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Dutch Stonewall
The Stonewall is an ideal choice for those players who are keen to avoid the reams of theory that surround more popular openings such as the King¿s Indian and Nimzo-Indian Defences. With the Stonewall Black stakes an immediate claim in the centre and lays the foundations for a potentially dangerous kingside attack. The route to success with the Stonewall is very much based on an understanding of themes and ideas and these are clearly elucidated by experienced author Jacob Aagaard.
- GenresChess
144 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2001
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March 7, 2014
I suppose a bit of chess bio is needed so that the review can be digested with an appropriately sized grain of salt. I am a recreational player, aged 52, who took up a semi-serious interest in chess just a few years ago. I have a USCF rating of 1578. My appreciation of such books remains quite superficial---I am simply looking for strategic ideas, recurrent tactical concepts, key tabiya, and promising paths out of problematic moves by my opponents. I am in no position to judge how this book might, or might not, serve a stronger player.
Let me briefly highlight some elements of the book I enjoy. Aagaard's "Introduction" is a weighty and key chapter. It is also the longest at 50 pages. The beginning presupposes the hard work of the whole. It is written from the perspective of one who already knows the path, and so the ground one is going to traverse is prepared and hinted at. Some examples?? On page 9 Aagaard writes: "11...b6 might be best developing the traditional problem bishop." A key theme in any Stonewall discussion---how to activate black's light squared bishop---the traditional march to freedom via d7 ad e 8?? The modern b6?? Or simply march the pawns that impede it with an eventual e5 & f4?? Or, on page 13, "today black tends to make white pay price for the thematic exchange of dark-squared bishops, 7...Qe7." Another key theme in the Dutch Stonewall. All of these hints are in the context of introductory games from some of the great players of the last century like Capablanca, Botvinnik, and Petrosian. This is a feature of the book that I am particularly fond of: it grounds its considerations in history and the classical chess of modern masters. I have no idea if this has pragmatic effects on the game outcomes of a reader, but it is intellectually satisfying for the novice player to have this genealogy made explicit. There is a paradoxical sense of "progress" in chess, and a sense that there are perennial problems and solutions. IMO, this historical grounding is simply the correct way to proceed. The book marches on in ever greater detail to flesh out key strategies, problems, and lines. At my level, I am looking for a few key ideas and not to exhaustively memorize complex lines. The most helpful of these for me was in chapter 4 on white's annoying (and sensible) 5.Nh5. The possible hope for a solution?? Invite Bf4 with Bd6 then back off with Be7 and initiate harassment with h6---just what I needed to know! His sections at the end of the introduction on "Move orders and Set ups," and "Strategic Features" feature the kind of broad brush generalities that a player at my level needs to know. So,from my perspective, an excellent and well-written book that has led me to have a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the Dutch Stonewall.
Let me briefly highlight some elements of the book I enjoy. Aagaard's "Introduction" is a weighty and key chapter. It is also the longest at 50 pages. The beginning presupposes the hard work of the whole. It is written from the perspective of one who already knows the path, and so the ground one is going to traverse is prepared and hinted at. Some examples?? On page 9 Aagaard writes: "11...b6 might be best developing the traditional problem bishop." A key theme in any Stonewall discussion---how to activate black's light squared bishop---the traditional march to freedom via d7 ad e 8?? The modern b6?? Or simply march the pawns that impede it with an eventual e5 & f4?? Or, on page 13, "today black tends to make white pay price for the thematic exchange of dark-squared bishops, 7...Qe7." Another key theme in the Dutch Stonewall. All of these hints are in the context of introductory games from some of the great players of the last century like Capablanca, Botvinnik, and Petrosian. This is a feature of the book that I am particularly fond of: it grounds its considerations in history and the classical chess of modern masters. I have no idea if this has pragmatic effects on the game outcomes of a reader, but it is intellectually satisfying for the novice player to have this genealogy made explicit. There is a paradoxical sense of "progress" in chess, and a sense that there are perennial problems and solutions. IMO, this historical grounding is simply the correct way to proceed. The book marches on in ever greater detail to flesh out key strategies, problems, and lines. At my level, I am looking for a few key ideas and not to exhaustively memorize complex lines. The most helpful of these for me was in chapter 4 on white's annoying (and sensible) 5.Nh5. The possible hope for a solution?? Invite Bf4 with Bd6 then back off with Be7 and initiate harassment with h6---just what I needed to know! His sections at the end of the introduction on "Move orders and Set ups," and "Strategic Features" feature the kind of broad brush generalities that a player at my level needs to know. So,from my perspective, an excellent and well-written book that has led me to have a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the Dutch Stonewall.
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