The London System: Can it be broken?

Question

I've faced the London System several times so far, and just don't know what strategy to adapt against it (I exclusively play Nf6 in response to 1.d4). I'm a highly tactical player, so I try following up with d5, c5, Qa5, Nc6, Rc8 etc. in order to break open the queen side when possible. But white just plays c3, e3 and curls up into an unbreakable shell. Then I end up getting outplayed positionally because I get frustrated and sac a pawn or two to get some activity.

So, is it possible to play both soundly and aggressively as black, with 1. ...Nf6 against the London System? Is there a way to entice white into doing something reckless? Or does white have complete control over keeping the game boring? What are the main strategic ideas for black (in general, with preference to aggressive options)? Also, I heard that the Colle system has the same reputation as the London system, and they are quite similar strategically as well. Is there a common way to deal with both of these systems?

Answer 1

The goal for Black in breaking the London System is to remove White's dark bishop from the game. This is present in almost every losing London System. Hikaru Nakamura plays the London, and makes it very clear he is not willing to trade his dark bishop - even going so far as to play h3 with the sole intention of hiding the bishop on h2.

To break the London, trap / trade the dark bishop.

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Warning: This may contain multiple diagrams to display a progression of attacks and also possible positions

Your Example

With regards to your exact example,

[fen ""]
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Qa5

Let me just stop you there. You are down a decent amount in this position, and are looking at dropping a pawn. I understand that you want to get into a game which is not closed, but that is still possible without being hyper aggressive.

My Suggestion

Lets get back to where you have a chance to start being aggressive and make a move which is subtly aggressive. I know it may not seem like it, but e6 here is very strong

[fen ""]
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 e6

e6, but whhyy

e6 allows you to begin to exert some control over the dark squares (which are White's weakness as their bishop cannot contest on them). It allows for a responsive aggression. Let us look at a few of the responses available.

...

4. c4

[fen ""]
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 e6 4. c4 Bb4+

Nice, White tried to play into the Queen side and you got in a check (potentially White will trade their dark bishop in defense, but don't count on it). More than this, you gained a tempo, and can castle before White can; all while White's kingside is all locked up.

4. e3

[fen ""]
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 c5

White was trying to keep a closed position but this actually results in a torn open one. Now if White defends with 5. c3 Black can begin to really open this up, and hopefully trade off White's dark bishop. 5. c3 Nc6 will open the board up and still be in Black's favor positionally.

Remove White's dark bishop

Consider this situation:

[fen ""]
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 c5 5. c3 Nc6 6. Nbd2 Be7 7. Be2 Nh5

White's dark bishop is toast, the game is open, and you have sacrificed neither material nor position. Game on!

Even if you do not choose to be so aggressive here, you have most certainly opened the board up and prevented a closed position.

Answer 2

The London System is ECO D02.

[fen ""]
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4  

I'm liking c5 as it helps you clear some of White's pawns, offers the pawn in a sham-sacrifice sort of way (Qa5+ followed Qxc5) or allows the Bishop to move with tempo (Bxc5, similar to the Queen's Gambit.)

Here's a sample game by Erik Lundin and Hans Ek, from 1963. Doesn't look too awful:

[fen ""]
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Qb6 5. Nc3 Bd7 6. dxc5 Qxc5 7. Bd3 e6 8.  O-O Be7 9. Ne5 Bc6 10. a3 Nbd7 11. Ne2 Qb6 12. b4 Nh5 13. Nxf7 Kxf7 14. b5 Bxb5  15. Bxb5 Nxf4 16. Bxd7 Nxe2+ 17. Qxe2 Qc7 18. Ba4 Rhd8 19. Bb3 Kg8 20. Qg4 Qe5  21. a4 Kh8 22. Rad1 Bc5 23. Rd3 Rf8 24. c4 dxc4 25. Bxc4 Rf5 26. Qd1 Bb6 27. g3  Raf8 28. Rb3 Qf6 29. Qe2 Rf3 30. Bd3 Qe5 31. Rb5 Bc5 32. Qb2 Qxb2 33. Rxb2 b6  34. Be4 R3f7 35. Rd1 g6 36. Rd3 a5 37. Kg2 Kg7 38. h4 Re7 39. Rc2 Rff7 40. Bc6  Rf8 41. Rc4 1/2-1/2

Black has the option of accepting the poisoned-pawn at move 6 which could be a lot of fun. That's why I chose this variation for you to look at.

EDIT - Why did Ek play 9. ... Bc6 ? I believe that after 10. Nxd7 he didn't want to recapture with the decent Knight on f6, he surely didn't want to recapture with his King, and he didn't want the b Knight sitting on the passive d7 square; he wants it on c6. The white-squared Bishop is fairly limited so he's willing to trade is for a Knight. With his move, if Lundin captures, he develops his Knight to the c6 square with tempo.

That being said, Stockfish calculated the following variation with an even game:

[fen "rn2k2r/pp1bbppp/4pn2/2qpN3/5B2/2NBP3/PPP2PPP/R2Q1RK1 b kq - 3 9"]

1... O-O 2. Qf3 Nc6 3. a3 Rfc8 4. Qg3 Qb6 5. Rab1 Be8 6. Be2 Qa5 7. Rfe1 a6 8. Red1 Kh8 9. Bd3 Nh5 10. Qh3 g6 11. Nxc6 Bxc6 12. Be5+ Kg8

I entered Ek's 9. ... Bc6 and let Stockfish calculate the continuation. There was no substantive difference between the score for this continuation versus what was actually played.

[fen "rn2k2r/pp2bppp/2b1pn2/2qpN3/5B2/2NBP3/PPP2PPP/R2Q1RK1 w kq - 4 10"]

1. Ne2 Nbd7 2. Nd4 O-O 3. c3 Nxe5 4. Bxe5 Bd7 5. Qb3 b6 6. Qc2 h6 7. h3 Rfd8 8. Rfd1

Finally, I entered the 10. Nxc6 into Stockfish to gain some insights into what would happen had Lundin taken the Bishop. The resulting score was about the same, with a slight improvement for Ek. The moves look very computer-generated; White's response is actually very sharp and seems to be intended to trap Black's Queen. I am betting the position is actually razor sharp; we see that Black's Queen is relocated to the side of the board where nothing is happening. In some variations White's Queen goes to b3 and, backed up by a Knight and both Bishops, begins an attack which wins material.

[fen "rn2k2r/pp2bppp/2N1pn2/2qp4/5B2/2NBP3/PPP2PPP/R2Q1RK1 b kq - 0 10"]

1... Nxc6 2.Bc7 Rc8 3.Na4 Qb4 4.c3 Qg4 5.Be2 Qf5 6.Bg3 O-O 7.Bd3 Qg4 8.Be2 Qf5

Answer 3

Look through some games where black wins against the London System. Some of these are won using a King's Indian Defense type setup.