Did "Dutch defence" pre-date the chess term?

Solution 1:

There are a few examples of Dutch defence usage before 1789 that refers to war terminology, plus the Phrase Finder cites its usage in legal context. It is reasonable to assume that Elias Stein referred to an existing expression and adopted it to describe a tactic in chess game.

• From: The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling: In Four Volumes, Volume 2 Di Henry Fielding (1749)

• To confess the Truth, I am afraid Mr. Jones maintained a Kind ' of Dutch Defence, arid treacheroufly delivered up the Garrison, with- ' out duly weighing his Allegiance to the sair ' Sophia. In short, no sooner had the amorous,...

The The Phrase Finder cites the legal meaning from 1749:

• There are a host of phrases in English that include the word 'Dutch'; that's hardly surprising as The Netherlands is just a few miles across the sea from England. We don't have anything like as many expressions that include 'French', so why the interest in 'Dutch'? Two reasons: trade and war.

• The Anglo-Dutch wars of the 17th and 18th centuries were acrimonious even by the usual standards of war. Following the conflicts the English came to hold the Dutch in very low regard and as a consequence there are numerous English phrases which portray them in an unflattering light, often as skinflints or drunkards. The common strand in all of these disparaging 'Dutch' expressions is that anything Dutch is the opposite of what it ought to be. Examples of these expressions are:

• Dutch bargain - a bargain made when one is debilitated by drink - first recorded in 1654.

• Dutch defence - a legal defence in which the defendant seeks clemency by deceitfully betraying others - 1749.