Modern Chess Database London System - Pawn Structures, Tactical Ideas, Endgames, and Theoretical Trends (Systems with ...e7-e6) - Part 1

[Event "?"]

[Site "?"]

[Date "????.??.??"]

[Round "?"]

[White "3...b6 4.Qf3"]

[Black "?"]

[Result "*"]

[ECO "A45"]

[Annotator "GM Pavel Eljanov"]

[PlyCount "25"]

[EventDate "2021.??.??"]

{[%evp 0,25,24,24,24,16,30,23,41,17,22,-8,-8,-8,16,-8,-11,-3,-11,-38,-35,-31, 15,-63,-36,-36,-36,-41]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 e6 3. e3 b6 {This move order gives White an additional and quite promising setup.} 4. Qf3 $5 {With this move, White will be able to complete the development in the most ambitious way

castling long and then immediately start some actions in the center and on the kingside.} Nc6 ({The most popular move} 4... d5 {is inferior. Black weakens the dark squares without any compensation.} 5. Nc3 Bb7 ({The alternative} 5...

Nc6 {runs into} 6. Nb5 {After} Bd6 7. Nxd6+ cxd6 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10.

Qxf6 gxf6 11. a4 $14 {White has a stable advantage due to his better pawn structure.}) 6. O-O-O Nc6 7. h4 {[%cal Gg2g4] Since the centre is stable, White can start advancing his kingside pawns.} a6 8. g4 Qd7 9. Bd3 Nb4 10. Kb1

Nxd3 11. cxd3 h5 12. g5 Ng4 13. Rc1 $14) 5. Nc3 Bb7 6. O-O-O {White is ready to start playing in the centre. The main threat is d4-d5.} a6 ({After} 6... Bb4

1. Nge2 O-O 8. a3 Be7 9. e4 $16 {the central domination gives White a huge advantage.}) ({As usual} 6... d5 {is well met by} 7. h4 a6 8. g4 $40) 7. d5 $5

{It's time to gain some space} ({Another possibility would be} 7. e4 d5 $5 8.

e5 {closing the centre and preparing the advance of the kingside pawns.} ({

After} 8. a3 dxe4 (8... Qd7 9. exd5 exd5 10. g4 Nd8 11. Bd3 $14 {1/2 (41) Le Goff,R (2303)-Vezzani,S (2149) Trieste 2019}) 9. Nxe4 Nxe4 10. Qxe4 Bd6 $11 {

Black has good chances for equality.}) 8... Nd7 9. h4 Ne7 10. h5 c5 11. Nce2

Nc6 12. Qh3 b5 13. Kb1 $36 {White has a fantastic version of the French Defence.}) 7... Ne7 {[%cal Ge7g6] The knight is heading to g6. White, however, always has the idea h2-h4-h5 at his disposal.} (7... Nxd5 8. Nxd5 exd5 9. Qxd5

d6 10. Be2 $14) 8. e4 Ng6 ({In a case of} 8... b5 9. Nh3 b4 {White should play}

1. Na4 $1 {[%cal Ga4c5] trying to occupy the c5-square.} Ng6 ({The complications arising after} 10... exd5 11. Nc5 dxe4 12. Qb3 $1 Bd5 13. Bc4

Bxc4 14. Qxc4 d5 15. Qxb4 c6 16. Nb7 $40 {work in White's favour.}) 11. Bc4 $14

) 9. h4 {Once again, this typical advance works well for White.} ({The alternative} 9. Bg3 {allows Black to close the position by means of} e5) 9...

Nxf4 10. Qxf4 Bc5 11. g4 h5 12. g5 Ng4 13. Nh3 $36 {White maintains a dangerous initiative.} *

[Event "?"]

[Site "?"]

[Date "????.??.??"]

[Round "?"]

[White "3...c5 4...Qb6"]

[Black "?"]

[Result "*"]

[ECO "A46"]

[Annotator "GM Pavel Eljanov"]

[PlyCount "37"]

[EventDate "2021.??.??"]

