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.

Well, 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c6 4. Qc2 Nf6 often doesn't become a Closed Catalan, though it certainly could.

The move-order 1.d4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.c4 (planning Nh3) allows 4...Bb4+!? on which there is a very thought provoking article in Secrets of Opening Surprises no. 9 by Glek. In my opinion this is much more than a normal SOS article. If this option doesn't bother White, then 4.c4 is an excellent weapon against the Stonewall. However, White must also decide how to handle 4...c6, as 5.Nh3 is too early. 5.Nd2 and 5.Qc2 probably are best but not necessarily ideal moves in a Nh3 Stonewall.

In a way 1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 e6 4.Nc3 is an excellent anti-Stonewall weapon as 4...d5?! 5.Bf4 is very difficult for Black. On the other hand this probably is a rather harmless system after Black's best move 4...Bb4. In my database White scores only 45% in 1187 games. Statistically 5.Qb3 looks best (the only move to score over 50%). A mainline seems to run 5...a5 6.g3 b6 7.Bg2 Bb7 8.O-O O-O when Black still scores well above 50% but with some notable names (Smyslov, Sakaev, Malaniuk, Yudashin, Gurevich etc.) on White's side.

Another challenge if you go for the d4, c4, Nf3, Nc3 set-up is the move-order 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 when White must go for the Noteboom (4.Nf3 dxc4), the Marshall (4.e4!?) or allow a transposition to the Stonewall with 4.g3 f5 or 4.e3 Bd6 5.Nf3 f5. 

A possibly underestimated option is 1.d4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.Nf3 d5 5.c4 c6 6.Bf4!?. White scores well in the 45 games I find in my database. It probably doesn't offer anything against a well prepared Black but could confuse a lot of those lazy souls (me included!) who enjoy the Modern ...Bd6 Stonewall.

Antillian wrote on 05/11/09 at 11:04:57:


Yes...this is a possibility. Otherwise I think MNb:s post on the Nh3 system is interesting. I will probably go for the Nh3-system or possibly try J. Cox suggestion despite the fact that I am a bit suspicious about it. But  the queenside play mentioned by thibdb13 has to be studied...interesting as it is.

The Stonewall problem still feels unsolved. But I could be a bit closer.

What about the b3 system ? Anyone playing or played it ?

Bogojump wrote on 05/11/09 at 10:11:26:

The idea of the Nh3-system is to transfer it via f4 to d3, which is perfectly possible after ...Be7. The manoeuvre is not a loss of tempo compared to Ng1-f3-e1-d3.

Bogojump wrote on 05/11/09 at 10:11:26:


My preference is the Rubinstein (2.c4, 3.Nc3, 4.e3), castling queenside and go for Black's king. But I suppose that does not fit in your Anti-Dutch repertoire.
If you really don't have a clue, play the king's fianchetto with Nf3, Nc3, Bg5. Be happy if you manage to exchange the dark-squared bishops. Then decide to play either a pawnstorm on the queen's wing with c4-c5 or to exchange on d5. After ...cxd5 invade via the c-file and after ...exd5 play the minority attack. Let Black worry about counterplay.

You may want to get a hold of Avrukh's GM Repertoire 2 which will be due out in a month or two.