halfacreek wrote on 05/18/09 at 13:19:54:
I've been toying with the Bird's opening as white and the Dutch as black. However, before I delve too deeply and spend too much time on them I wanted to know what the current opinions and status of these openings were and if these were viable options at the amateur level? Are there problem variations that one needs to especially prepare for?
Thanks
The Bird's Opening is 100% sound. Don't expect any sort of edge out of the opening by virtue of the move itself, but given that you'll be in familiar positions that your opponent doesn't see often, it's not a bad opening to have in your repetoire. There's ample opportunity to outplay an unwary opponent, and there are plenty of people completely unprepared for it.
Be prepared in the From's Gambit, especially. There's nothing else exotic that black can throw at you that will jeopardize your position. There's a lot of club players that will throw out 1...e5 without knowing hardly any theory at all. If you know the theory, you will beat them handily.
The Dutch Defense is perfectly sound as well, but you will need to be prepared in all of the Anti-Dutch Systems, because very rarely will you get a main line Dutch at the club level. The Anti-Dutch Systems don't really promise white anything, but black needs to be prepared for them. The Staunton Gambit comes to mind as something you will see quite a bit, in addition to 2. Bg5, 2. Nc3 with 3. Bg5, and various g4 spikes.
Both are just fine on the amateur level. If you work diligently, you will have a pair of openings you can play for a very long time, that always fly under the radar.