White plays 2.Nf3
2.Nf3: where it leads
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Chapter 5 of 7
Quiet systems: Nf3, e3 and Nc3
White keeps the c-pawn home and builds slowly. Most of these lines lead back to your Leningrad setup; a few need …e6 and …Bb4.
After 2.Nf3, 2.e3 or 2.Nc3, White hasn't shown a plan yet. Your moves come in the same order as in the Leningrad, and when White adds c4 you are back in the first chapter.
The exception is an early Nc3 with Nf3: there …g6 allows White to push e4 under good conditions, so …e6 and …Bb4 is the better setup.
At a glance
Nf3, e3, Bd3
…g6, …Bg7, …O-O, …d6, then …Nc6 and …e5.
Nc3 and Nf3
…e6 and …Bb4, pinning the knight that wants to support e4.
Nc3 and f3
…d5. e4 never comes.
Key ideas
Count the defenders of e4
Every quiet system aims, sooner or later, at e4. Before each move, count: if White can play e4 with more pieces supporting it than you have attacking it, stop it first with …Bb4, …d5 or …Ne4.
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fedcbaThe Stonewall Attack
With pawns on d4, e3 and f4, White's dark-squared bishop is shut in behind its own pawns. Fianchetto your bishop on the long diagonal and break with …e5 later: the e3 pawn becomes a target.
The lines
Click a move or use the arrows. Highlighted moves carry a note, and under each note you'll find the other moves played from that position, including the tempting mistakes. The number under the board is Stockfish's evaluation from your side: minus means your opponent is better.
1278hgfedcbaWhite plays 2.e3
2.e3 and Bd3
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White plays 2.Nc3
2.Nc3: where it leads
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White plays 3.f4
The Stonewall Attack: e3 and f4
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White plays 5.c3
5.c3 and f4
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White plays 5.c3
5.c3
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White plays 5.c4
5.c4 and Nc3
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A model game
Master games from the Lichess database, with the engine's evaluation under the board.
Against the Stonewall Attack (e3, f4, Bd3), Joanna Dworakowska plays the Leningrad, waits for White to commit, and wins with an attack on the g-file.
Women's Olympiad, Bled · 0-1
Frometa Castillo, Zirka – Dworakowska, Joanna, 2002
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Take these into your games
Count the e4 defenders
The Dutch is about e4. If White can push e4 safely, stop it first: …Bb4, …d5 or …Ne4.