London System

British player James Mason was the first well-known proponent of the London system. His contemporaries include Johannes Zukertort, Adolf Anderssen, and William Steinitz.[1] The London System came to prominence in an international tournament held in Central Hall, Westminster from July 31 to August 19, 1922, which would later be known as the 1922 London tournament.

Invitations were sent to Capablanca, Alekhine, Rubinstein, Bogoljubov, Reti, Tartakover, Vidmar, Euwe, Borislav Kostic and Frank Marshall, but the last two had problems with their travelling expenses and were unable to accept. The current British Champion and the Champions of Australia and Canada were also invited... Many games played in this tourney would later grace the best games collections of a number of players.[2]

— chessgames.com

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The Rubinstein Variation was popular during the 1922 London Tournament

The London System came into fashion as a way of countering the hypermodern setups that began rising in popularity during the 1920's, such as the King's Indian Defense and Orthodox Queen's Gambit Declined.[3] Many of the games in the 1922 London Tournament featured the Queen's Indian Defense, Rubinstein Variation, where white plays Bg5 to pin the knight, Nc3 and c4, arguably overextending pieces too early in the game. Later on in the tournament, players began playing Bf4 and c3. The line gives White a solid position, and critics of the line referred to it as the "old man’s variation" or the "boring system".[4] Even so, the opening can lead to sharp attacks. Vlatko Kovačević and David Bronstein are among the sharp tactical players who have played the London System.[5]

Sverre Johnsen and Vlatko Kovačević, in the introduction to their 2005 book Win with the London System, state:

Essentially, the London is a set of solid lines where after 1.d4 White quickly develops their dark-squared bishop to f4 and normally bolsters their centre with [pawns on] c3 and e3 rather than expanding. Although it has the potential for a quick kingside attack, the white forces are generally flexible enough to engage in a battle anywhere on the board. Historically it developed into a system mainly from three variations:

• 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4
• 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4
• 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4

White should ideally develop their knights to f3 and d2, bishops to f4 and d3, and solidify the position with pawns d4, e3, c3.

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Ideal London setup for White

• Gata Kamsky vs. Samuel Shankland, Sturbridge, MA 2014:
  1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 d5 3.e3 e6 4.Nd2 c5 5.c3 Nc6 6.Ngf3 Bd6 7.Bg3 0-0 8.Bd3 Qe7 9.Ne5 Nd7 10.Nxd7! Bxd7 11.Bxd6 Qxd6 12.dxc5 Qxc5? 13.Bxh7+!! Kxh7 14.Qh5+ Kg8 15.Ne4 Qc4 16.Ng5 Rfd8 17.Qxf7+ Kh8 18.Qh5+ Kg8 19.Rd1! e5 20.Qf7+ Kh8 21.e4 Ne7 22.Qxe7 Bb5 23.Rd2 Qxa2 24.Qf7 Qa1+ 25.Rd1 Qxb2 26.Qh5+ Kg8 27.Qh7+ Kf8 28.Qh8+ Ke7 29.Qxg7+ Kd6 30.Rxd5+ Kc6 31.Qf6+ 1–0[10]
• Magnus Carlsen vs. Evgeny Tomashevsky, Wijk aan Zee NED 2016:
  1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 b6 4.e3 Bb7 5.h3 Be7 6.Bd3 0-0 7.0-0 c5 8.c3 Nc6 9.Nbd2 d5 10.Qe2 Bd6 11.Rfe1!? Ne7?! 12.Rad1 Ng6?! 13.Bxg6! hxg6 14.Bxd6! Qxd6 15.Ne5 g5 16.f4!! gxf4 17.Rf1! Nd7! 18.Qh5! Nf6?! 19.Qh4! Qd8 20.Rxf4 Ne4? 21.Nxe4 Qxh4 22.Rxh4 dxe4 23.dxc5 bxc5 24.Rd7! Rab8 25.b3! a5 26.Rc7 a4 27.bxa4 Ba8 28.a5 Rb7 29.Rxc5 Ra7 30.Nc4 1–0 (Black resigns)[11]

• List of chess openings
• List of chess openings named after places

The Wikibook Chess Opening Theory has a page on the topic of: London System

• Lakdawala, Cyrus (2010). Play the London System. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85-7446-39-5.
• Nikola, Sedlak (2016). Winning with the Modern London System. Chess Evolution. ISBN 978-8-39-4429-09-6.