Artikelnummer
LOKOTTLF
The London Files
Defanging the London System
272 Seiten, kartoniert, Russell Enterprises, 1. Auflage 2023
Vorübergehend ausverkauft
Although the London System was first played almost 200 years ago, it lay dormant until the beginning of the 21st century. Then chessplayers rediscovered it, realizing that the London could be played against most responses by Black, obtaining a good game with little preparation.
Nowadays the London has evolved into an opening taken up by both club players and world champions. Magnus Carlsen has played it regularly and the new word champion Ding Liren used it to convincingly defeat Ian Nepomniachtchi in game six of their 2023 title match.
Literature on the London has focused primarily on play from White’s side. However, this new book by grandmasters Vassilios Kotronias and Mikhail Ivanov changes all that. Thea authors present four (!) separate ways to combat the London: (1) King’s Indian Setups; (2) the London Benoni; (3) the London Nimzo- and Queen’s Indian; and (4) the London Orthodox System.
The London Files presents Black many good and flexible options for neutralizing White, while also giving us Londoners many new problems to contend with ... Without a doubt, this book will give Black players highly effective means to deal with the London System for a long time to come and may even have players completely rethinking their approach with the white pieces. From the Foreword by Ian Harris
Defang the London System and fear it no more!
About the Authors:
Greek Grandmaster Vassilios Kotronias, has won the championship of Greece ten times and has represented his country many times in team competitions. He is one of the most respected opening analysts in the world today.
Russian-Serbian Grandmaster Mikhail Ivanov has been successful in many European tournaments, including the 2002 Neckar Open. He is a venerable chess coach and trainer. This is his first book for Russell Enterprises.
Nowadays the London has evolved into an opening taken up by both club players and world champions. Magnus Carlsen has played it regularly and the new word champion Ding Liren used it to convincingly defeat Ian Nepomniachtchi in game six of their 2023 title match.
Literature on the London has focused primarily on play from White’s side. However, this new book by grandmasters Vassilios Kotronias and Mikhail Ivanov changes all that. Thea authors present four (!) separate ways to combat the London: (1) King’s Indian Setups; (2) the London Benoni; (3) the London Nimzo- and Queen’s Indian; and (4) the London Orthodox System.
The London Files presents Black many good and flexible options for neutralizing White, while also giving us Londoners many new problems to contend with ... Without a doubt, this book will give Black players highly effective means to deal with the London System for a long time to come and may even have players completely rethinking their approach with the white pieces. From the Foreword by Ian Harris
Defang the London System and fear it no more!
About the Authors:
Greek Grandmaster Vassilios Kotronias, has won the championship of Greece ten times and has represented his country many times in team competitions. He is one of the most respected opening analysts in the world today.
Russian-Serbian Grandmaster Mikhail Ivanov has been successful in many European tournaments, including the 2002 Neckar Open. He is a venerable chess coach and trainer. This is his first book for Russell Enterprises.
| EAN | 9781949859690 |
|---|---|
| Gewicht | 370 g |
| Hersteller | Russell Enterprises |
| Breite | 15 cm |
| Höhe | 22,7 cm |
| Medium | Buch |
| Erscheinungsjahr | 2023 |
| Autor | Vassilios KotroniasMikhail Ivanov |
| Sprache | Englisch |
| Auflage | 1 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-949859-69-0 |
| Seiten | 272 |
| Einband | kartoniert |
| Name | Russell Enterprises |
|---|---|
| Adresse | 234 Depot Road Milford, CT 06460 USA |
| Internet | www.Russell-Enterprises.com |
| hwr@russell-enterprises.com |
Verantwortlicher Importeuer:
| Name | Schachversand Niggemann |
|---|---|
| Adresse | Schadowstraße 5 48163 Münster Deutschland |
| info@schachversand.de | |
| Internet | www.schachversand.de |
004 Signs & Symbols
005 Introduction
007 Foreword by Ian Harris
009 QuickStarter!
Part I
King’s Indian Setups
025 Chapter 1) The 4.Nbd2 and 5.e4 Plan for White
031 Chapter 2) 4.c4 and 5.Nc3
036 Chapter 3) White Plays 4c3, 5.h3 and 6.e3
054 Chapter 4) White Plays 4.e3, 5.h3 and 6.Be2
Part II
The London Benoni
071 Chapter 5) 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 c5 3.e3 Nd5
125 Chapter 6) 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 c5 3.e3 Qb6
141 Chapter 7) 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 c5 3.d5
Part III
The London Nimzo-Indian and Queen’s Indian
163 Chapter 8) White Does Not Play c2-c4
191 Chapter 9) White Plays c2-c4
225 Chapter 10) The London Hybrid System
Part IV
The London Orthodox System
234 Chapter 11) 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 3.Bf4 c5
267 Index of Variations
005 Introduction
007 Foreword by Ian Harris
009 QuickStarter!
Part I
King’s Indian Setups
025 Chapter 1) The 4.Nbd2 and 5.e4 Plan for White
031 Chapter 2) 4.c4 and 5.Nc3
036 Chapter 3) White Plays 4c3, 5.h3 and 6.e3
054 Chapter 4) White Plays 4.e3, 5.h3 and 6.Be2
Part II
The London Benoni
071 Chapter 5) 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 c5 3.e3 Nd5
125 Chapter 6) 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 c5 3.e3 Qb6
141 Chapter 7) 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 c5 3.d5
Part III
The London Nimzo-Indian and Queen’s Indian
163 Chapter 8) White Does Not Play c2-c4
191 Chapter 9) White Plays c2-c4
225 Chapter 10) The London Hybrid System
Part IV
The London Orthodox System
234 Chapter 11) 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 3.Bf4 c5
267 Index of Variations
The London System is falling down.
