Dutch Defence

The Dutch Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves: 1. d4 f5 Black's 1...f5 stakes a claim to the e4-square and envisions an attack in the middlegame on White's kingside; however, it also weakens Black's kingside to some extent, especially on the e8–h5 diagonal. Like its 1.e4 counterpart, the Sicilian Defence, the Dutch is an aggressive and unbalancing opening, resulting in the lowest percentage of draws among the most common replies to 1.d4. Historically, White has tried many methods to exploit the kingside weaknesses, such as the Staunton Gambit (2.e4) and Korchnoi Attack (2.h3 and 3.g4). The Dutch has never been a main line against 1.d4 and is rarely seen today in high-level competition, although a number of top players, including Alexander Alekhine, Bent Larsen, Paul Morphy, Miguel Najdorf, Simon Williams, and Hikaru Nakamura have used it with success. Its most notable use may have been in 1951, when both World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik and his challenger, David Bronstein, played it in their 1951 World Championship match.