London system
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The characteristic basic structure of the London system: bishop on f4 with pawn chain c3 – d4 – e3
The London system (also known as the women's runner game ) is an opening system in chess that is one of the closed games . It is a set-up for White that is created by different ways of playing, whose characteristic features include an early development of the black- squared bishop on the f4 square together with the placement of pawns on the d4 and e3 squares and usually also c3.
The London system is considered easy to learn as well as a solid and secure structure for White against most of the opening variations of Black, which is why it is particularly popular with club players. Sometimes, however, it is also characterized as boring and draws . The ECO keys for the London system are, depending on Black's counterplay, D02 (after d7 – d5), A46 (after Ng8 – f6) and A48 (with a King's Indian structure for Black).
Historical information
The beginning of a game with 1. d2 – d4 d7 – d5 2. Bc1 – f4 Bc8 – Bf5 is one of twelve openings that are already mentioned in the Göttingen manuscript . This is a treatise written between 1500 and 1505, possibly written by Luis Ramírez Lucena , and is one of the oldest works on modern chess. The assumed queen's gambit and this variant of the queen's bishop game are the only openings with the queen's pawn contained in this work.
One of the oldest surviving games with the London system is a game played in 1883 at a tournament in London between James Mason (white) and Joseph Henry Blackburne (black). In the following years Blackburne used this opening several times himself with white. Another player from the period up to the beginning of the First World War who played the London system repeatedly was the Polish master Akiba Rubinstein .
A tournament also held in London, the BCF Congress of 1922, organized by the British Chess Federation , helped popularize this system, particularly as a remedy against the Indian openings for black, which emerged in the 1920s with the hypermodern school of chess . During this tournament , Alexander Alekhine won a game with the London system against Max Euwe , who opted for a King's Indian setup with Black.
In the decades after the Second World War , the London system was played more often by Vlatko Kovačević and Dawid Bronstein, among others . The grandmasters who have used it repeatedly in the recent past include Eric Prié , Henrik Danielsen , Gata Kamsky , Boris Pawlowitsch Gratschow and Wladimir Kramnik .
The Tata Steel Chess tournament the reigning world champion won Magnus Carlsen with the London system in January 2016 and against Yevgeny Tomaschewski and in January 2017 against Wesley So . In October 2016, FM Karsten Schulz achieved four points in five White games with the London system at the 87th German Championships in Lübeck , where he finished third, including a draw against eventual tournament winner GM Sergei Kalinitschew and a win against third on the seed list IM Tobias Jugelt .
variants
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Typical line-up in the London system based on the development of minor pieces and short castling
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Possible build-up after opening the h-file by exchanging the bishop on g3 and long castling
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Alternative development of the lady jumper on the c3 field
First moves
The sequence of white trains to achieve the typical structure in the London system offers options for changing trains and is therefore flexible. The first move is d2 – d4 and Ng1 – f3. In practice, however, the opening with the King Jumper is rarely used for playback in the London system. Rather, the standard opening is with the d-pawn, which is followed by the characteristic bishop move Bc1 – f4 either directly in the second move or after 2. Ng1 – f3.
The later execution of the bishop's move in favor of Ng1 – f3 gives White, on the one hand, the possibility of switching from Black to other opening systems depending on the moves, for example with c2 – c4 to a delayed variant of the Queen's Gambit . Second, it initially disguises White's intention to play the London system. The variant with 1. d2 – d4 and 2. Bc1 – f4, sometimes referred to as the “accelerated London system”, is usually played against the sequence with 2. Ng1 – f3 and 3. Bc1 – f4 or the opening with 1. Ng1 – f3 Recommended if White aims to build the London system from the start.
The consolidation of the center with the moves e2 – e3 and c2 – c3 can also be played before the development of the king knight. This should be done especially with an early move by black c-pawn, in order to be able to counter the move Qd8 – b6 with Qd1 – b3.
