- The moves1. d4 f5
- Chosen byBlack
- ECOA80–A99
The Dutch Defense comes after 1.d4 f5. The pawn on f5 takes control of e4 and prepares an attack on White's kingside. The drawback is that Black's own kingside is weakened, especially the diagonal from e8 to h5. Like the Sicilian Defense against 1.e4, the Dutch is a defense that creates imbalance from the first move.
Elias Stein, an Alsatian living in The Hague, recommended the defense as the best answer to 1.d4 in a book from 1789. Hence the name. The Dutch has never been a main line, but Alekhine, Larsen and Nakamura have played it with success, and in the 1951 world championship match both the champion, Mikhail Botvinnik, and the challenger, David Bronstein, played it.
The main line, move by move
1. d4 f5 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. Nc3 Qe8 8. d5
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The ideas
White wants to
- Fianchetto the king's bishop to g2 and watch e4.
- Play d5 or e4 when possible, and otherwise on the queenside and in the center.
- Exploit the holes that f5 leaves behind, for example the e5 square in the Stonewall.
Black wants to
- Stop e4 with f5 and Nf6.
- Play on the kingside, sometimes by bringing the queen over there and advancing the pawns.
- Choose a structure to taste: the Leningrad with g6, the Classical with e6 and Be7, or the Stonewall with d5.
Important variations
Stonewall Variation
Black puts the pawns on c6, d5, e6 and f5, a wall that makes it hard for White to play e4. The price is a hole on e5 and a shut-in light-squared bishop. The line got a new lease on life in the 1980s and 1990s through grandmasters such as Artur Yusupov, Sergey Dolmatov, Nigel Short and the Norwegian Simen Agdestein.
1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. c4 d5 5. Nf3 c6 6. O-O Bd6 7. b3 Qe7
Classical Variation: …e6 and …Be7
Black sets up with e6, Be7 and d6. If Black goes on with Qe8 to bring the queen over to the kingside, it is called the Ilyin-Zhenevsky Variation. The Classical Variation is less common today.
1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. c4 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. Nc3 Qe8
Staunton Gambit: 2.e4
White sacrifices a pawn to exploit Black's weakened kingside. Siegbert Tarrasch considered the Dutch unsound and in 1931 recommended this very gambit, with White better after 5.f3.
1. d4 f5 2. e4 fxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 c6 5. f3
The trap: the queen sacrifice on h5
The trap is known from a game between Frank Teed and Eugene Delmar, printed in the American Chess Magazine in June 1897. Black chases White's bishop with the pawns and thinks it is winning it, but at the same time opens the e8–h5 diagonal to Black's own king. When Black finally protects g6 with the rook, the queen sacrifice comes. The move order differs slightly between sources, but the position after move four is the same, and in some sources the game ends with Black resigning right after 7.Qxh5+.
1. d4 f5 2. Bg5 h6 3. Bf4 g5 4. Bg3 f4 5. e3 h5 6. Bd3 Rh6 7. Qxh5+ Rxh5 8. Bg6#
8. Bg6#
Mate with a bishop. The king can't escape, and no piece can block.
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How it goes in real games
How the games ended once the position had come up on the board, in blitz, rapid and classical games. White wins, draws and Black wins, as a percentage of the games.
| Position | Level | Games | White wins | Draw | Black wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dutch Defense 1. d4 f5 | Club players | 15,853,484 | 50% | 5% | 45% |
| Beginners | 6,984,059 | 51% | 4% | 46% | |
| Dutch Defense, main line 1. d4 f5 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. Nc3 Qe8 8. d5 | Club players | 44,157 | 49% | 8% | 43% |
| Beginners | 286 | 59% | 4% | 37% | |
| Stonewall Variation 1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. c4 d5 5. Nf3 c6 6. O-O Bd6 7. b3 Qe7 | Club players | 36,396 | 47% | 10% | 43% |
| Beginners | 66 | too few games for percentages | |||
| Classical Variation: …e6 and …Be7 1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. c4 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. Nc3 Qe8 | Club players | 58,936 | 51% | 5% | 43% |
| Beginners | 1,734 | 53% | 3% | 44% | |
The most common continuations after 1. d4 f5
Club players, share of the games in the position.
- 2.c4 35% (5,581,476 games)
- 2.Nf3 16% (2,553,314 games)
- 2.Bf4 14% (2,145,740 games)
- 2.Nc3 8% (1,309,717 games)
- 2.e3 7% (1,038,108 games)
Source: games on Lichess, fetched October 28, 2026. Club players means games where the players average 1600 or more, beginners games where they average 1000–1599.
Is this opening for you?
The Dutch suits players who want to play for a win with Black against 1.d4 and enjoy unbalanced positions. It suits players who like to attack on the kingside and don't get nervous about a slightly airy king.
The drawback is that the opening is considered somewhat unsound at the top level, and that White has several ways to punish carelessness early, such as the Staunton Gambit and the trap above.
A famous game
Edward Lasker against George Thomas in London in 1912 began 1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 f5: the Dutch by another move order. The king hunt in London
Practice the main line
Choose a color and one of the house players. Your opponent follows the main line, and you try to find your moves. If you play something else, you'll see the main line's move, but the game goes on. When the main line ends, you play freely.
Rather play freely? Choose an opponent · Play right away
The main line with all the comments as text
1. d4 f5 The Dutch move. The pawn takes control of e4. 2. c4 White takes space on the queenside. 2… Nf6 The knight helps the pawn on f5 control e4. 3. g3 White fianchettoes the king's bishop. From g2 it watches e4 and the long diagonal, and it is White's most common plan against the Dutch. 3… g6 Black chooses the Leningrad Variation: the bishop to g7, as in the King's Indian. It is the most common Dutch line. 4. Bg2 Bg7 The bishop on g7 aims down the long diagonal. 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O d6 Black prepares e5. 7. Nc3 White develops and prepares the push d5. 7… Qe8 A typical move in the Leningrad. The queen prepares e5 and can later swing over to the kingside. 8. d5 White gains space in the center. Now White usually plays on the queenside and in the center, Black on the kingside.
More openings
King's Indian Defense
Let White take the center, strike back with e5 and storm the kingside.
London System
A system rather than an opening: the same good setup against almost anything Black does.
English Opening
1.c4: control of d5 from the flank, with many roads into the middlegame.
Slav Defense
2…c6: solid as a wall, and the bishop on c8 is free.
Every move on this page has been checked against the rules of chess.
Updated November 6, 2026
1… f5
The Dutch move. The pawn takes control of e4.