Annotated Game #343: Stranger in a strange (Dutch) land

After my first outing with the 'pure' Dutch Defense in Annotated Game #342, I immediately and surprisingly got a chance to redeem myself as Black, thanks to the tournament director generously giving me two Blacks in a row, which also made it it 3 out of 4 Blacks for the tournament to that point. Naturally I had been mentally prepared to play as White, so it was not an auspicious start.

In contrast to the previous game, my opponent confidently played the 2. Bg5 sideline, although by move 8 I had fully equalized. The Dutch sidelines can generate some strange-looking positions, so I had very little to fall back on for guidelines and standard plans. As the analysis shows, wild-looking attacking play is what the Dutch sometimes demands - see the move 9 variations - although my more solid approach was going well enough until the blunder 10...Kf7? That opened the door for White to easily and quickly ramp up pressure against my king, and my opponent did a good job of mobilizing her pieces effectively and inviting them all to the party, taking advantage of further mistakes on my part.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Class A"] [Black "ChessAdmin"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [ECO "A80"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "59"] [GameId "2280365257781312"] 1. d4 f5 2. Bg5 {one of the main Dutch sidelines, which can be annoying for Black to face.} g6 {most played in the database, and probably the most solid response.} 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e3 h6 {relatively little-played, but scores the best for Black.} 5. Bh4 Nf6 6. Bxf6 {White decides to exchange minor pieces and not worry about her bishop potentially being threatened by Black's advancing pawns.} Bxf6 {not the most natural place for the bishop, but development is about equal.} 7. Bc4 {now we're out of the database.} c6 {logically preparing ...d5} 8. g4 $5 {indicating that my opponent is in an aggressive mood.} d5 $11 {with White's bishop effectively losing a tempo, Black has now fully equalized.} 9. Bd3 e6 {this seemed the solid choice to me, given White's light-square pressure, establishing a Stonewall formation.} (9... e5 $5 {this more dynamic central pawn move I did not seriously consider, but the general Dutch Defense principle works here: if Black can play ...e5 without problems, it should be played. However, it requires some wild-looking play.} 10. dxe5 Bxe5 11. gxf5 Bxf5 $2 {as I had calculated did not work, though. Black has to find a more non-standard approach.} (11... Qf6 {is not obvious. But why sacrifice only one pawn, when you can sac two for the attack?} 12. fxg6 O-O 13. Qd2 Bg4 $11) (11... Qb6 {is similar to the below variation.}) 12. Bxf5 gxf5 13. Qh5+ $16) (9... Qb6 {would take advantage of the White dark-square bishop's absence by counterattacking b2, but again this is not a normal sequence.} 10. gxf5 Qxb2 11. Nge2 gxf5 12. a3 Qb6 13. Nf4 Qa5 $14) 10. Nge2 Kf7 $2 {it looks like the king is helping cover the weak g6 and e6 squares, but unfortunately this just causes more middlegame problems.} (10... Nd7 $11 {normal development is good.} 11. gxf5 exf5 {and now ...Nf8 is available for the defense.}) 11. gxf5 $16 exf5 12. Nf4 {I underestimated the strength of this follow-up. The knight goes to its ideal square and it is easy for White to generate more pressure.} Rg8 $6 {the defense is already difficult, this makes it more so.} (12... Bg5 $16 {would at least threaten to exchange off the attacking knight.}) (12... Nd7 $16 {brings another piece in.}) (12... g5 $2 {unfortunately kicking the knight, which I had wrongly assumed would be easy, fails to} 13. Qh5+ $18) 13. Rg1 (13. Qf3 $18 {is even better, getting the queen into the action and allowing for castling queenside.}) 13... Bg5 $6 {a good idea, played a move late. Now White has a tactical refutation.} (13... Nd7) 14. Qf3 {still very good to keep up the pressure, but missing} (14. Nxg6 $1 Rxg6 15. h4 Bxh4 16. Qh5 $1 $18) 14... Be6 $2 {just a terrible move, adding nothing to the defense and allowing an obvious capture to wreck my position. The intent was actually to play ...Nd7 next, without blocking the bishop's diagonal.} (14... Qf6 {was my other candidate move, which however does not solve Black's problems.}) (14... Bxf4 {for some reason I did not look at this move, partly because I was now fixated on getting my other pieces into the defense.} 15. Qxf4 g5) 15. Nxe6 $1 Kxe6 16. h4 $1 $18 {now the game is essentially over.} Bf6 (16... Bxh4 17. Rxg6+ Rxg6 18. Qxf5+ $18) 17. Rxg6 Nd7 {an attempt to confuse the situation for White.} 18. Qxf5+ Ke7 19. O-O-O {while there are quicker ways to win, this is a strong consolidating move, also bringing the second rook into the mix.} Qf8 20. Rdg1 Rxg6 21. Rxg6 Qh8 (21... Qf7 $5 $18) 22. Ne2 {White brings her last piece into the attack.} Rg8 23. Nf4 Nf8 24. h5 $1 {with this, the jaws of the attack clamp shut and the rest is just futile struggle.} Nxg6 25. Nxg6+ Rxg6 26. hxg6 {things look much better after the exchanges, but White's pieces are still fiercely dominant.} h5 27. Be2 h4 28. Bg4 Qe8 {losing more quickly.} (28... Qg8 29. Qd7+ {is probably the simplest way to proceed.} Kf8 30. Bh5 $18) 29. Qe6+ Kf8 30. Qxf6+ 1-0