The bishop on f4
White can counter a possible attack on the f4-bishop by black move Bf8 – d6 either by directly exchanging the two black-squared bishops with Bf4xd6. Then, if necessary, the move f2-f4 can be used to supplement the pawn chain c3-d4-e3 to a Stonewall-like structure, provided that Ng1-f3 has not been played before. Alternatively, after Bf8 – d6, White can withdraw Bf4 – g3. If Black then decides to exchange bishop on g3 himself, hxg3 opens the h-file for the white rook on h1 with the corresponding attack potential on the kingside . Because of this, the retreat to g3 is generally considered to be a more active variant, while White's bishop exchange on d6 is viewed as low-risk.
Should Black, on the other hand, attack the f4-bishop with his g- and h-pawns or with the king knight through Nf6 – h5, the bishop can retreat to h2 after the white h-pawn has moved up to h3. If, on the other hand, White has not yet played h2 – h3 before Black attacks the bishop with Nf6 – h5, White can also decide to retreat with Bf4 – g3 and then play with Nh5xg3 and hxg3. Alternatively, Bf4 – e5 or, if Black has chosen a King's Indian setup with bishop fianchetto after g7, the move Bf4 – g5 followed by Bg5 – h4 as an answer to a possible h7 – h6 can be played.
The white lady jumper
For the white lady jumper, the development after d2 is the most common variant. Alternatively, Nb1 – c3 is also possible, provided Black had not previously played c7 – c5 and White was thus able to move his own c-pawn to c4 instead of c3. A newer independent idea in the London system is also the fast play Nb1 – c3 already in the third move after d2 – d4 and Bc1 – f4 as a remedy against the King's Indian structure for Black after Ng8 – f6 and g7 – g6.
By positioning the queen knight on c3 instead of d2, this field remains free for the king knight to deduct from f3. This can be played, for example, after the white-squared bishop has been developed to e2 in response to Black's move Nf6 – h5, in order to attack the black knight on h5. Positioning on e2 is recommended for the white-squared bishop, especially in the King's Indian setup for Black. In the London system, however, the bishop is usually moved to d3, with strategic orientation on the h7-square.
Castling
The castling is done usually short in the London system for white. Depending on the game situation, especially with the h-file open or the involvement of the white kingside pawns in an attack on the short castled black king, long castling can also be useful. In addition, the security resulting from the formation of white pawns and minor pieces in the center also offers the possibility of delaying the execution of castling longer than in other openings and thus reacting flexibly to the course of the game.
Related openings
One of the openings with a comparable structure for White is in particular the Colle system , in which with a similar pawn structure as in the London system, the development of the black-field bishop is initially postponed by White and later after an advance by the e-pawn or alternatively a fianchetto over the Field b2 takes place. In particular against the King's Indian defense , the London system is considered to be more suitable than the Colle system. The Stonewall attack , with the addition of the pawn chain c3 – d4 – e3 by placing the white f-pawn on f4, has structural similarities to the London system.
A similar early development of the black-squared white bishop as in the London system takes place in the Trompowsky opening , in which the black king knight developed after f6 is attacked by Bc1 – g5 in the second move, as well as in the Hodgson attack (pseudo-Trompowsky) with the move 2. Bc1 – g5 in answer to 1.… d7 – d5. In Torre attack the development of the rotor leads to g5 in the third train to 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 and 2. Sg1-f3 e6 e7 to a restraining of the jumper to f6.
literature
- Sverre Johnsen, Vlatko Kovacevic: Winning with the London system. Gambit Publications, London 2008, ISBN 978-1-904600-79-4 .
- Cyrus Lakdawala : Secret Weapon of the London System. Everyman Chess, London 2011, ISBN 978-3-942383-14-1 .
- Marcus Schmücker: The London system - played right. Joachim Beyer Verlag, Hollfeld 2016, ISBN 978-39-5920-030-1 .
- Andrew Soltis: The London System: A Complete White Opening System. Chess Digest, Dallas 1993, ISBN 0-87-568231-6 .
- Alfonso Romero Holmes, Oscar de Prado Rodriguez: The Agile London System: A Solid but Dynamic Chess Opening Choice for White. New In Chess, Alkmaar 2016, ISBN 978-90-5691-689-3 .
- Nikola Sedlak: Winning With the Modern London System. A Complete Opening Repertoire for White against 1. d4 d5. Chess Evolution, Niepołomice 2016, ISBN 978-83-9442-909-6 .
Web links
- 1. d4 London System Games Selected games with the London system
- London System - A Few Basics Introductory video