Solid Openings For White That Leads to Closed Positions

I've decided to change my opening for white (I usually play the London System) since most of my opponents are now prepared against it, after it gained popularity. I really enjoy closed and solid positions with lots of maneuvering on the board. Any good openings you could recommend me?

1. c4/1. Nf3 systems with g3 obviously.

You cannot force a closed position with either color!  Even openings where the "main line" is closed (French - Winawer, King's Indian - Mar Del Plata), the opposing side can play a more open line (Exchange French - Four Pawns King's Indian)

As White, same problem.  Take 1.e4:

Against the French, the advance is the most closed, but both sides have to attack fast.  Closed does not equal a maneuvering game necessarily.

Against the Caro, 3.e5 is the closest thing to closed, unless Black plays 3...c5!

Closed Sicilian is probably your best against 1...c5

Against 1...e5, Clised Ruy Lopez is well, closed, but nothing stops Black from playing the open or Berlin.

Same thing goes for other first moves.  Against 1.d4, Kings Indian with 7...exd4 instead of 7...Nc6 is open.  Nimzo lines with both c5 and d5 instead of c5 and d6 are open.  QGD lines with c5 (IQP for Black) are open as opposed to ...c6.

Many of the 1.c4 e5 or 1.c4 f5 or even 1.c4 c5 wind up wide open.

Long story short, you cannot bank solely on the closed pawn structure.  As a French player and one who has played the Kings Indian a lot in my lifetime, my repertoire still deals with 4 of the 5 pawn center types:

Closed - Main lines

Open - Exchange French, Exchange Kings Indian

Static - This is 1 closed file with pawn levers, like the QGD - mostly my White game until I switched from KID to NID.

Dynamic - the amorphous pawn structures, many Kings Indian lines like the Saemisch or fianchetto.

Mobile - This is the one I avoid.  This is where one side has the big center that is not opposed by pawns.  The Kings Indian starts off with a big center for White, but ...e5 and d6 early on shuts it down and blocks it.  No mobility.  The mobile pawn center comes from the Grunfeld and Alekhine.  Against the Alekhine, White can convert the mobile center to a more closed center by playing the chase variation.

So you will need to know more than just the closed center as it cannot be forced.

Thanks. Maybe I should start learning e4 openings, to expose myself to different pawn structures. Rather than playing the London System, it always leads to the same pawn structure. Which can be bad for my chess

Or maybe I should continue with d4, but not play the London System

Both would be wise options, though in the case of 1.d4, that would only apply if you follow up with 2.c4.  Switching from the London to say, the Colle, does nothing except play the same structure with the DSB inside instead of outside the pawn chain.

If you are looking for the closest thing to a maneuvering game, your best bets are as follows, keeping in mind Black can deviate and you MUST remain flexible.  For example, trying to play slow in a leningrad Dutch will just get you killed:

1.e4

Advance French

Advance Caro-Kann

Closed Sicilian

Ruy Lopez - Exchange Variation if 3...a6

Alekhine - Chase Variation

Pirc/Modern - Classical setup

OR

1.d4/2.c4

QGD - Catalan

Slav - Exchange Variation

QGA - Classical (3.Nf3/4.e3)

KID - Fianchetto

Grunfeld - Fianchetto

1...Nf6/2...e6 - Catalan

Anti-Benoni with 3.Nf3

OR

1.Nf3 and then

1...Nf6 2.c4 with ideas of a Kings Indian (2...g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.d4 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.dxe5!), Anti-Grunfeld (2...g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.dxc3! Qxd1+ 7.Kxd1 - very much a positional maneuvering game and annoys Black to high heaven), along with Neo-Catalan setups against Nf6/e6, Symmetrical English, etc.

This last repertoire is covered in Cyrus Lakdawala's "How Ulf Beats Black".

Black isn't forced to play d4, however. He can always take on e4 with equality.

This is really helpful. I'm going to check games that starts with each opening you mentioned and see which middle game positions I like, to decide which opening will suite me. I'm likely to play QG, since I have some experience in that opening

Thanks. This looks really solid. The only downside is space disadvantage, I'll give it a try

These r the main closed positions from French and Caro kann