Week 96: is the London System good for beginners? My answer after the peak

Week 96 (November 24 to 30, 2025) came right after my all-time peak, and it was a step back: six rapid games, 2 wins and 4 losses, from 1368 to 1353. Every opponent was rated between 1350 and 1391, the level I had just reached. Three of the games were with my London-style setup as White, which makes this a good week to ask, with real numbers: is the London System good for beginners? My answer is yes, with a condition. It gets you good positions; it doesn't play the middlegame for you.

The week in numbers

Of my 20 blunders, 17 came in the middlegame and 3 in the opening. The best game was a 96.2% Pirc win by checkmate against Subhadip027 (1350). The worst stretch was the first two games, both London-style losses, against rishirawal03 (1363) and guegoguevara (1391). The two other losses, as Black, included one game where Stockfish says my winning chance reached 94.6%.

Is the London System good for beginners? My numbers

Here's the bigger sample, because six games prove nothing. Across this whole stretch of the diary, weeks 81 to 96 (August 13 to November 30, 2025), I counted my White games where I played d4 and Bf4 within my first three moves. Chess.com gives them several names: London System, Accelerated London, Zukertort Variation, Zukertort Chigorin, Horwitz Defense, and more. Together they scored 66 wins, 48 losses and 2 draws, with an average accuracy of 80.4%. In my other White games over the same weeks (seven of them after 1.d4 e5, which Chess.com mostly files as the Englund Gambit) I won 2 of 9.

That's the case for the London from my side of the board: the same setup against almost everything, positions I recognise, and much better results than my other White games in the same weeks. The case against it is in the positions below. The London got me good positions in all three White games this week, and I still lost two of them.

Three positions from the week

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

Against rishirawal03 (1363), Black's pawn on e4 was attacking my knight on f3. The position was level (-0.08). I sent the knight to the edge, 11.Nh4. Stockfish's best reply for Black is 11...Rb8, a rook attacking my b2 pawn, which had no defender, and its line takes it next; another strong option is 11...g5, a pawn attacking the knight on h4. The evaluation went to -3.55. The engine's 11.Ne5 puts the knight in the centre, where it attacks the c6 pawn, which also had no defender. My opponent played 11...Ba6 instead, I made a mistake of my own with 12.Qc2, and lost.

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

This is the London at its best and me at my usual. Against guegoguevara (1391), Black had answered 1.d4 with 1...f5, I kept my setup (Bf4, Nf3, e3, c3, Nbd2, Qb3, Bc4), and after Black's 8...Nc6 I was winning, +4.19. Stockfish's move is 9.Qa4, putting the queen on the same diagonal as Black's knight on c6 and king on e8, so the knight is pinned: it can't move without exposing the king. I played 9.Bg5 instead, attacking the other knight, and the evaluation dropped to +0.50. Black blundered back with 9...Be7, but I couldn't hold the thread and was checkmated on move 29. Stockfish says my winning chance in this game reached 93.5%.

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

The last one is from a win. Against High_D (1362) I was completely winning (+7.48). My knight on g6 could take the rook on h8, and I took it. But Black's pawn on f4 was attacking my bishop on g3, and after 15.Nxh8 it took the bishop: 15...fxg3. Stockfish's 15.exf4 removes that pawn first; in its line the knight takes the rook a move later. The evaluation still dropped only to +3.35, and I won by checkmate on move 42, after six blunders in the game.

The lesson of the week

The London System gives a beginner, or an adult improver like me, something valuable: positions that don't need memorised theory, and a setup that held up against 1390-rated opponents this week. What it doesn't give is the follow-up. In all three positions above the engine's move came from looking at what the opponent's pieces were doing: a loose pawn on c6, a knight and king on one diagonal, a pawn attacking my bishop. So my rule for London games is: the setup is automatic, the moment after the setup is not. Once my pieces are on their usual squares, I stop and look at the opponent's loose pieces and lines before choosing a plan.

All games this week

Previous week: week 95. Next week: week 97. The whole journey from 631 is on the journey page. If you play the London too, you can review your own games like this.