WRITTEN BY: MICHAEL MCKNIGHT A system in chess is a type of opening that has little to no counter play. The London System is a brilliant example of such. The London is a white chess opening (white meaning you go first) that has shown in use in low-level chess to world championships. Being a system, there is not much the opponent (black) can do in response to this opening. This makes the opening very good for beginners as it’s simple and effective. The opening first gained popularity in 1922 when used in a match between Alexander Alekhine and Max Euwe. Alexander was able to win a very large chess tournament which took place in London (hence the name) and was able to win which brought attention to the move. Recently it has regained popularity as grand master Magnus Carlsen picked up the opening and started using it in many of his games. It won him many championships and showed the world its ability in high-level chess. This explanation of the opening will be using the coordinates on the chess board. An example of coordinates in the image below is the white king being on E1 and the black king being on E8. The first move in the opening is moving the queen's pawn to D4. What this does is establish dominance in the center and opens up the dark squared bishop. The most common response will be pawn to D5. You will then move the king-side knight F3. This protects the pawn and also gives more control of the center. The most common response is knight to F6. The next move is to move the dark squared bishop (C1 Bishop) to F4. This further controls the center and makes it difficult for black to make counter play. After this setup you develop your center pawns and play the mid game. Keep in mind that in most cases, even if the opponent doesn’t play the most common response the opening will still keep most of its structure. Play defensively (meaning not to attack the opponents pieces too much) and don’t lose your queen!
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May 2023
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