Stonewall Attack Explained

Openingname:Stonewall Attack
Moves:d4, e3, Bd3, Nbd2, f4, Ngf3, c3
Parentopening:Queen's Pawn Game
Eco:D00, A03, A45

The Stonewall Attack is a chess opening characterized by White playing pawns to d4 and e3, bishop to d3, knight to d2, and then completing the Stonewall structure by playing pawns to c3 and f4. This set-up is usually achieved by a 1.d4 move order but transposition is also possible via Bird's Opening, 1.f4. The Stonewall Attack is a system; White heads for a very specific pawn formation, rather than trying to memorize long lines of different variations. Black can set up in various ways in response, but MCO-15[1] gives the following as a main line: 1.d4 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.Bd3 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.f4.

History

The earliest recorded game to feature the Stonewall Attack would appear to have been Howard Staunton vs John Cochrane, London, 1842. The first player to use the opening regularly, however, was the Boston master Preston Ware, who frequently opened 1.d4 2.f4 from 1876 to 1882. Employing this unusual move order Ware was often able to reach Stonewall type positions (although later players would usually precede f4 with moves such as e3, Bd3 and Nd2). Ware's greatest success with the opening was at the exceptionally strong Vienna tournament of 1882 where he defeated future world champion Wilhelm Steinitz.

In 1893 Harry Nelson Pillsbury had notable success with the Stonewall Attack during the two New York tournaments of that year, venturing the opening on six occasions and winning all six. After Pillsbury's success the Stonewall Attack became established in master play and appeared frequently in the games of American masters Jackson Showalter and Frank Marshall, and English master F.J. Lee. Other prominent players to have used the opening included Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Chigorin, Rubinstein, Tarrasch, Reti, Tartakower, Maroczy and Breyer. By the early 1920s the Stonewall Attack began to disappear from top level chess, although it remains a popular choice at club level. The most notable modern day practitioner is American IM Yaacov Norowitz who has played the opening extensively in online blitz with considerable success.

The Stonewall set-up, when employed by Black, remains one of the main options within the Dutch Defence and has been used by Magnus Carlsen to defeat Viswanathan Anand and Fabiano Caruana.

Description

White's Stonewall pawn formation gives good control of the central dark squares (particularly e5, which may provide an outpost for a knight). The light squared weaknesses are covered by minor pieces (Bd3, Nd2). If permitted to do so, White may launch a direct kingside attack involving ideas such as Bxh7, Qh5 and Rf3-h3. A 1981 article in Chess Life magazine[2] gave the following line as an example of how play can develop if Black defends weakly.

1.d4 d5 2.f4 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.Nf3 c5 5.c3 Nc6 6.Bd3 Bd6 7.0-0 0-0 8.Nbd2 b6 9.Ne5 Bb7 10.g4 Qc7 11.g5 Nd7 12.Bxh7+ Kxh7 13.Qh5+ Kg8 14.Rf3 f6 15.Rh3 fxe5 16.g6

While such primitive tactics cannot be expected to succeed against experienced chess players, the illustrative games below demonstrate that in the Stonewall's heyday White was often able to develop a dangerous initiative even against master level opposition.

The disadvantages of the Stonewall Attack are a rather inflexible pawn structure, long-term light square weaknesses and the 'bad bishop' on c1, constrained by White's own pawns.

Illustrative Games

References

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. See page 511 and column no. 9.
  2. Larry D. Evans . December 1981 . Stonewalling . Chess Life . 34–36 . 2011-10-16 . unfit . https://web.archive.org/web/20120425071320/http://chesscamp.net/files/page7-1034-full.jpg . April 25, 2012 .
  3. Web site: Pillsbury vs Taubenhaus (1893) . .
  4. Web site: Pillsbury vs Hanham (1893) . .
  5. Web site: Lipke vs Schiffers (1894) . .
  6. Web site: Lee vs Mackenzie (1904) . .

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