Starting Out: Dutch Defence (Starting Out - Everyman Chess)

I am not sure why there are any neutral (non-good) ratings for this book. It is excellent. It is everything you want out of a “Starting Out” book: it provides the basic theory, ideas behind each variation, contains all the main variations (Stonewall, Classical, and Leningrad) of the Dutch, and it has practical examples from complete games that illustrate the ideas. Plus, this book does a great job presenting the dangers(!) as well as the benefits of the opening. By playing a line that’s less drawish, you will open up your chances to win as much as lose, and McDonald gives a hefty dose of reality to potential players when it comes to this subject.One thing that readers should be aware of is the fact that the organization of the book might confuse you at first, but hang in there; he has good reason for setting up the book in this way. I started playing around with the Dutch in online blitz games, while I was going through the book. There are some very annoying responses that white will play more often than you’d think, and these tricky lines are covered in the first few chapters. If you don’t know what to do against these, to begin with, you will be smashed, especially in quick games, because the 1. … f5 push weakens the kings. Even if you read the three abovementioned primary lines, these other tricky lines will be devastating, if you don’t have some clue about them, one being the Staunton gambit, which Botvinnik, as Dutch specialist, avoided!In sum, I can’t think of a thing that this book is missing. My zealous and obsessive study habits allowed me to read and understand the content in 3 days, so I think this book is digestible to most readers in, probably, a two-week period, going at steady pace. Before covering the tricky lines, I went 1-2 with Dutch in online blitz games, afterward, I think I am up to either 8-0 or 10-0, the primary reasons being that I understand the ideas of this opening (thanks to this book) and surprisingly few 1.d4 and 1.c4 players do. (After hearing that a friend, USCF rated 2050, had his only win against a 2300-level player with this opening, I thought it worth looking into; this book has proven a good start.)Additionally, I think that Mc Donald does a fine job of keeping the writing of the book enjoyable, possessing some flair for expressions and turns of phrase, which is refreshing.

I started looking into the Dutch defense after learning various openings to my normal Nf6 response to d4. I am an 1850 rated player and felt that many of my opponents have their pet opening that comes with a Nf6 response. For example White may opt for a Colle System, a London System, the Trompowsky attack and others. By learning the Dutch you can direct the game towards familiar Dutch lines where the majority of players rated between 1400 – 2000 have absolutely no clue about an effective response.I agree with one of the reviewers that it is particularly useful to trick someone into the Dutch by starting with e6 followed by f5 or by starting with d5 pretending to move towards a Semi Slav structure and then unleashing f5.Please note that White can transpond to a French defense after e6 with e4. As I am a French player I am familiar with the structures of the French. I suggest you learn some basic variations in the case you are not familiar with the French.This book is ideal in the sense, that it shows typical passive play disasters for White. It also explains some key ideas and key moves to remember. This is where many chess books fall short as they only cover the best move orders and not the typical mistakes that are made by players rated between 1400 – 2000 and that’s where the bulk of rated chess players are.The Dutch Stonewall for example is useful to learn as a Stonewall structure may appear out of other openings as well. Once you understand the characteristics of a Stonewall, you will find yourself in familiar territory whenever you have the opportunity to create one.This is really a great chess book on a very dangerous opening.

I was reluctant to purchase another book by Neil McDonald after having seen a copy of his "Chess: the Art of Logical Thinking" where his first comments on 1.e4 e5 were the same as Chernov's Logical chess. Somewhat disappointed again by this one.First, I find the writing style somewhat annoying, with quotes like "Norwegian GM Simen Agdestein had the following terrifying ordeal as Black against an amateur player rated 430 points below him: ..." without a ? or ?? in the entire line. Nothing like burning two pages on an admittedly unsound line hoping your opponent falls for the trap.Second, the coverage is very incomplete. For example, one of the more popular "anti-Dutch" lines is 1.d4 f5 2. Nc3, where Black has the option of 2. ... Nf6 or d5. McDonald shows 2. ...d5 is a struggle against Bf5, but doesn't touch on the line covered in MCO.All in all, a decent overview of the Dutch, but there are a lot of holes in the game coverage and analysis. You might be better off playing through a number of games, or MCO, choosing a favorite (Stonewall, Classical or Leningrad), and then getting a specific book.

