London System

• At a glance

  London System

  73 games, 75.3%: Wonderfultime's London. Bf4, e3, c3 and a queen that goes to c2 or b3 as soon as Black's queen comes out to b6.

  17 cards, one idea each. Swipe to move on.

• The big idea

  Your games: 362× · you score 72%

  Wonderfultime's London starts with 1.d4 and 2.Nf3, then 3.Bf4 against …d5. The setup is familiar: e3, c3, Nbd2, Bd3.

• The big idea

  Your games: 5× · you score 90%

  What matters is the answer to Black's queen coming out to b6, and to attacks on the f4 bishop.

• The big idea

  Your games: 5× · you score 90%

  73 games, 75.3%. The dossier finds no recurring move that Stockfish disputes, and no recurring opponent deviation either.

• The big idea

  Your games: 5× · you score 90%

  The thread of the course: against …Qb6, Qc2 and a tactical resource worth knowing. Against …Bf5, c4 and Qb3 against b7.

• The big idea

  Your games: 5× · you score 90%

  Against …Bd6 and …Nh5, the f4 bishop chooses between the trade and the retreat.

• Principle

  Against …Qb6, the queen to c2

  Your games: 14× · you score 75%

  Black's queen attacks b2. 6.Qc2 defends it and guards e4.

• Principle

  The in-between move dxc5

  Your games: 5× · you score 90%

  If …Bf5 attacks the c2 queen, 7.dxc5 attacks the b6 queen first: the queens come off and White loses nothing.

• Principle

  When the c8 bishop comes out, target b7

  Your games: 7× · you score 93%

  Against …Bf5, c4 then Qb3: the bishop has left c8, and the b7 pawn is no longer defended.

• Principle

  Trade the attacked bishop

  Your games: 6× · you score 67%

  When …Bd6 and …Qc7 aim at f4, the trade on d6 removes the target.

• Principle

  Against …Nh5, Be5

  Your games: 3× · you score 67%

  The bishop does not retreat: on e5, it provokes …f6, which weakens e6 and the diagonal to Black's king.

• Imbalance

  The c3-d4-e3 structure

  Your games: 11× · you score 68%

  White's pawns form a solid triangle. Black hits it with …c5, and the b6 queen eyes b2 behind it.

• Imbalance

  A queenless endgame

  Your games: 5× · you score 90%

  After the queen trade on b6, Black has doubled b-pawns, and White has a knight eyeing b5 and c2.

• Imbalance

  Bishop pair against the h-file

  After …Nxg3 hxg3, Black has the bishop pair, White a half-open h-file and the e5 square.

• The trade-off

  What you gain

  • The same setup against almost everything: Bf4, e3, c3.
  • Little theory, but a few precise moves to know.
  • No recurring move that Stockfish disputes.
• The trade-off

  What you give up

  • Against …Qb6, you need to know the dxc5 resource.
  • Black equalizes without difficulty according to Stockfish.
  • Against …Nh5, the bishop can be traded off.
• That's all

  Your turn

  These ideas only stick once you play the moves. The chapters make you find the right ones.

  Start chapter 1

Card 1 of 17: London System

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