{[%evp 0,36,19,31,14,23,34,21,48,39,22,0,21,-14,0,-45,-13,-43,-55,-67,-67,-78, -35,-4,20,29,29,27,41,21,45,37,32,44,43,43,49,32,53]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 e6 3. e3

c5 4. Nf3 Qb6 {Rather popular altough risky setup. White has a decent choice here.} 5. Na3 {A typical way of defending the b2-pawn. The idea is to answer 5.

..Qxb2 with 6.Nb5.} (5. Nc3 $5 {[%cal Gc3b5,Gc3a4] also makes perfect sense} a6

{Black is trying to prevent Nb5.} ({The endgame arising after} 5... cxd4 6.

Qxd4 Qxd4 7. exd4 {is difficult for Black. White has an overwhelming advantage in the development.} ({Another possibility is} 7. Nxd4 $5 a6 8. Na4 $1 {

[%csl Rb6][%cal Ga4b6]} Bb4+ (8... Nd5 9. c4 Bb4+ 10. Kd1 b5 (10... Nxf4 11.

Nb6 $18) 11. cxd5) 9. c3 Ba5 10. Nb3 Bd8 11. c4 $14 {with a stable advantage for White.}) 7... d6 $2 {This move leads to a lost position.} ({Black should have parted with one of his bishops by playing} 7... Bb4 8. Bd3 O-O 9. O-O Bxc3

1. bxc3 b6 11. a4 $14 {White is obviously better.}) 8. Nb5 Kd7 9. Ng5 {

This is the problem. It turns out that Black cannot defend the f7-pawn.} a6 10.

Nxf7 $18 {1-0 (46) Tan,Z (2510) -Atalik,E (2430) Chess.com INT 2020}) ({

An important direction is} 5... d5 6. Nb5 Na6 7. c3 Be7 8. h4 $1 {A typical London position. The a6-knight is out of play. White starts gaining space on the kingside. Black has no counterplay in this structure.} (8. h3 O-O 9. Be2

Bd7 $11 {0-1 (17) Villalba,M (2258)-Najer,E (2648) Chess.com INT 2021}) 8...

Bd7 9. a4 O-O 10. Bd3 {White is not afraid of sacrificing a pawn. In return, he gets tremendous compensation.} c4 11. Bb1 $40 Bxb5 12. axb5 Qxb5 13. Qc2

Rfc8 14. g4 $40 {with a strong attack.}) 6. Na4 {White is going after the bishop pair.} ({Less clear is} 6. a3 d5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 (7... Qxc5 8. Bd3 Be7 9.

O-O O-O 10. e4 Nc6 11. exd5 exd5 12. h3 $14 {1-0 (49) Ushenina,A (2416)-Gunina, V (2431) chess.com INT 2020}) 8. Bd3 Bd7 $132) (6. dxc5 Bxc5 7. Qd2 Bb4 $132) 6... Qa5+ 7. c3 c4 $5 ({The structure arising after} 7... cxd4 8. exd4 {

is in White's favour. He can consider gaining space on the queenside by means of b2-b4.} b5 (8... d6 9. b4 Qd8 10. c4 $14 {1-0 (43) Bauer,C (2623)-Riff,J

(2499) Berlin 2015}) 9. Nc5 d6 10. Nb3 Qc7 (10... Qa4 $6 11. Bd3 Bb7 12. Bc2

Be4 13. Bxe4 Nxe4 14. O-O Nd7 {0-1 (46) Jablonicky,M (2302) -Ilincic,Z (2455) Budapest 2018} 15. Ng5 Nef6 16. Qf3 $16) 11. Bd3 Be7 12. O-O O-O 13. Qe2 Bb7

1. a4 {Making use of Black's overextended queenside.} Bd5 15. Nbd2 $14) 8. Nd2

b5 9. Nc5 d6 10. Nce4 Nxe4 11. Nxe4 Qc7 12. g4 $1 {An important move. Besides gaining space on the kingside, White prepares the move Bg2.} Bb7 13. Bg2 $36 {

/~~} Bd5 14. a4 Qc6 15. f3 $14 {White's good central control and active pieces provide an advantage.}) 5... cxd4 (5... Qxb2 $4 6. Nb5 cxd4 7. Rb1 Bb4+ 8. Ke2

$18) 6. Nc4 Qb4+ 7. c3 dxc3 8. a3 c2+ (8... Qc5 9. b4 Qd5 10. Qc2 $36) 9. axb4

cxd1=Q+ 10. Kxd1 Na6 $1 $146 {A logical novelty. Only this gives Black decent chances to equalize.} ({Worse is} 10... Nd5 $2 11. Nd6+ Bxd6 (11... Kd8 12.

