The game starts out as a London System. Those that know me will already know my take on the London System, and that my level of respect for it is about the same as my level of respect for criminals, drug dealers, college students that plagiarize, or the current POTUS. In other words, ZERO! White places no pressure on Black, and I am going to show you an excellent system to counter the London System with little to no risk. Of course, you still need to play the game correctly, and Black does not do that here, partially due to a positional error made in the middle game, and time trouble near the end, but we will see that Black had most of the opportunities in this game to convert the full point.
The problem with the London System is that it pressures nothing. It achieves nothing. Even the other systematic Queen Pawn openings, some of which I play myself, serve a purpose.
- The Colle System sees the goal of getting in e4. White executes rapid development to get that other central pawn pushed to the fourth square that Black spent that time trying to prevent with say, 1.d4 d5 (stopping e4) 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.Bd3 c5 5.c3 Nc6 etc. White has a simple goal in mind. Pushing e4.
- The Torre Attack (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bg5 or 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bg5) sees White create pressure along the h4-d8 diagonal, which is where the Black Queen resides to start the game. This pin in the case of 2...e6, or pressure along the diagonal in the case of 2...g6, can be very annoying for Black. Trying to run away from it by swinging the Queen over to the Queenside can often leave the Black King under-protected on the Kingside. Remaining in this pin can lead to tactical issues.
A prime example of the latter was in a correspondence game I played recently on chess.com where I had White and the game went 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bg5 Bg7 4.Nbd2 O-O 5.c3 d5 6.e3 Nbd7 7.Bd3 Re8 8.O-O e5 9.e4 exd4 10.cxd4 dxe4 11.Nxe4 h6 12.Qb3! hxg5? 13.Nexg5 Rf8 14.Bxg6 and already Black Resigned. If this were over the board rather than correspondence, he may have played on, but it would be futile. White's already winning.
The point being, this Bishop move pressures Black, and White is not forced to play additional prep moves to give the Bishop an escape. White will move this Bishop on his own time, or when Black harasses it, but Black is also spending time harassing the Bishop with weakening pawn moves, and so it is not like White is losing time, and once again, he is playing to get in his key break, e4, or in a few cases, he'll play Ne5 and try to break with f2-f4-f5 (particularly in the 2...e6 lines). More on "wasting time" when we get back to the London System.
- The Trompowsky Attack (1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5) sees White threaten to damage Black's Pawn structure, and if 2...Ne4, the Knight will be harassed and White will be aiming for a lead in development if he doesn't achieve the structural damage. Sometimes a tricky idea to understand, but the opening serves a purpose.
- The Veresov (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bg5 or 1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bg5) also serves the purpose of trying to get that second pawn to the fourth rank, namely e4. This leads to Black either having to block his own pieces with the main line, 3...Nbd7, with the sole purpose of trying to hold a Knight on f6 and looking to prevent e4, but White has other ideas with f3 to drive in e4. Sure, this can get a little airy for the White King, and it is risky, but the opening serves a purpose.
Now let me say, before you go around preaching how stupid I am for promoting these openings, that 2.c4 is still White's best move from a theoretical perspective after both 1...d5 and 1...Nf6. That said, the systems mentioned above all have a specific purpose. Outside of the Trompowsky, which is all about structural damage and leads in development, it is usually to get that e-pawn advanced to e4, opening up White's game. But in the London System, there is no motivation for White to do that. He just wants to sit around, plop a few pieces on different squares and pretend that he is developed, wait to see if Black implodes, and if not, shake hands. In addition to Bf4 doing nothing, it also often requires White to play additional moves that do nothing for his fight for the center, such as h3, merely to give the Bishop an escape on h2. Not true in all lines, including the line played in the game, but face the London System enough times or look over enough London System games and you'll see exactly what I mean, especially at the amateur level, where you'll see players playing White flicking in h3 even when it's completely unnecessary. This whole idea doesn't even make any sense if you think about it! White puts his pawns on d4, e3, and f2. That makes this Bishop on f4 his "Bad Bishop". It may be active, but it's still bad, and so why is White spending all this time to preserve something that he'd probably be best off getting rid of anyway, even for a Knight sometimes?
So with that, let's take a look at the game, and I will be pointing out a number of places that Black could have improved, and with this, you should never lose to the London System again. I make no claim that it's refuted, and draws will likely be frequent when facing this system, but there is no reason to ever have to lose to this drivel.
Charlotte Open, Round 4
W: Carter Peatman (2171)
B: Patrick McCartney (2061)
London System
1.d4 e6 2.Bf4 d5
This idea of playing 2.Bf4 instead of 2.Nf3 has risen in popularity mainly due to a cheap trap, which we will look at. If a trap is what people are resorting to, it just confirms my theory that the London System is garbage.
