-up against the Stonewall by far), the move Bc8-g4 appears to be premature. If Black goes for a Nh6 setup (analogous to a Nh3 variation against the Stonewall for White), then Black's light-square B really belongs on f5 rather than g4 (the whole point of this set-up being to exchange White's Bd3 by playing Bf5 without allowing White to ruin Black's pawn structure), and if Black goes for a Nf6 set-up then the Bg4 may actually be slightly misplaced (Bg5 is not considered a promising move for White in similar positions against a Black Stonewall set-up).
In my database, White scores 12/24 or 50% from the position after 4.d4 despite being outrated by an average of 55 pts, which is not bad. Of those games, Berkvens-Fressinet, WCh under-18 Oropesa 1999 showed some very thematic Stonewall play by White in the opening. Although Berkvens eventually lost, he seemed to have a nice edge from move 17 on and was probably winning at some pt around move 28 before Fressinet swindled him. Also interesting for its early kingside aggression by White is Williams-Palliser, Smith & Williamson 1999, although Black's 11...h6? against an attacker like Williams seems somewhat akin to waving a red cape at a bull.
I suspect that the chief danger of this Stonewall set-up is that, if you only play the Dutch Leningrad and not the Dutch Stonewall as Black, you may not be as familiar with the typical strategies in Stonewall positions (which tend to be quite strategic in nature). However, it is also possible that your opponent will not be a 1.d4 player who understands how to play against a Stonewall structure. For anyone who is interested in learning more about such things, I can recommend Jacob Aagaard's "Dutch Stonewall" as an excellent source of explanations of the relevant strategies and piece set-ups.
- Geof Strayer
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Why is the Birds Defence so unusual? (Read 50380 times)