Nxf7+ Ke7 13. Nxh8 $18 Nxf4 14. exf4 Kf6 15. Bd3 g6 16. h4 Nc6 17. h5 Nxb4 18.

Bb1 Bg7 19. hxg6 hxg6 20. Nxg6 d6 21. Ng5 d5 22. Ne5 Nc6 23. Ng4+ Ke7 24. Rh7

Kf8 25. Ra3 Bd7 26. Rah3 Nd4 27. Rh8+ Bxh8 28. Rxh8+ Ke7 29. Rxa8 {1-0 (29) Ushenina,A (2416)-Cori Tello,D (2388) chess.com INT 2020}) 12. Bxd6 Nc6 13. b5

Nce7 14. e4 Nf6 15. Bd3 {when black pieces lack squares.} (15. b6 a6 16. Bd3

Ng4 17. Ke2 f6 18. b4 Nh6 19. Nd4 Nf7 20. Bc7 O-O 21. f4 d5 22. e5 fxe5 23.

fxe5 Bd7 24. Rhc1 Rac8 25. Bxa6 bxa6 26. b7 Rxc7 {1-0 (26) Kozusek,D (2339) -Womacka,M (2449) Prague 2019}) 15... b6 16. Ke2 Bb7 17. Bxe7 Kxe7 18. Ra4 Ne8

1. e5 f6 20. exf6+ gxf6 21. Rha1 Nd6 22. Rxa7 h6 23. Nh4 Rhc8 24. Rxa8 Rxa8

2. Ra3 Ne4 26. Bxe4 Bxe4 27. Ra6 Bb7 28. Rxb6 Rb8 29. Ke3 d6 30. Ng6+ Kd7 31.

Nf8+ Kc7 32. Rxb7+ Kxb7 33. Nd7 Rg8 34. Nxf6 Rxg2 35. Ne4 Kc7 36. h4 Rh2 37.

b6+ Kxb6 38. Nxd6 Rxh4 39. f4 Kc6 40. Nc4 Kc5 41. Ne5 Kd5 42. Kf3 Rh2 43. Ng4

Rh3+ 44. Ke2 Rb3 45. Nf6+ Kd4 46. Kf2 Rxb2+ 47. Kf3 Rb5 48. Ne8 Rb7 49. f5 Ke5

1. fxe6 Re7 {0-1 (50) Basso, P (2603)-Blohberger,F (2467) Forni di Sopra 2020}

) 11. b5 d5 12. bxa6 dxc4 13. Bxc4 bxa6 14. Ke2 Nd5 15. Bxd5 (15. Bg3 Be7 16.

Bxa6 Bxa6+ 17. Rxa6 Nb4 18. Ra5 f6 $14 {/=}) (15. Be5 f6 16. Bd4 Be7 17. Rhc1

Kf7 18. Bxd5 exd5 $11) 15... exd5 16. Rhd1 Be7 (16... f6 17. h4 Bb4 18. Nd4 O-O

$14 {/=}) (16... Be6 17. Nd4 Bc5 18. Nxe6 fxe6 19. Rxa6 $14) 17. Rxd5 Be6 18.

Rd4 O-O 19. Bd6 $14 {/=} *

[Event "?"]

[Site "?"]

[Date "????.??.??"]

[Round "?"]

[White "5...Bd6 or 5...Qb6!?"]

[Black "?"]

[Result "*"]

[ECO "D02"]

[Annotator "GM Pavel Eljanov"]

[PlyCount "33"]

[EventDate "2021.??.??"]

{[%evp 0,33,19,31,25,9,33,16,29,30,88,25,36,-10,-7,-18,1,-25,-15,-36,-40,-1,-8, -1,-4,-1,-2,-3,3,-6,6,21,35,32,21,18]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 e6 3. e3 d5 4. Nf3 c5 {