How to Fight Against The London (U1600-2500)

Introduction to The London Opening

Needless to say, The London, which starts with 1.d4 and 2.Bf4, is currently definitely the most welcomed system opening of many chess lovers as White. Easy set-up, solid structure, clear plans, and no need for exhausting memorization!

And Black can easily get into difficulties if he doesn’t know how to react!

The popularity of this opening surged during the pandemic, when “top-top”s frequently played the London at online events. In the 2024 World Championship Match, Ding used the London with White as his major weapon against Gukesh!

Countering The London

(Disclaimer*: The London is always a sound opening, and it’s hard to judge the best way to play as Black. It’s all up to you what approach you’d take! )*

In this blog series, I’m going to share and explain my not-so-common repertoire against the London with you.

But before that, I’d like to talk about why the common approach against the London (oftentimes) doesn’t favor Black.

Let’s take a look at the position most frequently occurred in the London..

The objective evaluation here at move 8 is about 0.1, very close to full equality. However, Black has a serious problem—his c8 bishop. It is a bad one since it’s restricted by the e6 pawn! This headache makes Black practically the harder side to play.

Black dreams of successfully pushing e5, seizing the center and liberating his c8 bishop. But this isn’t easily achieved.
For instance, 8...Qc7 runs into 9.dxc5 and 8...Qe7 is countered by 9.Ne5!

Without deep preparation, Black’s position is going to suffer. Even if he managed to do so, it’s still very difficult for Black to play for a win :(

So I start to think about a way of avoiding passive positions, at the same time retaining decent chances of fighting for a win as Black. After serious analysis, validation with Stockfish 16, and quite some real-game testing, I’ve come up with a sound repertoire as Black against the London :)

Feel free to check out my study here!

Key Ideas In This Repertoire

(Due to the workload required to annotate in the study, it only contains the moves and variations I’ve analyzed. Sorry for any confusion.)

If you’re don’t understand how to play against London in the way I recommend in general and is in a hurry, please note the following key ideas:

1. Keep your light-squared bishop alive

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As we plan to develop our c8 bishop to the flank with 2...b6, don’t push d5 unless necessary!

2. Be ready to kick the “London Bishop” on f4 with Nh5!

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In many lines, this is an important move for Black to create imbalance. If that bishop is successfully traded off, Black will enjoy the bishop pair and have a unopposed dark-squared bishop on his own!

3. Inhibit White’s a4-a5 idea in typical London structure positions

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White’s play on the queenside will become annoying if he manages to push a4-a5. So in most cases, play ...a5 as Black as you see White playing a4, or even ...a6, so to counter a5 with ...b5! and “lock” that White pawn.

4. Be patient!

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This is really important as Black to play against the London. Many London players rely on Black trying to grab the center or develop kingside play too hastily and leaving holes in their positions. Instead, we should act as the side that “counter-plays” at the center and play on the flank if the position is considerably closed!

Final Words

With so many opening courses teaching chess enthusiasts how to play the London as White, it’s really not easy to come up with a counter strategy. I hope you learn from my repertoire against the London and enhance your understanding of the London as a whole from both sides.

Best regards :)

PS: The study is always available for everyone forever. Click the heart if you like it!