Week 72: is the London System good for beginners? Eleven games of evidence
Is the London System good for beginners? Week 72 is the closest I have to a controlled experiment. From June 9 to 13, 2025, I played 18 rapid games, and all 11 of my White games started with d4 and an early Bf4, the London setup, whatever name Chess.com gave them. I finished 9 wins, 7 losses and 2 draws, went 1260 → 1277 (+17), and averaged 85.6% accuracy, my best weekly average of the journey up to that point.
The week in numbers
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Games | 18 (11 White, 7 Black) |
| W / L / D | 9 / 7 / 2 |
| Rating | 1260 → 1277 (+17); high 1285, low 1260 |
| Average accuracy | 85.6% (White 84.4%, Black 87.5%) |
| Blunders | 25 (my opponents: 28) |
| Most played | Zukertort Chigorin (3), Zukertort Variation (2), Modern Defense with 1.d4 (2), Pirc (1), Nimzowitsch Williams (1) |
25 blunders in 18 games is about 1.4 per game. In week 65, two months earlier, I had made 68 in 24 games. That's the real improvement of the week.
Eleven London games: what they showed
The London results were balanced rather than brilliant: 5 wins, 5 losses, 1 draw. The best was game 1517 against franckrock1 (1242): 98.1% accuracy, zero blunders and checkmate on move 57. The worst was game 1522 against Drusmanradiologist (1285), 61.3% and abandoned after 14 moves.
What the London gave me, every time, was a familiar position: pawns on d4 and e3, bishop outside the pawn chain on f4, knight on f3, often c3 and Nbd2. Chess.com files these games under eight different names, from Zukertort Chigorin to Old Benoni, depending on Black's replies, but I was playing the same moves. For a beginner, that's the strongest argument for it: you spend your thinking time on the middlegame, not on move 4. The weakness is the same one: a familiar setup can make you play the next moves on autopilot.
Moment 1: the knight fork I played one move late
Game 1519 against Topbrends (1289), White (game). Black had just played 12...f6 to kick my knight on e5, and the engine jumped to +6.72 for me.
Ng6 is a knight fork: it attacks Black's queen on e7 and rook on h8. If Black takes the knight with the h-pawn, the h-file opens and my rook on h1 takes the rook on h8. I gave a check first, 13.Qa4+, and the evaluation dropped to +3.10. Then Black's king went to f8, and the same fork came back with check: 14.Ng6+ hxg6 15.Rxh8. I won by resignation on move 25. Lucky, not precise.
Moment 2: the rook raid on h7
Game 1520 against m4y4nkkum4r (1291), White (game). After an early hxg3 my rook stood on the open h-file, looking at h7.
Rxh7 looks like a double attack, but Black's rook just takes mine. After 10...Rxh7 11.Bxh7 g6 my bishop was boxed in on h7, and the evaluation went from +1.32 to about −2.3. I lost by checkmate later in a game where my overall accuracy was 89.8%. e4, a normal central move, was the London plan.
Moment 3: the fork I allowed
Game 1518 against qwrf1dghr12 (1262), Black, Pirc (game).
This time I was the victim. Qc7 put my queen and my rook on b8 both within reach of one knight jump: 23.Na6 attacked both, and after 23...Qd7 24.Nxb8 I'd lost a rook for a knight. The evaluation went from −0.39 to +2.37. I won anyway, by resignation on move 42. At this level a lost exchange is a setback, not the end.
The lesson of the week
Knights jump, so their attacks are the easiest to miss. Two of my three key moments were knight forks, one I didn't play in time and one I walked into. A practical habit: before moving your queen or a rook, look at every square the opponent's knights can reach next move. And when you have a knight near the enemy king, check whether one jump hits two big pieces.
As for the London: it's a good choice for a beginner because it saves thinking time in the opening and gives the same kind of position every game. My 5–5–1 record says it won't do the winning for you.
All games this week
| Game # | Date | Colour | Opponent (rating) | Result | Opening | Accuracy | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1517 | Jun 9 | White | franckrock1 (1242) | Win | Queen's Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 98.1% | game |
| 1518 | Jun 9 | Black | qwrf1dghr12 (1262) | Win | Pirc Defense | 90.7% | game |
| 1519 | Jun 10 | White | Topbrends (1289) | Win | Queen's Pawn Opening Zukertort Variation | 92.0% | game |
| 1520 | Jun 10 | White | m4y4nkkum4r (1291) | Loss | Queen's Pawn Opening Zukertort Variation | 89.8% | game |
| 1521 | Jun 10 | Black | dj00007 (1276) | Loss | Nimzowitsch Defense Declined Williams Variation | 70.8% | game |
| 1522 | Jun 10 | White | Drusmanradiologist (1285) | Loss | Queen's Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 61.3% | game |
| 1523 | Jun 10 | White | lunalu12 (1241) | Win | Queen's Pawn Opening Accelerated London System | 95.4% | game |
| 1524 | Jun 10 | Black | xyzytm (1254) | Win | Modern Defense Standard Two Knights Variation | 87.1% | game |
| 1525 | Jun 10 | Black | Rahulkadam1689 (1270) | Loss | Reti Opening King's Indian Attack Symmetrical Defense | 85.3% | game |
| 1526 | Jun 11 | White | nareshpj (1266) | Win | Queen's Pawn Opening Krause Variation | 91.9% | game |
| 1527 | Jun 11 | White | Kentimi (1305) | Loss | Indian Game East Indian London System | 82.1% | game |
| 1528 | Jun 11 | Black | leo_selva (1257) | Draw | Pirc Defense Modern Defense Geller System | 90.1% | game |
| 1529 | Jun 12 | White | AggressiveChessPlayer4 (1241) | Win | Modern Defense with 1 d4 | 92.2% | game |
| 1530 | Jun 12 | Black | Mz_Charly (1274) | Win | Modern Defense with 1 d4 | 93.8% | game |
| 1531 | Jun 12 | White | JAEBZTE (1287) | Loss | Old Benoni Defense | 68.2% | game |
| 1532 | Jun 13 | Black | viky01234 (1290) | Win | Modern Defense with 1 e4 | 94.9% | game |
| 1533 | Jun 13 | White | KANEKILNS (1288) | Loss | London System | 71.5% | game |
| 1534 | Jun 13 | White | Mathieuxfr (1265) | Draw | Queen's Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 85.8% | game |
Earlier: week 71 · Later: week 73 · Overview: the journey hub · Spot the knight forks in your own games with Chess Coach's AI analysis.
Frequently asked questions
Is the London System good for beginners?
It gave me a solid, familiar position in every White game of week 72: 11 games, 84.4% average accuracy, 5 wins, 5 losses and a draw. It doesn't win games by itself. The games were decided by tactics, mostly knight forks.
What is a knight fork?
A knight move that attacks two pieces at once. In week 72 I missed one (Ng6, hitting a queen and a rook) and allowed one (Na6, hitting my queen and my rook).
Does high accuracy mean you win?
Usually, but not always. My week 72 average was 85.6%, and I still lost game 1520 with 89.8% accuracy after one rook move, 10.Rxh7, that the engine rates as a blunder.