Greenpawn plays the London System

First he calls me a Scot, then a lobster and now this. 🙁

I'll see if I can find one in my OTB games.

I recall this basic position from a game I played in 1985.

I was over 2000 in OTB play and in the days before inflated grades this meant something.
I had written my first book (well co-written) and I was still editor or my own
chess magazine.


I cannot remember all the position but the bones are there.
I played e5 for no other reason than to make the Bishop bad.
It was the first time I made a move on soley positional grounds.
(there were no tactics involved I did it for positional reasons only.)

I won and went around showing everyone my pawn move.
"Big deal" was the usually response.

I cannot remember me playing another one!
If I did then tactics were at the root of it, not positional thinking.

Good players toss these moves game after game without even thinking about it.

Me. Once every 40 years.

Originally posted by tvochess
Violating opening principles doesn't make it a bad move. Everyone says that opening principles are not holy and should be abandoned when there are opportunities.

Black wants to attack, taking this nice knight outpost fits in that plan. Also it fixates the centre, which makes the uncastled black king less vulnerable for counterattack.

So, why is it bad according to you?

The whole idea about Black attacking kingside (where White is obviously stronger) is bizzare. After 11.Nc3 it will appear that Black knight has traveled so far just to be exchanged. To compare with natural moves like 10...Bd7 and 11...Rc8 it`s obvious that 10...Ne4 is not the best Black option.

Originally posted by greenpawn34
I still have not decided on what was the best way to take back after 7...cxd4.

[fen]rnbqk2r/pp3ppp/4pn2/3p4/3p4/2P1PNP1/PP3PP1/RN1QKB1R w KQkq - 0 8[/fen]
I have a four move choice. (actually five I may not want to take it back.)

I'm not looking for the 'best move' I want the 'me move' to give a position
I want to play not what I should, according I'll go with that though it does look like I will be
tossing a tempo with a later a3.[/b]

I've always played exd4 in that kind of position.



This is a Slav Exchange. It's one of the few openings that manage to be more boring than the regular London. (I know because I play them both. 😛) The b4 square and the open a5-e1 diagonal are annoyances if white wants to keep his king in the center. The open c-file is useless for white's kingside attack and will often be the place where major exchanges ensue, sucking the life out of the position. It's only fun if you're planning to play an ending and take advantage of black's bad bishop. Which means it's usually not fun at all.




This is a Caro-Kann Exchange. It's the closest to 1.e4 a London System player ever gets. Black's only plan is the minority attack with b5-b4. White's king is safe in the middle for a few more moves. Black has to deal with pressure against the h-pawn. The half-open e-file helps controlling the e5 square. If white can establish a knight in that square, there's a lot of fun to be had on the kingside.

Spending so many years playing boring openings like the London taught me to never waste the rare opportunity to play a remotely exciting position. :p

Cheers Danilop.

I've not even looked at yet. You have saved me time.
The 2nd diagram is obviously correct, I've never been scared by a mino-attack,
and it would hard to carry out at blitz (too many trick too spot.)

cxd4 was dogmatic me wanting two centre pawns and going for e4.
Typical me, snap decisions and only thinking when I have my back against
the wall.

I just need to run over not taking it, never miss a chance to gambit a pawn
or two (or three or four.....)

Nice post danilop. As someone who played the Stonewall Attack for far too many years, I would have played exd4 without thinking twice. However I remember going through one of my games once with a much stronger player (Phillip Rossiter - whatever happened to him?) and he said that he would play cxd4 in that sort of position for the reasons that Greenpawn has mentioned!

Originally posted by Pacifique
The whole idea about Black attacking kingside (where White is obviously stronger) is bizzare. After 11.Nc3 it will appear that Black knight has traveled so far just to be exchanged. To compare with natural moves like 10...Bd7 and 11...Rc8 it`s obvious that 10...Ne4 is not the best Black option.

Hey Pacifique,

thanks for clarifying. I see your point about 11.Nc3 wasting black's Ne4. It makes sense to me.

Originally posted by greenpawn34
First he calls me a Scot, then a lobster and now this. 🙁

You may be English by birth, but you're a Scot by volition. How may years in Auld Reekie now?
An Englishman becomes a lobster after a day in the sun as much as a Scot. A Dutchman, too.
As for the third accusation... disprove it!

It was the first time I made a move on soley positional grounds.
(there were no tactics involved I did it for positional reasons only.)

I won and went around showing everyone my pawn move.
"Big deal" was the usually response.

Be grateful. If I'd made a move like that, I'd have managed to swap that bishop for my good knight and lose the game!

Richard

Been here 50 Years now.
I'm not stupid, I live in Edinburgh because it is the most beautiful city
in the whole world.
If not here then I'd live somewhere in Germany, propably Dortmund.

I support England in Football and in Chess. (although I did proudly
represent Scotland in International Postal matches in the late 70's.).

At all other sports I want England to lose because all other sports are stupid
and the money spent on them should be giving to Chess or Leyton Orient.
('cept Cricket. I always want England to beat the Aussies at cricket.)