Ponderchess / Openings
Play the guided film, or select a scene to pause and study its position.
Opening
The Dutch Defense in 3D
1.d4 f5. Black fights for e4 with the f-pawn and aims for kingside play, at the cost of slightly weakening the king.
Rebuild the sequence yourself. The board responds to each move, and hints are available.
Click or drag to move · Arrow keys + Enter to play
Your turn · white to play
Select a piece, then its destination. Switch to 2D for a clear overhead view or rotate the 3D board to explore the position.
Dutch Defense: Alekhine Variation, move by move: d4 f5 c4 Nf6 g3 e6 Bg2 Be7 …
The white pieces
Exploit the weakened e8-h5 diagonal and the hole on e5 or e6, depending on Black's setup.
The black pieces
Control e4, prepare ...e5 or kingside attacks with ...Qe8-h5.
Look a little deeper · 01
The main systems are the Leningrad (...g6 and ...Bg7), the Stonewall (...d5, ...e6 and ...c6) and the Classical (...e6 and ...Be7).
Look a little deeper · 02
The Staunton Gambit (2.e4) is White's sharpest attempt to punish the early f-pawn move.
Dutch Defense: Alekhine Variation, move by move: d4 f5 c4 Nf6 g3 e6 Bg2 Be7 …
Keyboard: Space pauses, the arrow keys step. Gold arrows are White's moves, violet are Black's, red rays are threats, green shows support, blue shows plans.
