Look for Bc4+ against ...f5
Whenever the a2-g8 diagonal opens, check Bc4 or Bc4+ first. You missed it twice recently.
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75% against the Dutch, with your cleanest chess and shortest games.
1. d4 f5 2. Bf4 Nf6 3. e3
Dutch players bring ...f5 aggression, and you answer with a steady London (Bf4, e3) rather than rushing into sharp anti-Dutch gambits. That calm pays off. You wait for the kingside weaknesses ...f5 creates, and you punish them.
You come out only level (move-12 win chance 50.9 and move-20 win chance 55.8, about baseline), yet you score 75% (15-5). That means you win these games on tactics and accuracy, not on the opening itself. Your 0.75 blunders a game and 0.35 early errors are your best numbers anywhere, games are short at 27.9 moves, and you convert 13 of 16 winning positions. Only 1 of 5 losses was a timeout.
Last 90 days: 2 games, 50% score.
Bc4 was the engine's pick twice in recent games (7.Nbd2 at 48% to 26%, and 11.Bg5 when Bc4+ was best, hanging a bishop and dropping to 7%). After ...f5, the a2-g8 diagonal to the black king is weak, and you're not using it.
20.N2f3 missed Bxd8 (71% to 31%). A simple capture of material was available, and you played a quiet move.
19.Rf2 (51% to 29%) missed the opponent's combination when e4 was the move. The e4 break is the thematic answer to ...f5, and you skipped it.
Your recent 2 games scored 50%, a small sample but worth watching against a 75% line.
The key anti-Dutch idea is the e4 break: prepare it with Nbd2 or Nc3, Bd3 and sometimes f3 to open the centre against a king weakened by ...f5.
Put a bishop on the a2-g8 diagonal (Bc4 or Bd3-c4 ideas) to target e6 and g8. Checks on that diagonal are often decisive once the e-pawn moves.
Against Stonewall setups (...d5, ...e6, ...c6), aim a knight at e5 and consider a later g4 lever to break up f5.
Keep doing what works: fast, clean development and short games. Your 27.9-move average is a feature, not a bug.
Your losses in this opening, by where and how the decisive mistake happened.
Phase of the decisive mistake
What the mistake was
Variations you reach
| Main line | 20 | 75% |
Winning positions converted here: 81% (13 of 16).
Your move in red, Stockfish's in black.
Whenever the a2-g8 diagonal opens, check Bc4 or Bc4+ first. You missed it twice recently.
Set up Nbd2 or Nc3 plus Bd3, then play e4 to open the weakened king. The engine wanted e4 over 19.Rf2.
Check every capture (like Bxd8) before a quiet move. You missed a free piece at 71%.
Puzzles built from your own mistakes in the Dutch Defense, and every game you've played in it.