3.Nf3
This defeats the purpose of playing 2.Bf4 and steers back to the ordinary London. What is all the rage today is playing 3.e3. The idea is that White wants to keep the Queen open for Qg4-tricks. The idea is that here, 3...Bd6 is dubious, but not for the reasons that most London players at the amatuer level think. After 3.e3 Bd6?! 4.Bxd6, Black is in a quandry. If he takes with the Queen, then after 4...Qxd6 5.Qg4!, Black does not get the proper compensation if he gives up the g-pawn, and holding it leads to Black compromising his position, either with the weakening 5...g6, getting his King stuck with 5...Kf8, or tangling his pieces with something crazy like 5...Qf8. Many think that this Queen trick works against both captures, but it doesn't. After 4...cxd6 (instead of 4...Qxd6), White gets a positional advantage after 5.c4! dxc4 6.Bxc4 and both sides have many options here. You might ask what is so great for White? It just looks like your normal Exchange Slav type position if Black ever plays ...d5, but the difference is that in the Exchange Slav or in QGD lines, when White gets in the desired trade of Dark-Squared Bishops, he usually has to initiate it where Black can respond with developing a piece, typically the Queen. But here, nothing of Black's is developed, and White still was able to trade the piece he wants traded, and so while White's Bishop on c4 is not a tempo gain as it will have to move once Black plays ...d5, White is still, in essence, a move ahead compared to most normal lines. Note that 5.Qg4 (after 4...cxd6) is not as effective here as it is after the Queen capture because with the Queen still on d8, covering f6, Black can respond with 5...Nf6! 6.Qxg7 Rg8 7.Qh6 Rg6 and now 8.Qf4 Ne4! gives Black full equality with possibly even a miniscule advantage while the better move, 8.Qh4, still gives Black compensation for the pawn after 8...e5!, and so 5.c4 is better than 5.Qg4 here.
So now we see why many play this 3.e3 move order, and why 3...Bd6 against it isn't particularly good for Black. Taking with the Queen leads to tactical problems, and taking with the pawn leads to a lag in development. However, if White ever does this to you, simply play 3...Nf6 first before moving the Bishop to d6.
3...Bd6 4.Bg3
As already mentioned, the Dark-Squared Bishop is White's worst minor piece, so why did we offer to trade it off? Why didn't White take it? The answer is simple. Black has no intention of capturing the White Bishop for him. By retreating to g3, White figures that his Rook will open up if Black takes before he castles (or if he castles Queenside, which is rare, but will actually happen this game). The problem with 4.Bxd6 is the well-known adage that "The initiator of any trade always loses a tempo." Think about that. After 3 moves, White has two pieces developed to Black's one, but he will have to spend time pushing the e-pawn to get the other Bishop out, something Black has already done, so we will soon see that Black isn't really behind in development. He will be in line with White. But if White were to take the Bishop on d6, Black will recapture with the Queen (4...Qxd6). White originally had a developed piece on f4, and now he has nothing there. Black may no longer have his developed Bishop, but he has replaced it with a developed Queen, and so this exchange leads to one less developed piece for White, and the same number of developed pieces for Black, as before the trade. Now you might say "but what if White develops another piece, like 5.Nd2? The problem with that logic is that White now has the same number of pieces developed as before, but now it is Black's move, and before it was White's move, and so that logic doesn't work either. So this is why Black offers a trade that eliminates White's worst piece, and why White doesn't take it. This leads to a well-known concept in chess called tension. More often than not, tension is between pawns, and neither side wants to release it via capturing as it loses time unless it leads to a gain elsewhere, like the winning of a pawn. But as can be seen here, tension can also be between two pieces, such as Bishops here, or Rooks on an open file, or two Knights that attack each other.
This also leads to another issue I have with the London System. When Black plays a move like ...a6 in the Ruy Lopez or ...h6 in the Queen's Gambit Declined or Torre Attack, sure, Black is forcing White to move a piece a second time in the opening. However, the move ...a6 or ...h6 does nothing to get Black closer to castling, and it doesn't develop a piece, and so Black hasn't really gained time. Here, however, Black has developed a piece, and White moves a developed piece again. White is not forced to move the Bishop again, but allowing Black to take it on f4 instead of g3 does lead to a compromised pawn structure. This may be ok for White, and whether or not Black captures and whether this is better or worse is another entire topic to be covered another time. However, in the game, Black has gained time by developing a piece and at the same time, getting White to move an already developed piece a second time. These time-wasting moves such as Bg3 or h3 are another reason why I find the London System to be significantly weaker than the other "Queen Pawn Openings" such as those mentioned in the introduction.