It is actually really quite remarkable how opening theory changes over time. Earlier authorities (Euwe, Pachman, latterly Nunn) have always regarded the London System as a fairly innocuous queen’s pawn game, inferior even to the Trompowsky and the Richter Attack. That assessment changed radically once Carlsen began to play it regularly, with much success. Though it should be added that Bronstein, Spassky and Kamsky had shown some of its strength before then. Now it is considered to be a sound and serious option for white. But for how much longer?
In this book Vassilios Kotronias and Mikhail Ivanov furnish black with four ways of meeting the London System, according to whether they meet 1.d4 usually with the King’s Indian, the Benoni or Benko, the Nimzo-Indian and Queen’s Indian or in a classical manner with the plain, old 1…d5. What struck me forcibly about their several recommended lines (for this is a bumper repertoire book, where you get four repertoires for the price of one) is that each one zeroed in on a snag, a noticeable drawback, whether strategic or tactical, of the London System. Their lines are both challenging and smartly thought out.
Perhaps the best way to illustrate this point is to look at their remedy against the London System, should you play the Benoni or Benko as black: 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 c5 3.e3 (I should point out that here other moves, notably 3.d5, 3.c3 and 3.dxc5, are analysed) Qb6! and 3…Nd5 4.Bg3 Qb6! Here the unprotected b2 pawn, bereft of a defender as a consequence of the queen’s bishop’s flight from c1 to f4, allows black to put white under early pressure. A lot of the lines here are complicated, and see black even sacrificing his queen, but that’s unlikely to deter Benoni players, who are always raring to go berserk (I know a few). There is a related line to this one as well: 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.c3 (note that white must play this move if he wants to keep a pawn on d4 and play Bf4 next go) e6 4.Bf4 Qb6! Again, this is played in the same spirit: target the pawn left undefended by white’s signature move in the London System: Bf4.
For players of a positional bent and partial to the Nimzo-Indian and Queen’s Indian, the authors provide 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 b6 4.e3 (naturally other moves, such as 4.c3, 4.h3 and even 4.c4, transposing to a variation of the Queen’s Indian that Tony Miles used to play, are also covered) Be7 5.h3 0-0 6.Nbd2 c5 7.c3 Ba6! This approach, quite different to that outlined above, involves a white-square strategy. The pawn triangle at c3, d4 and e3 (a feature of the London System, let me emphasise) does very little to control the white squares. So black aims to exchange the bishops and, in the absence of white’s king’s bishop, the white squares will become weaker still. At some later juncture black will follow up with …Qc8 and …Qb7 and …d6 (why concede the …e5 square by pushing …d5?), obtaining a hedgehog position without white-squared bishops and with plenty of room to manoeuvre. Still later, black might even occupy the centre with …Ne4.
As for their recommended way by which a King’s Indian player should approach the London System, it is difficult to summarise succinctly, because white has quite a range of different pawn formations available and move order plays a role too. But I was struck by how many times the move …Ne4 occurred in certain key lines (see, for example, the instance of this move on pages 45, 55 and 60), often with ..f5 and a general K-side pawn advance as the intended follow up. Why? Well, because it is a move that black can almost never play in the King’s Indian proper. I remember that Geller wrote somewhere, a typically astute comment, that in the King’s Indian the struggle revolves around the e4 square (indeed, in the Samisch Variation white even goes so far as to bolster e4 by moving a pawn to f3). But in the London System that square is quite often neglected and it is therefore apposite and just that …Ne4 features so prominently here, as the standard bearer of black’s resurgence. By the way, I do not think it is straightforwardly the case that the Bf4 is a plus because it fortifies the king’s position by adding an extra defender, as the authors say. Because the bishop itself may become a target of black’s coming K-side pawn advance, along with the beleaguered monarch himself. And the bishop comes with some lamentable baggage: the pawn move to h3, making it easier to pry open the g-file with …g4.
With 1…d5, our fourth repertoire, we see a speedy mobilisation of black’s Q-side after 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 Nc6, and so on. The approach is to treat the opening like a Slav Reversed (incidentally, the King’s Indian system the authors advocate could be described as a Reti Reversed also). Black aims for active positional play, pressurising the central squares and maintaining control of …e5. The move …Bg4 is kept in reserve, avoiding symmetry.
