Being a Leningrad player myself, I understand Anders's dilemma. He wants to play pure Leningrad while avoiding Staunton Gambit and some other minor lines such as 1.d4 f5 2.Bg5, 1.d4 f5 2.g4, 1.d4 f5 2.h3 etc. Before I play this line I carefully check my opponent's games to see if he plays those unusual moves. They generally do not. If I believe there is such possibility I start with 1.d4 d6. In case of 2.e4 I am ready to play 2....Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 transposing to Philidor. 
1.Nf3 might be problematic too because then 1...f5 2.e4 is another line I prefer avoiding. Therefore faced with 1.Nf3 I play 1....d6. So far in tournaments my opponents always went on with 1.Nf3 d6 2.d4 probably because 1.d4 / 1.Nf3 players tend to discourage black's 2...e5 as a rule of thumb. (1.d4 / 1.Nf3 players can correct me if I am wrong)
Generally speaking during tournaments I have never met 1.d4 d6 2. Nf3 f5 3.Nc3 as Black. Some people give the line 1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 f5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5. Why not to play 4....d5 now ? Lets compare with the main Nc3 line of Dutch: 
1.d4 f5 2.Nc3 Nf6 (better than 2...d5 according to many respectible sources) 3.Bg5 d5 4. Bxf6 exf6 5.e3 Be6
The difference is White has the extra Nf3 on the board. But I wonder if that extra move is useful or rather a questionable asset. Because in the main 2.Nc3 line the white King's Knight belongs to e2 square in the critical lines and f3 is suitable for white Q.
I therefore think 1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 f5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 d5 line is playable. And that should be valid for Leningrad players too because even though you start with 1.d4 f5 many white players might play 2.Nc3 so you should know this line anway. And I believe it is not something that should give you too much worry.

TN wrote on 04/13/10 at 04:04:37:


Most players I know after 1. d4 d6 answer with 2. Nf3 so as to avoid 2. c4 e5, since 1. d4 players tend to not bother with transpositions to 1. e4 openings.

In the case of 2. Nf3 Bg4 both 3. e4 and 3. c4 lead to a small plus for white, it's not like he's walking a tight-rope - black could just as well play an Old Indian instead and produce the same solid positions where he's slightly worse.

I had the Dangerous Weapons line in my repertoire a good year or more before the book. It's not something you need a book to figure out...

Then you must allow deviations after 1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 f5 indeed, or White will get you out of your repertoire.

There is a chapter on 1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 f5 (or rather 1.d4 f5 2.Nf3 d6) 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 in Dangerous Weapons - The Dutch. 

In Play 1.d4! Palliser recommended 1.d4 d6 2.c4 f5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5. The downside of this seems to be 2...e5, but that may not appeal to a Leningrad player.

OK, call it Pirc-Robatsch-Modern then. Point is I don't think a Pirc player should be particulaly be afraid of 1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 g6 3.e4 Nf6 4.Bd3.
1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 f5 3.e4 seems a bigger problem.

Black doesn't necessarily get a Pirc after 1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 g6 3.e4 Nf6, does he, since 4.Bd3 is possible?  So Black has to be prepared to play a against White's c3, d4, e5 setup, it would seem.

Further after 1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 f5, Black has to reckon with 3.e4.

Hi all.

I considering trying to to get into the Leningrad Dutch via the move order 1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 f5.

When looking in my reference data base it seems one added option for White (played by good players) with this move-order is 3.Nc3.   Best for black then seems 3...d5 but I do not then get the kind of positions I was looking for.

Any hints/comments/experiences from using 1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 f5 are welcome.

Cheers / Anders