Albeit, de really Stonewall interested chessfans should ofcourse follow the recent games of GM Sadler. His latest game against Ivanchuk showed his love for this recently found opening. But then again, the guy lives in Holland for over 10 years now.

ErictheRed wrote on 04/06/13 at 07:47:33:


Erm... this poster just demonstrated his vast superiority to 90% of the new posters... he can use the search tools! 

Quite the way to introduce unnecessary antagonism to a new poster.

To the OP,  I think what Eric meant was "We tend to prefer posts here with chess content.  Please share your good natured humor in the chit-chat forum."

make it stop! make it stop!

trying to learn the albin countergambit so i can at least break some of my stonewall addiction

MNb wrote on 05/14/09 at 05:53:26:


In a) is there anything to the idea of 0-0-0 for white at some point, instead of the quieter Be2/0-0? Even perhaps just 11.d5 followed up by c5 before black can get ...d6 in? *shrug* That'd make for an interesting discussion, but the fact 4...b6 equalizes quickly almost makes it pointless.

I only rated it higher because it was more common, I didn't give much thought to 5.Nbd2, honestly. Maybe it's worth looking into as well, it could be fertile ground. It just seems white does well enough after 5.Bd2 statistically that I didn't see a reason to look for more. I should know better than relying on statistics...  

1. Nf3 e6 2.c4 f5 and black will have to deal with annoying d3/e4 anti-Stonewall plans after 3.g3. On the upside, at least he'll have avoided the set-up earlier that can't be avoided via the Semi-Slav move order, and 1...f5 is easy enough to side-step by itself. The huge upside to the Semi-Slav move order is that white has committed himself to d4, if I remember correctly. However, as we've seen, black has to either deal with that set-up that scores really well for white, or be denied the Stonewall altogether because of 5.Bg5!?

Last time I checked the Stonewall doesn't fare so hot against English structures, but admittedly I have no access to theory on that area. If anyone has anything of relevance, I'd be happy to see it.

MNb wrote on 05/13/09 at 14:32:30:


5...Qe7 would likely have to be played, maybe it's okay. Otherwise 6.Nbxd2 followed by e4 is += as far as I can tell. Anyway, 5...Qe7 6. Bxb4! Qxb4 7.Nbd2 (followed by a quick a3 and e4) and black has let white achieve his aims.

I think black equalizes after 4...b6 anyway, since white can't achieve his goals and is left with an impotent version of a QID where black has achieved ...f5 without resorting to ...Ne4.

Against 1...f5 move orders white has other things he can do to avoid getting Stonewalled if he doesn't feel like it, anyway, so my post was mostly about the Semi-Slav Stonewall. The specifically Dutch move orders aren't as big a deal, heck they don't even seem to be the most popular route.

(For the record, I play 1.Nf3 so the Semi-Slav Stonewall is after transpositions, and against 1...f5 I just play 2.d3 because it takes zero effort to prepare, and still offers some chances of an edge even after the most accurate 2...Nc6).

BPaulsen wrote on 05/13/09 at 11:32:39:


Why? 1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 e6 4.Qc2 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Bxd2+ and cannot Black reach an IZ with the bishops of the dark squares exchanged? That improves Black's chances considerably as the thematic ...e6-e5 becomes easier. Or is 6.Nbxd2 followed by 7.e4 that strong? If yes then 5...Qe7 should be good enough.
As a general rule I fear x...Bb4+ y.Nbd2 more. White develops rapidly, gets the pair of bishops so ...e6-e5 will favour him and will initiate a pawn storm on the queenside. It's often very hard to develop counterplay.

tafl wrote on 05/13/09 at 06:29:47:


Yes, 3.Nf3.

It isn't a "minor concession", it's a common tool to transpose directly into the Catalan. It's only a "minor concesssion" if white intends to play QGD lines exclusively.

If 4...Bd6!? then 5. Bg5!? and no Stonewall. If someone is a Semi-Slav/Stonewall player, then he's not going to have fun in that line.

Quote:


It's safe to say 4...Bb4+ is not very good for black after 5.Bd2. 4...b6 is probably best.

Either way, black is forced out of his Stonewall, and that's an entirely different line to address.

There's always other things that can be used to deal with Stonewalls arising from 1...f5 anyway, and my post was mainly focused on the Semi-Slav Stonewall.