Learn the Beating the London

D02, A45 · a repertoire for black · 6 chapters · 29 annotated lines

"Turn the club favorite into your favorite opponent"

The London System is the most-played opening at club level — solid, low-theory, and endlessly annoying to face. This course gives Black a complete, aggressive answer built around one idea: hit the queenside White's setup leaves behind. After 1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 c5 3.e3 Nc6 4.c3 you play 4...Qb6!, attacking the b2 pawn the London bishop abandoned on move two. Every White defense concedes something: 5.Qb3 walks into 5...c4! and a powerful queenless game, 5.Qc1 parks the queen on its worst square, 5.Qc2 loses the bishop pair to ...Nf6-h5, and grabbing on c5 loses material to tactics you'll know cold. You'll also get a clean recipe against the trendy Jobava London (2.Nc3 Bf4): 3...a6!, killing the Nb5 tricks the whole system depends on, followed by ...e6, ...c5 and normal moves. Every line is engine-checked and ends in a position where Black stands equal or better — usually with the clearer plan.

What's inside

• Chapter 1: The Main Line — 4...Qb6!
  Lines: 5.Qb3 c4! — The Endgame Black Wants, 5.Qb3 c4! 6.Qc2 — The Central Counter 6...e5!, 5.Qc1 — The Passive Defense, 7.b3 — When White Fights the c4 Clamp
• Chapter 2: The Other Defenses of b2
  Lines: 5.Qc2 — Win the Bishop Pair, 5.Nf3 — Decline the Pawn, Take the Structure, 5.dxc5?! — Punish the Greed: 5...Qxb2!
• Chapter 3: Early Deviations & Move Orders
  Lines: 4.Nf3 (No c3): Trade First, Then Develop, 3.dxc5: Just Take It Back, The b4 Trap: 4.b4? Qf6!!
• Chapter 4: The Jobava London — 3...a6!
  Lines: The Jobava Antidote: 3...a6!, 4.f3 — Counter the Caveman with 4...c5!, 4.f3 c5 5.dxc5 — The d4! Wedge, 5.g4!? — Calm Beats Caveman
• Chapter 5: Defending b2 — White's Other Tries
  Lines: 5.b3 — The Pawn Defense That Weakens c3, 5.Na3 — The Knight Gambit: Decline with 5...c4!, 5.Qb3 c4 6.Qd1?! — Now Take b2, 5.Nf3 Bf5 6.Nbd2 — The One Real Poison
• Chapter 6: The Jobava, Deepened
  Lines: 4.e4?! — Take the Center Gambit, 4.Qd2 — Win the Castling Race, 5.Bd3 — Blunt the Attacking Setup, 6.Ne5 — Challenge the Lunge at Once

Free sample: the main line, move by move

• 1. d4 — 1.d4 — the queen's pawn.
• 1... d5 — Meet it in the center. Against the London you want the classical setup — the d5 pawn blunts the f4 bishop's diagonal before it exists.
• 2. Bf4 — The London System: the bishop comes out before the pawn chain locks it in. Solid, popular — and it abandons b2. Remember that square.
• 2... c5 — Strike immediately. The c-pawn hits d4 and opens the diagonal toward b2 for your queen. Playing this before ...Nf6 keeps White guessing and sidesteps several London move-order tricks.
• 3. e3 — White supports d4 and opens the f1 bishop.
• 3... Nc6 — Develop with pressure — the knight adds a second attacker to d4 and prepares the queen's arrival on b6.
• 4. c3 — The standard London wall: pawns on c3, d4, e3. It looks solid, but note what just happened — the b1 knight lost its best square, and b2 now has only the queen for a defender.
• 4... Qb6 — The star move of the whole course. The queen hits b2 — the one pawn the London bishop can never come back to defend — and ties White's pieces to its defense. Every reply concedes something; this study covers the main one.
• 5. Qb3 — The main line: White blocks the attack and offers a queen trade, hoping for a quiet life.
• 5... c4 — Gain a full tempo. The pawn hits the queen, grabs queenside space, and fixes b3 as a target forever. Only now does White realize the queens are coming off on Black's terms.
• 6. Qxb6 — White trades — declining costs more time (see the 6.Qc2 study).
• 6... axb6 — Recapture toward the center — and open the a-file for the rook that hasn't moved. Count Black's assets: the half-open a-file, the b5-b4 lever coming, and a pawn on c4 cramping White's queenside. This is a queenless middlegame Black plays for two results... in Black's favor.
• 7. Nd2 — White develops and eyes the c4 pawn.
• 7... b5 — Defend c4 and start the plan: ...b4 will pry open the queenside where only Black's rook is working. The doubled b-pawns aren't a weakness — they're a battering ram.
• 8. Ngf3 — Development continues.
• 8... Bf5 — The light-squared bishop gets out BEFORE ...e6 closes its diagonal — the same discipline the London player used on move two, turned against them.
• 9. Be2 — White completes the kingside.
• 9... e6 — Now close the door behind the bishop. Black's structure is ideal: everything defended, every piece with a future.
• 10. O-O — White castles.
• 10... Nf6 — The king's knight comes out last — it had to wait so ...Bf5 and ...e6 came in the right order.
• 11. h3 — A useful waiting move, making luft and covering g4.
• 11... h6 — Match it — and mean it more. This little move is one of Black's best performers in the whole endgame: it takes g5 away from White's knight and bishop forever, gives your own king luft for the day the back rank matters, and keeps ...g5 in reserve as a space-gainer — with the queens off, it weakens nothing. Only then does the kingside get finished.
• 12. Ne5 — White centralizes, hoping for activity before the queenside collapses.
• 12... Nxe5 — Trade on sight. Every exchange magnifies the a-file and the coming ...b4.
• 13. Bxe5 — The bishop recaptures.
• 13... Be7 — Quiet and correct. Black doesn't need the bishop anywhere fancy — the plan runs through the queenside pawns.
• 14. Nf3 — The knight returns to cover d4.
• 14... b4 — The lever lands — castling can wait one more move, because nothing on the board attacks Black's king. After cxb4 Bxb4 Black's pieces pour into c3 and a2; if White ignores it, ...bxc3 bxc3 leaves b2 backward on an open file. Either way the only active plan on the board belongs to Black — this is the position the whole line plays for.

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