If, like me, you often find the London System difficult to play against (or at least vaguely irritating), don’t unduly despair. For within the pages of this cornucopia of a book, with its versatile suite of astute remedies, you will find several viable ways of meeting this pesky opening. And at least one of them will surely be to your liking. Try one or two of them out in your own games and I’m certain that, pretty soon, it will be not only London Bridge that is falling down.
Paul Kane
https://thecaissakid.wordpress.com/2025/04/18/the-london-files/
It is actually really quite remarkable how opening theory changes over time. Earlier authorities (Euwe, Pachman, latterly Nunn) have always regarded the London System as a fairly innocuous queen’s pawn game, inferior even to the Trompowsky and the Richter Attack. That assessment changed radically once Carlsen began to play it regularly, with much success. Though it should be added that Bronstein, Spassky and Kamsky had shown some of its strength before then. Now it is considered to be a sound and serious option for white. But for how much longer?
In this book Vassilios Kotronias and Mikhail Ivanov furnish black with four ways of meeting the London System, according to whether they meet 1.d4 usually with the King’s Indian, the Benoni or Benko, the Nimzo-Indian and Queen’s Indian or in a classical manner with the plain, old 1…d5. What struck me forcibly about their several recommended lines (for this is a bumper repertoire book, where you get four repertoires for the price of one) is that each one zeroed in on a snag, a noticeable drawback, whether strategic or tactical, of the London System. Their lines are both challenging and smartly thought out.
Perhaps the best way to illustrate this point is to look at their remedy against the London System, should you play the Benoni or Benko as black: 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 c5 3.e3 (I should point out that here other moves, notably 3.d5, 3.c3 and 3.dxc5, are analysed) Qb6! and 3…Nd5 4.Bg3 Qb6! Here the unprotected b2 pawn, bereft of a defender as a consequence of the queen’s bishop’s flight from c1 to f4, allows black to put white under early pressure. A lot of the lines here are complicated, and see black even sacrificing his queen, but that’s unlikely to deter Benoni players, who are always raring to go berserk (I know a few). There is a related line to this one as well: 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.c3 (note that white must play this move if he wants to keep a pawn on d4 and play Bf4 next go) e6 4.Bf4 Qb6! Again, this is played in the same spirit: target the pawn left undefended by white’s signature move in the London System: Bf4.
For players of a positional bent and partial to the Nimzo-Indian and Queen’s Indian, the authors provide 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 b6 4.e3 (naturally other moves, such as 4.c3, 4.h3 and even 4.c4, transposing to a variation of the Queen’s Indian that Tony Miles used to play, are also covered) Be7 5.h3 0-0 6.Nbd2 c5 7.c3 Ba6! This approach, quite different to that outlined above, involves a white-square strategy. The pawn triangle at c3, d4 and e3 (a feature of the London System, let me emphasise) does very little to control the white squares. So black aims to exchange the bishops and, in the absence of white’s king’s bishop, the white squares will become weaker still. At some later juncture black will follow up with …Qc8 and …Qb7 and …d6 (why concede the …e5 square by pushing …d5?), obtaining a hedgehog position without white-squared bishops and with plenty of room to manoeuvre. Still later, black might even occupy the centre with …Ne4.
As for their recommended way by which a King’s Indian player should approach the London System, it is difficult to summarise succinctly, because white has quite a range of different pawn formations available and move order plays a role too. But I was struck by how many times the move …Ne4 occurred in certain key lines (see, for example, the instance of this move on pages 45, 55 and 60), often with ..f5 and a general K-side pawn advance as the intended follow up. Why? Well, because it is a move that black can almost never play in the King’s Indian proper. I remember that Geller wrote somewhere, a typically astute comment, that in the King’s Indian the struggle revolves around the e4 square (indeed, in the Samisch Variation white even goes so far as to bolster e4 by moving a pawn to f3). But in the London System that square is quite often neglected and it is therefore apposite and just that …Ne4 features so prominently here, as the standard bearer of black’s resurgence. By the way, I do not think it is straightforwardly the case that the Bf4 is a plus because it fortifies the king’s position by adding an extra defender, as the authors say. Because the bishop itself may become a target of black’s coming K-side pawn advance, along with the beleaguered monarch himself. And the bishop comes with some lamentable baggage: the pawn move to h3, making it easier to pry open the g-file with …g4.
With 1…d5, our fourth repertoire, we see a speedy mobilisation of black’s Q-side after 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 Nc6, and so on. The approach is to treat the opening like a Slav Reversed (incidentally, the King’s Indian system the authors advocate could be described as a Reti Reversed also). Black aims for active positional play, pressurising the central squares and maintaining control of …e5. The move …Bg4 is kept in reserve, avoiding symmetry.
If, like me, you often find the London System difficult to play against (or at least vaguely irritating), don’t unduly despair. For within the pages of this cornucopia of a book, with its versatile suite of astute remedies, you will find several viable ways of meeting this pesky opening. And at least one of them will surely be to your liking. Try one or two of them out in your own games and I’m certain that, pretty soon, it will be not only London Bridge that is falling down.
Paul Kane
https://thecaissakid.wordpress.com/2025/04/18/the-london-files/
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