I have a few books from Neil McDonald, and they are nice works, especially the book Starting Out:The English. But i was really plesently surprised with this title. Chapters are written in best possible order for new dutch fan to follow, starting with nice introduction, then some offbeat chapters, which are nevertheless funny to follow, especially for the new student to incorporate them for future use, and following are three main parts of the book. In every game of every chapter there is a lot of explanations of plans and warning of possibility of cheap tactics. Book is written out of love for the opening from the author, and that is immidiately felt. Unlike many of todays opening books unfortunately. My recommendation.

In my chess career, I have been singularly unsuccessful in meeting the Dutch, my victorious opponents including Craig Prichett and the late Dave Rumens. The solution, I hoped was to learn some of the theory from a suitable primer.When I first reviewed this book, I was rather angry at the price tag, but it turned out that 100 pages had been removed from this spirally bound volume. Nevertheless, the RRP of £14.99 still appears unrealistic, although it is currently obtainable from Amazon at £10.78. When I took up the 100 missing pages issue with Amazon, the third-party vendor almost immediately despatched a pristine copy to my address.Looking at my purchase in a better frame of mind, I was struck by the proliferation of praxis from master play, lavishly adorned throughout with illustrative diagrams. An aspiring youngster using this book to prepare for club or tournament play would find it of great value. Neil McDonald is a grandmaster and imparts sound and helpful advice based on his own games.

Great book . Good explanations ... nice logical presentation. However my biggest (only one but an important one) moan is that all the diagrams are white at the bottom. For books explaining black repertoire I much prefer having black at the bottom so I get used to seeing the patterns that I actually see over the board. I know some people are indifferent to this but if, like me, you are fussed then this might be one to avoid.

Neil MCDonald is doing every work in a very clear and understanble manner. In order to raise my tactical level against 1.d4, I bought this book; I saw that my decision was correct...If you are about on 2000 ELO and If you want to raise your tactical ability against 1.d4, if you want to be an attacking player against 1.d4 and if you want to win against 1.d4 player; play DUTCH! For this you should buy this book and study it...Bon courage!

The Dutch is a bit of a wild opening and not for the feint hearted. But this book is very well written and explains all the pros and cons of the different variations. Probably the best opening book I've seen.

Grossmeister Neil McDonald bespricht in dem vorliegenden 173 Seiten umfassenden "Starting out"-Titel die holländische Verteidigung. Dabei beschränkt er sich nicht nur auf die Präsentation eines Systems, sondern bespricht sowohl denStonewall, das Leningrader System als auch die klassische Variante. Darüber hinaus werden auch Alternativvarianten wie das Staunton-Gambit, 2. Lg5, 2. Sc3 nebst Lg5 oder Lf4 besprochen, kurz erwähnt werden auch Züge wie 2. h3 und 2. g4.Ich kann dieses Buch Spielern empfehlen, die neu in die Holländische Verteidigung einsteigen. Sie gesamte Starting out-Serie ist ideal für Neueinsteiger mit bis zu circa Elo/DWZ 1800, wobei das eine oder andere Buch auch schon einmal stärkere Spielergruppen anspricht und theorielastiger als andere ist.McDonald legt vor allem Wert auf ausführliche Vorstellung der strategischen und taktischen Ideen, der Theorieteil fällt somit etwas kürzer aus. Zudem merkt man dem Buch eine leichte (!) Neigung zugunsten des Schwarzspielers an, aber das bleibt kaumaus, wenn ein leidenschaftlicher Anhänger über seine Lieblingseröffnung schreibt. Auch Weiss-Spieler werden mit dem vorliegenden Buch gut bedient, sie bekommen eine gute Vorstellung davon, wie man den Holländer strategisch angehen soll bzw. wann sich das Anvisieren von e2-e4 besonders lohnt undwann man sich eher nach Alternativplänen umschauen sollte.Holländisch-Spielern, die sich bereits auf ein Lieblingssystem (Stonewall, Leningrader, Klassisch) "eingeschossen" haben, sei eher zur Spezialliteratur von Kindermann, Pinski oder Aagaard geraten, sofern sie über obiger Spielstärke liegen.Ansonsten kann man hier bedenkenlos zugreifen: McDonald hat eine gute, überzeugende und für Holländisch typische Partienauswahlvorgenommen und weiss seine Leser durchaus für Holländisch zu begeistern! Was will man da noch mehr?PS: McDonald bespricht übrigens keine englischen Systeme mittels 1. Sf3 oder 1. c4 mit späterem d3/c4, das nur zur Info.