London System - London System: Mainline 2...Nf6
Let's learn the London System! Same solid setup almost every game while Black scrambles to find the right response. We begin with pawn to d4.
Learn this chapter freeMain line
The chapter's main line, with the comments from the course.
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3
Knight to its natural square, dodging all the early traps that hit hasty Bf4 players. Clean development first.
2... Nf6
Black develops naturally, mirroring our setup.
3. Bf4
Here comes our signature bishop! The London looks calm but gets sharp when Black tries to break out.
3... e6
Here is the difference: Black's light-squared bishop is shut in behind its own pawns, while ours is active. The e5 square belongs to us.
4. e3
With Black's c8 bishop still home, we skip c4 and aim for kingside pressure instead.
4... Bd6
Black develops the bishop to its best square, keeping things solid while contesting e5.
5. Nbd2
More flexible than Bg3, and we dodge Black's Qc7 tricks while keeping the bishop trade option open.
5... Bxf4
Black trades bishops to simplify, but the resulting pawn structure actually works in our favor.
6. exf4
Welcome to doubled f-pawn territory! We lock down e5 and all the dark squares, the rook jumps to the e-file, and f5 stays in our back pocket. These pawns aren't weak, they're our central fortress.
6... O-O 7. c3
Perfect setup, keeping maximum flexibility. Black can't trade light-squared bishops on good terms anymore.
7... Nbd7
Black's setting up c5 to challenge our center.
8. Bd3 c5 9. O-O cxd4 10. cxd4
We keep our grip on e5 and that d4 pawn isn't going anywhere. Black's stuck without a clean way to attack it.
Key lines
The free lines of this chapter, each one trainable move by move.
- Main Line
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 Bd6 5. Nbd2 Bxf4 6. exf4 O-O 7. c3 Nbd7 8. Bd3 c5 9. O-O cxd4 10. cxd4
- 3...Bf5
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 Bf5 4. c4 c6 5. Qb3 Qb6 6. c5 Qxb3 7. axb3 Nbd7 8. e3 e6 9. Nc3 a6 10. b4 Rc8 11. h3 Be7 12. Nd2 O-O 13. Nb3 Bd8 14. Bd6 Re8 15. Na5 Bxa5 16. bxa5
- 3...Bf5
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 Bf5 4. c4 c6 5. Qb3 Qb6 6. c5 Qxb3 7. axb3 Nbd7 8. e3 e6 9. Nc3 Be7 10. b4 O-O 11. b5 cxb5 12. Bxb5 a6 13. Be2
- 3...Bf5
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 Bf5 4. c4 e6 5. Qb3 b6 6. Nc3 Bd6 7. Bxd6 Qxd6 8. e3 O-O 9. Be2
- 3...c5
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 Qb6 6. dxc5 Qxb2 7. Rb1 Qxa2 8. Bb5 Bd7 9. O-O e6 10. c4
- 3...c5
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 Qb6 6. dxc5 Qxb2 7. Rb1 Qc3 8. Bb5 e6 9. O-O Be7 10. e4 O-O 11. e5 Nd7 12. Nb3 Qb4 13. Nfd4 Nxd4 14. Nxd4 Qxc5 15. Re1
- 3...Nc6
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 Nc6 4. e3 e6 5. Nbd2 Bd6 6. c3 O-O 7. Bd3 Re8 8. Ne5 Nd7 9. Bxh7+ Kxh7 10. Qh5+ Kg8 11. Qxf7+ Kh7 12. Ndf3
- 3...Nc6
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 Nc6 4. e3 e6 5. Nbd2 Bd6 6. c3 O-O 7. Bd3 Re8 8. Ne5 Bxe5 9. dxe5 Nd7 10. Nf3
- 3...Nc6
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 Nc6 4. e3 e6 5. Nbd2 Bd6 6. c3 Bxf4 7. exf4 O-O 8. Bd3
- 3...Nc6
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 Nc6 4. e3 Bf5 5. Bb5 e6 6. Ne5 Bd6 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. Bxc6+
- 3...Nc6
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 Nc6 4. e3 Bg4 5. h3 Bh5 6. Bb5 e6 7. g4 Bg6 8. Ne5 Bd6 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Bxc6+
- 3...Bg4
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 Bg4 4. Ne5 Bh5 5. h4 Nbd7 6. f3 Nxe5 7. dxe5 Nd7 8. g4 Bg6 9. h5
- 3...c6
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c6
- 3...g6
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 g6 4. e3 Bg7 5. Be2 O-O 6. O-O c5 7. c3 Nc6 8. Ne5 Nxe5 9. dxe5 Ne8 10. Nd2
- 5...O-O
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 Bd6 5. Nbd2 O-O 6. c3 c5 7. Bd3 Nc6 8. Bg3 Re8 9. Ne5
- 5...O-O
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 Bd6 5. Nbd2 O-O 6. c3 c5 7. Bd3 Nc6 8. Bg3 b6 9. e4 dxe4 10. Nxe4 Nxe4 11. Bxe4
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