Against the Dutch: free opening course

Key ideas

• Put your bishop on g2. It hits d5 and e4 and keeps your king safe.
• Against the Leningrad, push the d-pawn to d5. It gains space and blunts the g7 bishop.
• Against the Stonewall, the e5 square is a hole. Trade the dark-squared bishops and aim your pieces at e5.
• Prepare the e4 push with your pieces. It opens the centre while Black's king is a little open.
• The f-pawn has left Black's king. Watch for a queen check on h5, above all after ...h6.

The 6 variations in the course

• Leningrad: 7...Qe8 8.d5: 1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. O-O O-O 6. c4 d6 … — Black fianchettoes with ...g6 and ...Bg7 and plays ...d6 and ...Qe8. White pushes 8.d5 to gain space and blunt the g7 bishop. After the knight jumps to d4, White breaks with e4 and keeps a lasting edge.
• Leningrad: 7...c6 8.d5: 1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. O-O O-O 6. c4 d6 … — Black prepares ...e5 with 7...c6. White still pushes 8.d5. After the trades on e6 the d6 pawn is weak, and White's bishops point at the centre from b2 and g2.
• Stonewall: 7.b3 and 8.Ba3: 1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. Nf3 d5 5. O-O Bd6 6. c4 c6 … — Black builds the Stonewall with pawns on c6, d5, e6 and f5. White plays b3 and Ba3 to trade Black's good bishop. Then the queen comes to b2, and White controls the hole on e5.
• Classical: 7...Ne4 8.Nxe4: 1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. c4 d6 … — Black plays ...e6, ...Be7 and ...d6 and jumps to e4. White trades the knight and attacks the e4 pawn at once. After f3 the f-file opens, and White gets a strong centre.
• 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bg5: the early pin: 1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bg5 d5 4. Bxf6 exf6 5. e3 Be6 6. Nge2 c6 … — White develops the knight first and pins the f6 knight with 3.Bg5. After 3...d5 White takes on f6 and gives Black doubled f-pawns. The knight goes to f4, the h-pawn marches, and White has easy play.
• Staunton Gambit: 2.e4: 1. d4 f5 2. e4 fxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 g6 5. f3 exf3 6. Nxf3 Bg7 … — White gives a pawn with 2.e4 for fast development and open lines. After 4.Bg5 g6 White opens the f-file with 5.f3, castles long and aims at Black's king with the queen and bishop.

Traps you will learn (2)

• 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bg5 h6? 4.Bxf6: the check on h5 — Against 3.Bg5 the move 3...h6 looks natural. But with the h-pawn gone, the g6 pawn has no guard. White trades on f6, opens the centre with e4 and checks on h5.
• Staunton: 3...d5? 4.Qh5+ — In the Staunton Gambit Black sometimes defends e4 with 3...d5. But the e8 to h5 diagonal is open. 4.Qh5+ forces ...g6, and the queen takes the d5 pawn.

How the opening courses work

Each course teaches an opening in a few main variations. For every move you read why it is played, which other moves are good, and which tempting moves are mistakes and why. Each course also shows the traps of the opening: the ones you can set and the ones to avoid.

After a lesson you play the moves yourself in a drill. The lines you learn go into your review, which brings them back when you are about to forget them (spaced repetition). 30 line courses add many short lines per opening, a few new ones a day, and every named opening, more than 3,800 lines, has a lesson of its own.