The London System
Six moves, played in almost the same order against almost anything Black tries. The London is the opening you can learn on Tuesday and play for the rest of your life - and it hides one of the oldest attacking ideas in chess.
Last updated
- First moves
- 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4
- ECO
- D02
- Best for
- White
- Style
- Solid
- Theory
- Light
- Level
- Beginner
The London System is not a line. It is a shape: pawns on c3, d4 and e3, the dark-squared bishop OUTSIDE that pawn wall on f4, knights on f3 and d2, and the light-squared bishop on d3 aiming at h7. White plays those six moves against nearly everything Black can do, in nearly any order.
That one detail is the whole opening. Play 3.e3 first and the bishop on c1 is stuck behind its own pawn for twenty moves; play 3.Bf4 first and the same piece spends the game on the b8-h2 diagonal, pointing at the square Black castles onto.
The main line
The London against Black's most testing reply. Step through all thirteen moves and watch the same six White moves go in whatever Black does.
Now play White's side of it.
You are White. Build the London: d4, Nf3, the bishop OUT to f4, then e3, c3, Nbd2 and the sidestep to g3.
The same setup against a fianchetto
The most common thing that is NOT ...d5 is ...g6 and ...Bg7 - a King's Indian shape. The London answers it with the same six moves plus one: an early h3, so the bishop on f4 can never be chased by ...Nh5.
Black has fianchettoed. The setup does not change - one prophylactic move is added.
The trap: the bishop lands on h7
Here is why the quiet reputation is only half true. Black has castled, White's bishop is on d3 and the London bishop is on g3, and Black has just played ...c5 - a normal move that takes one more defender away from the kingside. The Greek gift is on.
You are White. Three moves, and Black's king is out in the open.
Black has just played ...c5, and every White piece already points at the king. Find the sacrifice and follow it up.
The sacrifice is not always sound - it needs the bishop on d3, the knight able to reach g5 with check, the queen able to follow to h5, and Black without ...Nf6-e8 or a knight covering h5. In the London those conditions come up constantly, because the setup puts every one of those pieces on its square without being asked.
The plans, for both sides
White's plans. Build the shape, castle, and then choose one of three plans depending on what Black does. If Black castles kingside and loosens the king, look for Bxh7+ and the fork that Ng5 adds to it. If Black leaves the centre closed, play Ne5, f4 and the slow kingside build-up. If Black trades on d4 and plays down the c-file, meet it with Ne5, Qf3 and a rook to c1 - the pawn triangle means White's structure never cracks first.
Black's plans. Two ideas, both worth knowing from the other side. The first is ...c5 and ...Qb6, hitting d4 and b2 at the same moment while White's queenside is asleep: the answer is Qb3, offering the trade, because a queen trade kills the attack without conceding anything. The second is ...Nh5, chasing the London bishop before it becomes the attacker in the diagram above - which is exactly what the prophylactic h3 in the fianchetto line is there to stop.
The tactics that decide these positions are the plain ones: the pin of a knight on f6 against a castled king, the fork that a knight on g5 or e5 delivers, and castling into an attack rather than out of one.
If the same structure with the pawn on c4 instead of c3 appeals - more space, more theory, more bite - the Queen's Gambit is the next opening to learn, and the Catalan is where the same bishop idea goes when it is aimed the other way.
Try it
Move three. Play the move that makes this the London System.
The London is the opening to learn if you would rather spend your study time on the middlegame than on move eight of a variation you will meet twice a year. Learn the shape once, and every game starts from a position you already understand - which is exactly how the lessons teach the rest of the board.
Common questions
- What is the London System?
- A setup rather than a line: White plays d4, Nf3, Bf4, e3, c3 and Bd3 in almost any order, against almost anything Black plays. The bishop comes out to f4 BEFORE the pawn goes to e3, which is the one detail the whole opening depends on - play e3 first and that bishop spends the game behind its own pawns.
- Is the London System good for beginners?
- It is the single most practical first opening for White at club level. There is no move order to lose to, no gambit to accept or decline, and no forcing line to memorise: you reach a solid, playable middlegame with your king safe and every piece developed. The trade-off is that it rarely refutes anything - you have to win the middlegame, not the opening.
- What is the main line of the London System?
- 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 Nc6 5.c3 e6 6.Nbd2 Bd6 7.Bg3, where White has the full setup and Black has the most testing reply. The pawn triangle on c3, d4 and e3 holds the centre; the knight on d2 goes to f3 or c4 or e4; and the bishop on g3 keeps an eye on the b8-h2 diagonal for the whole game.
- Is the London System boring?
- It has that reputation and it is only half deserved. The structure is quiet, but the attacking idea behind it is not: with Bd3, Nf3 and the bishop on g3 all pointing at Black's castled king, the sacrifice Bxh7+ - the Greek gift - is available in an enormous number of games, and it is why strong players still open with it. Quiet setup, loud middlegame.
- How do I stop the London System as Black?
- The two annoying replies are ...c5 hitting the d4-pawn straight away and ...Qb6 hitting b2 while the bishop is off the queenside. Neither refutes anything, but both mean White has to answer a question rather than play the next setup move - and against ...Qb6 the calm 5.Qb3, offering a trade, is the answer to know. The other way is ...c5 and ...Nh5, trading off the London bishop before it becomes an attacker.
- Can I play the London against everything?
- Against almost everything. Against a fianchetto (...g6 and ...Bg7) the same six moves work with one change: h3 goes in early so ...Nh5 can never harass the bishop. The one setup where the London is genuinely inaccurate is when Black plays an early ...c5 and ...Qb6 together, so those are the two lines worth ten minutes of preparation - and this page has both.
Ideas this opening runs on:
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