The Colle or the London System are both reliable approaches to just get a chess game going. What would be the Black counterpart(s) of a, say, London system? A robust defence to get into a chess game without too much forced lines to care about.
Originally posted by Dumbom The Colle or the London System are both reliable approaches to just get a chess game going. What would be the Black counterpart(s) of a, say, London system? A robust defence to get into a chess game without too much forced lines to care about.
Fort Knox + Stonewall?
Owens + English defense?
I think that there is a version of the London with reversed colours , termed the New York system, although i cannot be one hundred percent sure.
Originally posted by Dumbom Thank you! Sounds promising!
There is a New York system in the Reti. Black sets up a triangle of pawns on c6, d5 and e6 but plays Bf5 before e6. It is very solid and seems to cause the Reti players I know undue pain. I share their misery as I have been known to end up in a Reti from 1. g3 and have to say that the New York system is usually a signal that the game is going to hard work. My own fault for playing such rubbish in the first place of course.
I suspect the New York system could be used against most things that white can play. Against 1. e4, start with a Caro Kann, against d4 or c4 play for a Slav etc. Just stick the bishop on f5 before playing e6 and there you have it.
The Modern/Pirc/KID kingside fianchetto defenses are like that. Allow development of the kingside to set up a robust defense without too much forcing in the early going. The downside is that they become pretty theory heavy a few more moves down the line, and you can get into trouble if you don't know what you're doing. The Hippo kicks that idea up a notch, and avoids a lot of the theory, but is awfully tricky to play.
Probably better if you want to stay thematic without having to memorize too much would be to settle for one defense to e4, and a defense with a similar pawn structure against everything else.
A Caro-Kann and the Slav, both based around Bf5 systems, would be a good example. Or a French and the QGD or Tarrasch. (Which makes more sense thematically would depend on how you like to play your French.)
The fundamental problem with this idea is that Black is a tempo behind. Where White can spend a tempo setting up a wedge, Black isn't guarranteed that same chance.
Systems like the KID/Pirc/Modern etc don't really count because they are highly theoretical and require timely counterattack- a common theme in Black's play. Likewise, a system like 1.. d6 or 1.. b6 require a wide understanding of openings to play effectively.
03 Mar '11 10:25
A few London systems for Black?
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