Week 45: is the London System good for beginners? My answer after a new best of 1147

Week 45 was the biggest rating gain of this whole stretch of the diary. From November 11 to 16, 2024, I played 33 rapid games, won 21 and lost 12, and my rating went from 1058 to 1140 (+82). In game 1123 I reached 1147, my highest rating so far, above the 1112 I had touched in July. With White I went 12–4, almost always with my 1.d4–Bf4 setup, which Chess.com called "London System" more often than anything else this week. So it's a fair moment to ask: is the London System good for beginners? My games give a mixed, honest answer.

The week in numbers

My average accuracy was 81.5 %, one of my best weeks of this period, and I made 59 blunders, 1.8 per game. The opponents were stronger than before (1107 on average), and I beat two players rated 1163: AnandShintre in game 1106 with checkmate in 25 half-moves, and KOFESHOP in game 1107.

The week also had the usual mess. Game 1103 against kraochess (1088) went into the win column on time even though I played it at 44.4 % with 10 blunders. And I lost four in a row on November 13, from 1124 down to 1095, before winning 10 of the next 15.

One more thing happened this week that matters later in the diary: in game 1122 I played the Pirc Defense with Black for the first time, and won.

Is the London System good for beginners? What my games show

With White I played 1.d4 and 2.Bf4 in almost every game, and Chess.com split them into several names. Grouped together:

The setup is easy to repeat and gave me playable positions every time. My cleanest London of the week was game 1118 against aabubakr_19 (1135): 97.3 % accuracy and not one inaccuracy. But the London also produced one of the week's three key mistakes, and it's a typical London move.

Three key moments

Game 1095: Nh4, the London move that hung a knight

With White against AhmedAsaad1 (1048), in what Chess.com calls an Accelerated London, I was slightly better (+0.70). Black's light-squared bishop sat on f5, and I went after it with my knight.

r . . q k b n r
. . p . . p p p
p . . . p . . .
. . . p . b . .
P n . P . B . .
. Q . . P N . .
. P . N . P P P
R . . . K B . R

Position.py's verdict is short: Nh4 "attacks the bishop; but the knight can now be captured". Black's queen on d8 looked straight at h4. The engine also points to a second problem: Black's knight jump Nc2+ would give check and attack my rook in the corner at the same time. Either way, "black is winning" (-3.85). The quiet Rc1 kept White slightly better. My opponent played 10...Qxh4, and I abandoned the game on the spot.

Game 1094: a pin that left my bishop hanging

With Black against ChrisGWVU (1069), I was winning (-5.31). My bishop on b2 could go to c3 and pin White's knight on d2 to the king.

r . . q . r k .
p p . . . p . p
. . . . b . p .
. . p . . . . .
. . . . P N . .
. . . . . Q . P
. b . N . P P .
. R . . K . . R

Bc3 does everything position.py lists: it attacks the undefended knight on d2, pins it to the king on e1, and makes a double attack. It also adds "but the bishop can now be captured": White's queen on f3 took it along the third rank, and the evaluation swung from -5.31 to +4.97. Qd4 attacks the same knight from a safe square and keeps "black is winning". I lost the game.

Game 1096: castling into a pawn push

With Black against saverioski (1045), a Center Game, the position was equal (+0.09) and I castled.

r . b . k . . r
p . p p q p p p
. p n . . n . .
. . b . . . . .
. . . . P B . .
. . N . . Q . .
P P P . . P P P
. . K R . B N R

Castling is usually the safe move. Here the engine's answer is e5: the pawn "attacks the knight on the king's side" and "opens a line: the queen on the king's side now attacks the knight on the queen's side", so two of my pieces were suddenly in trouble, "clearly better for white" (+2.63). Ne5, attacking the queen first, kept it about equal. My opponent played 9.Bxc7 instead, the game swung back and forth, and I won the game.

The lesson of the week

So, is the London System good for beginners? For me, this week, yes in the practical sense: a setup I can play without thinking, 12–4 with White, a new personal best. But all three key moments show the limit of that answer. The opening gives you a familiar position; it doesn't check your moves. Nh4 and Bc3 were both "active" moves that landed a piece on a square an enemy queen could reach, and castling ignored a pawn push. The habit I need is the same whichever opening I play: before an active move, check every enemy queen line and every pawn that can move forward.

All games this week

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