Comments on https://lichess.org/@/ckickycheck/blog/beating-the-london-system/9qw8qYFP
Appreciate you making part 2, some thoughts...
"Additionally we have this move Nh5 to win the bishop, if White plays e3 locking it outside."
what if white calculates their e3 pawn would be better on f4 -> control of e5 and g5 with their f3 knight?
So black has to move their f6 knight twice to take the london bishop, white ignores the threat and takes on c5, now the c3-dxc5 line (plus e3 here) you covered becomes concerning for black... now black is not fast enough to stop white pawns being supported on c5 and f4 limiting the dark squares in black's camp, in my opinion the f6 knight would be better kept to eventually jump into e4 attacking white's dark squares
Now most players I don't think would find this (only 1% on Lichess database played 6. dxc5 ignoring Nh5) but like you I have an interest to have people regret playing london, instead of Nc6 then Nh5 vs white's pyramid - I am looking at e6 then Bd6 to still challenge the london bishop and have eye on c5 pawn, say if white ignores threat and still plays cxd5 then Bxc5 is ok for black, or if white plays Bg3 here then black can castle and still go for Qb6 or Qc7 or b6-Bb7 and overall seems to be stable for black
@g6firste6second said in #2:
> "Additionally we have this move Nh5 to win the bishop, if White plays e3 locking it outside."
>
> what if white calculates their e3 pawn would be better on f4 -> control of e5 and g5 with their f3 knight?
>
> So black has to move their f6 knight twice to take the london bishop, white ignores the threat and takes on c5, now the c3-dxc5 line (plus e3 here) you covered becomes concerning for black... now black is not fast enough to stop white pawns being supported on c5 and f4 limiting the dark squares in black's camp, in my opinion the f6 knight would be better kept to eventually jump into e4 attacking white's dark squares
Hm ceryinteresting, I havent thought of that. Of the top of my head, I think we can play 6... Nxf4 7. exf4 e6 8. b4 Qf6 attacking f4, and b4, due to the pin, so we win back the pawn, and White is without center pawns
@CkickyCheck said in #3:
> Hm ceryinteresting, I havent thought of that. Of the top of my head, I think we can play 6... Nxf4 7. exf4 e6 8. b4 Qf6 attacking f4, and b4, due to the pin, so we win back the pawn, and White is without center pawns
9. Qc2 is nice for white defending both the pawns, and queen won't get kicked away by the f6 knight if it were still around, I say nice for white because if black exploits the pin then white actually sacs the exchange and eval is +2.5...
9. Qc2 Nxb4 10. cxb4 Qxf1 11. Bb5+ Kd8 12. O-O Qf6 13. Nc3 Kc7 (to avoid d-file pin) 14. Rc1 and now what does black do, eval close to +3... crazy
After 9. Qc2 engine suggests a5 to provoke b5 from white and then target the loose c5 pawn:
9. Qc2 a5 10. b5 Nd8 11 Qd4/Qe3 Qe7 =
Overall not terrible for black but white has queenside counterplay with the dxc5 idea which in the hands of a studious london player (the number of which could be counted on one hand...) can be annoying for black
@g6firste6second said in #4:
> 9. Qc2 is nice for white defending both the pawns, and queen won't get kicked away by the f6 knight if it were still around, I say nice for white because if black exploits the pin then white actually sacs the exchange and eval is +2.5...
>
> 9. Qc2 Nxb4 10. cxb4 Qxf1 11. Bb5+ Kd8 12. O-O Qf6 13. Nc3 Kc7 (to avoid d-file pin) 14. Rc1 and now what does black do, eval close to +3... crazy
>
> After 9. Qc2 engine suggests a5 to provoke b5 from white and then target the loose c5 pawn:
>
> 9. Qc2 a5 10. b5 Nd8 11 Qd4/Qe3 Qe7 =
i mean this is extremely rare, i might look into that, but i dont think its worth. dxc5 is extremely rare, and Qc1 has been reached 3 times. Qd2 is more common, but this position from e3 c3 setup is reached like one in 200 games. But I must say, it's definitely very intertesting
Agreed , most players won't dxc5 because most players are lazy (especially londoners) and not open-minded enough unlike you and me... anyways, looking forward to part 3 and 4
I don't agree that only 2500+ will play the best move. In today's era of computer chess, even beginners are able to memorize the opening stuff, so one must be careful.
@quicksilver2 said in #7:
> I don't agree that only 2500+ will play the best move. In today's era of computer chess, even beginners are able to memorize the opening stuff, so one must be careful.
You are right, but that's not the point. White's best response Nbd2 isnt about memorisation, White still has to prove compensation for the lost pawn. I beat a WFM in 60+30 otb, cuz she remembered some moves, but didn't understand the position. I think it's not worth going very indepth on Nbd2, as its rare, and hard to play for White, if they don't know what are they doing (quite likely)
@CkickyCheck said in #8:
> You are right, but that's not the point. White's best response Nbd2 isnt about memorisation, White still has to prove compensation for the lost pawn. I beat a WFM in 60+30 otb, cuz she remembered some moves, but didn't understand the position. I think it's not worth going very indepth on Nbd2, as its rare, and hard to play for White, if they don't know what are they doing (quite likely)
:3