The London is not an easy opening for me (rating 1400-ish)

To get this off my chest: the London is not an easy opening for me (rating 1400-ish).

For the first time in my life I spend time studying chess. I bought Silman’s Complete Endgame Course, learned the names of all tactics and do some puzzling and I installed Scid vs pc to analyse my games.

I picked three openings to play and study. One of them the London. System for the busy player, the boring stuff, the opening for the mindless woodpushers,.

But it’s not easy for me. Not at all.

• What do I do against …Qb6? Looks easy, but when I dive into it it’s not easy at all. Is blacks knight still on it’s spot? Can black play …Bf5, has …g6 been played… . Can I target, b7 or c7. Well, the answer is: it depends.
• Ok, the Englund (1. d4 e5) is not a good approach for black. So I need to win these. But I don’t. Study time and a few days later I am indeed able to win most of those games. But that is a few days of serious hours. And in my last Englund my opponent took on ...Qxc3. Which I did not study…
• What to play against the KID. Well, let me guess… that depends. Can I play e5 or not.
• I have run into …e6 then …c5 lately, haven’t studied it yet. No clue what to do.
• maybe my biggest question: when to play e3 and when to play e4?

And so on, and so on.

Is this a problem? No. I enjoy my new chess phase a lot and Scid is a huge step forward for me. But is it mindless, boring or easy? Nope, it is not.

And for those telling that the opening is not ok: I can’t judge that and will never be able to judge that. I don’t even understand the difference between a system opening and a regular opening. My peak rating is 1500, I am 53. I play the game for fun.

The only thing I can judge is that I am learning a lot and Kamsky is still playing Bf4.  

Sjo… thx for listening.

Regards,

AtaChess

Hi,

Good Post and atleast your enjoying playing,

If you want to learn the London or the basics have a look at the opening section and that may help.

https://www.chess.com/openings

you don't need to study every terrible move, Qxc3 just loses the Queen for not enough compensation and even a beginner would see that

The London is a great choice, regardless of what people say. However, if you like the london, I would strongly suggest looking in the Jobava London as well. It's even less theory, and more aggressive. 

However, with the main london, I can give a lot of advice. 

1. Play it with 2. Bf4. Dont play nf3 early on. This will keep the position flexible, and prevent early nh5 stuff. 

2. 3. e3 is almost always the correct third move. The exceptions are the following: 

3. If your opponent plays 2. Bf5 consider entering Jobava territory with nc3

4. If your opponent goes for a KID/Pirc, you should abandon the regular london setup, and start a ringside attack. Generally with nc3, e4, qd2, 0-0-0 and h4.

5. Against early c5, make sure to play e3 and c3. Keep it simple, support the centre.

6. Qb6 can generally be met by qb3, which results in a better middle game for white. 

7. Against 1. E5, play nc3. Leads to a very aggressive Scandinavian like position.

8. Facing 1. E6? Again I recommend playing 2.nc3 here, but with the regular london, it's best just to play 3. E3. If qb6, nc3. 

9. In mainline london system positions, stick to the normal developing plans, be sure look out for Greek gifts, and preparing an e4 push at the right time. 

That's a very brief overview, but maybe if can give you some ideas.

London is a great opening, check out YouTube look for Gotham chess, Eric Rosman and Hanging pawns all do really good explanations of the London

Hanging pawns actually playing this at the moment within his road to GM series and has a london theory playlist

Gotham chess look at his gotham chess openings playlist he covers the basics of the london in a 2-3 vids

Totally agree with Moosifer87 on all points though 3. I tend to exchange bishops by playing Bd3 recapture with the Q. But have a look at the YouTube vloggers they have great resources on the london

Introduction To The London System & Jobava London System...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/the-london-system

I have the same rating as you do and I just love the London. Chess.com has a great tutorial on the London listed under lessons. The way I study openings is to play online and then use the analysis engine to analyze the game. If my opponent made any moves that I didn't know how to play against I just check it out with the analysis engine.  In addition there are many videos available on YouTube that do a good job of explaining the London. Interestingly, I found you can play the London as black. There's a variation within the semi-slav called the London System variation. 

It's a great opening for those getting back into chess as an adult. A firm foundation that is useful knowledge for expanding on. I'm in my second year of playing chess now, and 'shopping around' for new d.4 openings to expand my repertoire with, and many have an encouraging familiarity. 

1. e4! Best by test.

Thx for all the encouraging comments and recources. Fantastic blog Russbell! 

I think you adress the heart of my post Nickolay. But I don't get it. I doubt that the London can be learned by anyone but I am confindent it can be learned by me in the end. I see this 'systematic' thing more often.

What do you mean, or even better, what do we mean with 'systematic opening'?