Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...f5/2. c4/2...g6/3. Nc3/3...Nh6

Bladel

Bladel
a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) rnbqkb1r/ppppp2p/6pn/5p2/2PP4/2N5/PP2PPPP/R1BQKBNR w
Moves: 1. d4 f5, 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Nh6
ECO code: A84

2.c4 g6, 3.Nc3 Nh6 - Dutch Defence, Bladel Variation

Welcome to the Bladel variation. It used to be played in the past but has fallen out of fashion in modern times. It has a surprising amount of theory.

The question is: Why does black places his or her knight on the edge on the board? Nf6 is much more natural looking. Black breaks some fundamental rules of development early on: Put your pawns in the center, develop your piece without moving them twice. But, thing is: White is going to play h4 followed by h5 or white is going to play e4 followed by exf5. In either case, black will be forced sooner or later to move the knight a second time anyway.

Black has 5 ideas behind Nh6:

• Idea number one is to be flexible. Depending how white attacks, black can place the knight either on f5 or g4.
• The second idea behind Nh6 is to not interfere with the dark bishop along the long diagonal.
• The third idea is to not block the rook. Black anticipates white's most common move in this line, which is e4, thusly forcing a trade, in which case black lost control over the e4 square. The whole point of playing the Dutch is to prevent white from playing e4 in the first place. In this case, black wants to create the semi-open f-file for the rook - after castling, of course.
• The fourth and most important idea behind Nh6 is a hypermodern approach. Black allows white to have a strong center in the beginning but seeks to control the center from afar with the minor pieces.
• In the event of white playing e4, white is making a long-term commitment for the endgame. White gives up a central pawn for a side pawn. White is now committed to play aggressively and deliver a checkmate. If white fails to deliver a checkmate in the middlegame, black will have a significant advantage in the endgame because of the additional center pawn.

White has different attacking lines to choose from.

• the open variations, which will lead to the modern variations with 4.e4 fxe4 5.Nxe4 Bg7 6.Ng3,
• the closed variations with 4.Nf3 ... 5.e3 ... 6.Bd7 ...,
• the classic variations with an early h-pawn push which can lead to the Beijing Attack 4.h4 Bg7 5.h5 c5 6.d5 ...

The Bladel is a sharp and tactical Variation of the Dutch Defence for black to play. It is not only a battle of white versus black. It is also a battle of ideas. In the event of the Bladel Modern Variations, white wants to deliver a checkmate in the middlegame. Black wants to win the endgame with an additional center pawn.

White Responses

Closed Variations

4.Nf3 c6 5.e3 d6 6.Be2 Bg7

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

This is a more positional approach by white. White is going to expand on the queen side and maintain a spatial advantage. Black can either decide to castle long and launch a king side attack or, typically, black castles short and tries to prepare for the e5 push. White can, however, decide to push the h-pawn and make an attack later on.

Beijing Attack

4.h4 Bg7 5.h5 c5 6.d5 d6. 7.Nf3

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

This is a very aggressive approach by white. White, however, won't be able to get any king safety in the long run. With correct play, however, black can not only equalize but create some serious counter play on the queenside. But if black is not prepared, black can lose the game very quickly. This has been proven to be unsound for white. Therefore it is not considered to be the main line.

Modern Variations

4.e4 fxe4 5.Nxe4 Bg7 6.Nf3

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

This is a sound and aggressive way for white to combat the Bladel. It commits white to this line. White has given up a central pawn for a side pawn. White will have to deliver a mate in the middlegame. Black will try to hold on into the endgame. In the end game, black has extra central pawn which has proven to be an advantage in the endgame. In the immediate future black will fight back in the center with c6 fallowed by d5 with tempo. The knight will eventually move. However white has a strong plan here. White will trade the light bishop for a knight in order to create an outpost c5 for the knight.

This happens in the Main Line with: 6. ... c6 7.Bd3 d5 8.cxd5 cxd5 9.Bb5+ Nc6 10.Bxc6+ bxc6 11.Nc5

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

White gets a so-called "octopus" knight on black's territory. Black has no efficient way to remove it. As a result, white has reached complete dominance in the center. This line has been proven to be the most contesting line against the Bladel. If black is not careful, black may lose the game very quickly. White creates tactical AND positional threats. Most people can handle one threat at a time. But two threats, that is a completely different animal.

Theory table

For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation.

1.d4 f5 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Nh6

	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Bladel closed variations	Nf3 c6	e3 d6	Be2 Bg7						+/=
Bladel classic variations	h4 Nf7	Nf3 Bg7	e4 fxe4	Nxe4 ...					+/=
	h4 Bg7	e4 fxe4	Nxe4 c6	Nf3 ...					+/=
Beijing Attack	h4 Bg7	h5 c5	d5 d6						=/+
Bladel open variations	e4 fxe4	Nxe4 Be7	Nf3 ...						+/=
	e4 fxe4	Nxe4 Be7	Nf3 c6	c5 ...					+/=
	e4 fxe4	Nxe4 Be7	Nf3 c6	d5 ...					+/=
	e4 fxe4	Nxe4 Be7	Nf3 c6	Bd3 ...					+/=
	e4 fxe4	Nxe4 Be7	Nf3 c6	Bd3 d5	Ng5 ...				+/=
	e4 fxe4	Nxe4 Be7	Nf3 c6	Bd3 d5	Bxh6 ...				+/=
	e4 fxe4	Nxe4 Be7	Nf3 c6	Bd3 d5	cxd5 cxd5	Bxh6 Bxh6			+/=
	e4 fxe4	Nxe4 Be7	Nf3 c6	Bd3 d5	cxd5 cxd5	Nc3 ...			+/=
	e4 fxe4	Nxe4 Be7	Nf3 c6	Bd3 d5	cxd5 cxd5	Bb5+ Nc6	Bxh6 Bxh6		+/=
	e4 fxe4	Nxe4 Be7	Nf3 c6	Bd3 d5	cxd5 cxd5	Bb5+ Nc6	Nd2 ...		+/=
	e4 fxe4	Nxe4 Be7	Nf3 c6	Bd3 d5	cxd5 cxd5	Bb5+ Nc6	Nc3 ...		+/=
Bladel Main Line	e4 fxe4	Nxe4 Be7	Nf3 c6	Bd3 d5	cxd5 cxd5	Bb5+ Nc6	Bxc6+ bxc6	Nc5 ...	+/-

References

• Lichess Studies, Dutch Defence, Bladel Family
• Chess.com, Library: Bladel Modern Variations
• Gameknot.com, annotated games: Dutch Defence, Beijing Attack
• Nunn's Chess Openings. 1999. John Nunn (Editor), Graham Burgess, John Emms, Joe Gallagher. ISBN 1-8574-4221-0.

• Kasparov, Garry, & Keene, Raymond 1989 Batsford chess openings 2. ISBN 0-8050-3409-9.