I also got Simon's DVD and I really have to say it is a very nice piece of work! 
I watched it (some chapters I went over for a second time) and had the feeling that I was immediately ready to play the Classical Dutch in tournament games (I have never played it before)!

So I essayed it last weekend against a strong IM, and I won the game! 

Nevertheless some theoretical questions remain, and I would like to pose them here, I would be glad if Simon himself could give his opinion.

My game went 1.c4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Nc3 d6!? 4.d4 Nf6 5.Bg2 e6 6.e4!? (this variation is not mentioned on the DVD, only when black's pawn is still on d7, when he plays the same plan as in the game and is absolutely fine) fe4: 7.Ne4: 0-0 8.Ne2 Ne4: 9.Be4: d5 10.Bg2 (10.Bb1!?) dc4: 11.Qa4?! Nc6 12.Qc4: Bb4+ 13.Kf1 Qf6 and I was already better with a nice initiative (e.g. 14.Be3 Bd2! is uncomfortable).

However 11.0-0 would have been better, when I'm not sure that black gets full equality: 11. ... Nc6 12.Be3 Bf6?! (the most natural, but not good it seems) 13.Qc2 e5 14.Qc4:+ Kh8 15.d5 and white is clearly better.

12. ... Nb4 is surely playable, but I think it should be += because of the weak pawn on e6.

Perhaps holding on to the pawn is strongest(?!), when 12. ... Bd7 13.Rc1 b5 14.Nf4 Nb4!? (the bishop on g2 is important) 15.a3 Nd5 16.Nd5: ed5: 17.Bd5: Kh8 and again white might be slightly better.

So I think this quick e4 is white's most principled try if he wants to "refute" the anti-Enlish moveorder with d6. Should black accept the loss of a tempo against the English and play without d6?


More on my other questions later, I don't want the post to become too long because then nobody would look at it... 

Ametanoitos wrote on 02/20/10 at 00:05:11:


Rybka doesn't get it at first but using FireBird 1.1 with 3 GB of RAM it shows quickly that 14...c5 is indeed adequate for Black.

Yes 15.b3 is complicated but very difficult to deal with white's initiative for black otb. The critical and practical eye af a GM spotted it very quickly and it is annoying indeed i think....

But 12.Kxf1 dxc4 13.e3 e5 looks OK for Black. So, for the 20th time or so i switch again from 10...exf3 to 10...Nc6.

Ametanoitos wrote on 02/16/10 at 22:40:06:


I think this is close to equality. After 12. ... Na5!? 

1) 13. Ne5 Rxf1 it should be ok for black. 14. Qxf1 Bf6 
2) 13. cxd Nc4 = ... ?!

Or is there any other good idea for white ? I hope not... 

I also see that the 10th move Nc6!? is very critical and exf3 ist the main alternative for black.

No, not a specific reason. Mainly 7...Qe8 8.Re1 and 8.b4 concerned me but i never really tried to make this my main weapon against 1.d4. Btw i ordered the DW book and Simon's DVD so maybe i'll start studying this defense in some depth. I also like 7...Ne4 8.Nxe4 fxe4 9.Nd2 d5 10.f3 exf3 11.Nxf3 Nc6 12.Be3 (12.b3 Bd7!) 12...Na5N an idea of Tony Ro (now 12...Bd7 is answered by 13.cxd5 and 14.Qb3!) which the new strong engine FireBird 1.1 (much stronger than Rybka 3!) really likes.

Hi all, 

Juts thought that I would try to answer some of the questions that people have asked:

In reply to Amentanoitos 'Why you don't like 7...a5? Is due a specific variation?':
Well I am not sure where you got that impression from. 
I do like this variation it has always been a favourite of mine. It is obviously good to have a back up though. 
Saying that, a part of does believe that 7...Ne4 should be the best move.

In reply to the main line: 7...Ne4 8 Nxe4! fxe4 9 Nd2 10 f3 Nc6 11 fxe4 Rxf1+ I am still most worried about 12 Nxf1. All the other options look fine for Black, but like I mentioned before 12...dxc4 13 Be3 Bd7 may be ok for Black but I still suspect that White has a small edge due to his strong centre.

I am pretty convinced that all lines starting with 10...e3 are bad for Black, sorry Tony, this annoyed me as well!

In response to MNb: 'Hangover or no hangover, there is no reason to feel too bad about a loss against someone like Svidler. It is just that I - and probably a few others - think Svidler's play against you examplary.'
Svidler's play was examplary, he is a class act and his early Nd2 made me doubt the whole line with an early ...Bb4+
'You recommend 1.d4 e6 2.c4 f5 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 d6 7.Bg2 Qe7 8.Nc3 e5 in your book. Isn't White better after 9.dxe5 dxe5 10.0-0 and 11.Nd5 like Magerramov-Laketic, 1991 ? Eg 10...Nc6 (Laketic castled) 11.Nd5 Nxd5 12.cxd5 Nd8 13.Rac1'
I guess you mean 7 Nf3 
This line looks fine for Black to me. 10...Nc6? is a clear error a much more natural move would have been 10...c6 (to take control of the d5 square) For example, 11 Rad1 e4 12 Nd4 Ng4!?
White is ahead in development but Black has a strong pawn formation.

Hi Dean, thanks for your kind comments, (all comments are welcolm, good or bad!)
'12.. dxc4 13. e3 Na5 14. Qa4 b6 15. Kg1 Qd7 16. Qc2 Ba6 17. Bh3!? (idea d5) Qd6
18. e5 Qd7 19. Ne4 Rf8 20. Bd2 Nb7 21. Rd1 with pressure based on d5 ideas (21.. c6? 22. Qa4)'
I believe 14...c5 is a decent improvement here.

Anyway happy hunting in the Dutch. One thing is for sure the Dutch is an interesting way to meet 1 d4, it will give you attacking chances.
Any positive effect is that you should have a better idea about what is going on compared to your opponent.

Cheers for now:

Simon Williams GM
www.gingergm.com

Psycho-Cowboy wrote on 02/02/10 at 08:49:00:


First I'd like to say that I am a big fan of your book about Classical Dutch. Partly outdated of course, but still very usable. Let's remember that todays chess SW+HW is like 500 ELO stronger than 2003

Regarding the 12. Kxf1: 

The reason why I think it arguably is the best move is that neither of the 4 pieces belongs on f1. But unlike the other 3 moves, K being on f1 doesn't really lose anything in the center battle.

An example variation:

12.. dxc4 13. e3 Na5 14. Qa4 b6 15. Kg1 Qd7 16. Qc2 Ba6 17. Bh3!? (idea d5) Qd6
18. e5 Qd7 19. Ne4 Rf8 20. Bd2 Nb7 21. Rd1 with pressure based on d5 ideas (21.. c6? 22. Qa4)

c5 isn't easily accomplished and black has that weak e6 pawn.