4...Nf6 5.e3 O-O 6.c3
This move makes very little sense. When developing, you should move pieces that you know the destination of before those that you don't. The move 6.c4 would not be bad here, realizing that you need to gain space and looking to not move the Bishop immediately in case Black takes on c4, trying to gain a tempo, but if you are going to use the traditional London setup, why play the pawn first? If Black had played ...c5, this would make sense, giving the Bishop the c2-square if Black advances ...c4. But with the pawn still on c7, why not play 6.Bd3 and prepare to castle or develop the Queen's Knight after that? Wait for Black to play ...c5 before playing c3 unless you have a specific reason, like developing the Queen to c2 or b3, but with the Black King castled, he can easily play ...b6 without any issues on the light squares, and there is no reason to rush the Queen to c2 without developing the Bishop, and so the move 6.c3 makes little sense. Sure, you'll play Bd3, Qc2, Nd2, etc, but if that is what you are going to play anyway, play the least committal move first. This way, if Black does something odd, the move c4 is still an option for White.
Long story short, the best move here probably is 6.c4, but of all the systematic moves akin to the London System, 6.c3 makes the least sense of them all.
6...b6
And here you will see the system that I advocate. Black's idea is simple. He is delaying ...c5 until he is ready to play it on his own time, avoiding certain tactics that White may have on the c-pawn, and getting ready to play ...Bb4 and ...Ne4, occupying the e4-square and preventing the e4-push that White often achieves in other QP Openings. The fact that White plays these time-wasters like moving the Bishop a second time to g3 or time-consuming pawn moves like h3 is what gives Black the time to do this here against the London that can often be viewed as dangerous against other systems like the Colle or Torre.
7.Bd3 Bb7 8.Nbd2 Ne4 9.Qc2 f5
And now the position resembles a good version of the Stonewall Dutch where White's pieces are sub-optimally placed.
10.Ne5 Nxd2
Black's idea here was to avoid 11.Ndf3, which would allow a Knight to continue to occupy the hole on e5 if Black were ever to trade his Knight or Bishop on e5. It also temporarily displaces the Queen. That said, with the Knight on e5 and it only being protected by the pawn on d4, this would be the time for Black to seriously consider the advancement of the c-pawn. After 10...c5, both 11.Ndf3 Qe7 12.Qe2 g5 and 11.f4 Bxe5 12.dxe5 Ba6 give Black a small advantage.
11.Qxd2 Nd7 12.f4 c6 13.Qe2 Rc8 14.Bf2 Nf6 15.Bh4 Qe8 16.h3 Ne4 17.g4
17...Rc7!
Understanding multi-purpose moves like this one are critical in chess. Black sees that White is advancing on the Kingside, which means his King will likely end up on the Queenside or in the center. Black will want to open the c-file at some point. By lifting the Rook, Black is enabling himself to double on the c-file before breaking it open. Secondly, the g-file is likely to open up, and with none of Black's pieces blocking the 7th rank, the Rook is ideally placed to cover the g7-pawn.
18.O-O-O b5 19.Kb1 a6 20.Rhg1 c5 21.Bxe4
With the mounting pressure, White buckles and plays an anti-positional move. Something like 21.Be1 or 21.Rc1 would hold the balance.
21...fxe4 22.Rc1 Bxe5
Now you might be wondering why this is good while White's equivalent move two moves ago was anti-positional. Here, White doesn't have a good way to recapture. If he takes with the f-pawn, then Black owns the open f-file. In the game, he takes the other way, but it's far easier for Black to mobilize his majority than it is for White to mobilize his.
23.dxe4 Qd7 24.Bg3 Qc6
This move is not right though. After 24...b4, White has nothing better than 25.cxb4 cxb4 26.Rxc7 Qxc7 27.Rc1 Qd7 28.Qd2 a5 29.b3 Ba6 and Black's position is preferable as he has both the initiative and it's easier for him to get his Bishop into play than it is for White to get his going.
25.Rgf1
This move makes no sense. White must get the ball rolling with 25.f5. Attacks on the opposite side is all about who gets there first.
25...Rcf7 26.Rf2 Bc8
Too passive! After 26...a5! 27.h4 b4, Black has a big advantage. His attack will be quicker to break through.
27.h4 c4?!
This move is a positional mistake. Black still has a small advantage after 27...a5, though it's not as great as it would have been the previous move.
28.Kc2
White fails to execute on his lone opportunity prior to the time scramble. 28.h5!, continuing his attack on the Kingside, would actually give White a small advantage. Do note, however, that this advantage does not come from the London System, but rather after back-to-back errors by Black.
28...b4 29.Kd1?
