The Stonewall Attack

     This opening, characterized by White playing 1.d4, 2.e3, 3.f4 and 4.c3, and 5.Bd3 is a system White sets up, rather than a specific variation. It’s a solid formation which is hard to refute, but Black has several ways to meet it. Many years ago I read a book by Horowitz and Reinfeld titled How to Think Ahead in Chess in which they recommended the Stonewall. They also covered the Sicilian Dragon and QGD Lasker’s Defense as the recommended defenses as Black.
     I tried Lasker’s Defense and found it satisfactory; it doesn’t offer much play, but it’s solid. I never cared for the Dragon though. However, I did play a lot of Stonewall’s. The problem was my opponents never seemed to succumb like they did in the book; they defended better and there wasn’t much in the way for alternative “plans” for White to pursue. I lost a lot of games before giving it up. The same thing happened when I tried to play the Exchange Variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined. I was well-booked up on it and had played over a lot of games by Reshevsky who played in occasionally and won with ease. Apparently since Reshevsky’s day even average players had learned how to handle the Minority Attack that he used so effectively. Still, I think the Stonewall Attack may be OK at the club level.
     The following game by Santasiere shows how easily White can win if Black doesn’t know how to meet it.