White must play 29.cxb4 here with a roughly equal position. Now suddenly, Black is better once again.
29...Qa4+ 30.Ke1 Qxa2 31.Kf1 bxc3 32.Rxc3 Rb7 33.Ra3 Qb1+ 34.Kg2
34...Rb3?
Black had it all going his way until now. Black needs to get his last piece into the action. After 34...Bd7!, Black plays to bring the other Rook to b8. Black is winning after 35.Qc2 Qxc2 36.Rxc2 Rfb8 37.Ra2 Rb3 38.Bf2 g6 as White is completely tied down, and 35.Rxa6 Rfb8! is even worse for White.
35.Rxb3 cxb3 36.Rf1 Qa2 37.Rc1
Once again, White should have played 37.f5 where Black's advantage is extremely minimal.
37.Bd7 38.Be1 Bb5 39.Qd2 Bc4 40.Qd4 Qa4 41.Bc3 Qe8 42.Kf2 h5! 43.Rg1 Qe7 44.g5 Qf7??
And one more time, Black messes up. At this point, time was becoming an issue with White having 11 minutes for the rest of the game to Black's 6 minutes. Here, 44...Rb8 was correct (44...Rc8 is ok as well), where 45.Kg3 (45.g6? Qxh4+ -+) is answered by 45...g6 and Black has the upper hand. Whether it is enough to win is still in question as it doesn't come close to what Black could have had after 34...Bd7!, but it's better than what was played in the game.
The rest of the game is going to see a significant number of mistakes and probably isn't worth much more than something to laugh at from here on out.
45.Qb6?
And once again, White fails to capitalize. The only move for White is 45.g6! Problem is, that move is actually good enough to give White the advantage!
45...Rc8?
Black needed to play either 45...Qf5 or 45...g6.
46.g6! Qd7 47.Rc1?
47.Rg5! with advantage to White.
47...Qc6?
And here 47...Qe7! is a big advantage for Black as White can no longer block with the Rook on g5.
48.Qb4 Qc5 49.Qb7??
49.Qxc5 is dead equal.
49...Qc7?
With the lack of time on the clock, Black goes for the perpetual. Once again, Black has a huge advantage with 49...Rf8! 50.Bb4 50.Qd7 Rxf4+ 51.Kg2 Bf1+ 52.Rxf1 Rg4+ 53.Kh1 Rxh4+ 54.Kg2 Rg4+ 55.Kh1 Rh4+ 56.Kg2 Qc2+ 57.Rf2 Rh2+ 58.Kxh2 Qxf2+ 59.Kh1 Qh4+ 60.Kg2 Qg4+ 61.Kh2 Qxg6 62.Qxa6 Kh7 and the pawns are better than the piece. Even worse is 50.Qd7 Rxf4+ 51.Kg2 Rg4+ 52.Kh2 Rxg6 and Black's winning.
50.Qb4 Qc5 51.Qb7 Qc7 52.Qb4 Qc5 1/2-1/2
A depressing draw for Black, who had many chances to win. That said, a number of items can be learned from this game:
- The London System, unlike other QP Openings, involves White playing non-developing moves such as either h3 or moving the Bishop multiple times. This causes White's attack to be slower than in other QP Openings, and hence why Black should have absolutely no problem equalizing.
- Remember the concept that the initiator of any trade loses a tempo along with the concept of tension. Just because a trade of equal pieces is available does not make it good to execute the trade. Saying "the position will be simpler because there are fewer pieces on the board" is NOT an excuse to trade. Often times, keeping tension on the board is vital.
- Remember the trick if White doesn't play Nf3 early, and plays the line via d4, Bf4, and e3. Get the Knight out to f6 before contesting the Bishop. If White plays an early Nf3, then contesting the Bishop immediately is best.
- Delay the move ...c5 until your position is ready to play it, or until a tactical factor makes it good. Playing it too early can often play into White's hand for tactical reasons.
- One of the main points behind the recommended system is not to allow e4 by White.
- When castling on opposite wings, focus on the side you are attacking except when absolutely necessary. Slow-playing the position or constantly defending will often lead to disaster.
- When dealing with a middle game position with Opposite-Colored Bishops, the advantage almost always goes to the side with the initiative.
- A piece is not always better than three pawns. Typically, the closer you are to an endgame, the better the pawns are. In an early middle game with lots of pieces still on the board, the piece is typically better.
- Often times, the hardest part about chess is executing in an advantageous position. Just because your position is better does not mean you can get lax or complacent, and you must always pay attention to all details throughout the entire game.
Next time, and pretty much the rest of the games in the tournament, we will be seeing games where White is the one pushing, likely with the advantage, that again result in failed attacks. Until then, good luck in your games.
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