Generating An Attack#2 - London system middlegame plans

Sep 30, 2017, 12:50 PM |

Welcome to my new series...there will be a regular release of 1 article each weekend, and in this series I want to explain some of my attacking ideas in chess. To get you warmed up, here is a puzzle from one of my recent games:

As important as it is to understand some opening principles, middlegame attacking ideas are also needed, if you want to checkmate your opponent.

And, it is not good enough to have just one idea for each opening, because your opponent can respond in a number of ways, and in some lines, your plan will just never work. In this series 'Generating An Attack', I will explain some ways of quickly transforming a position of roughly equality into a winning position. The series will focus primarily on the London system, and also the Dutch defense. I aim to produce new material, but I will of course mention ideas of some great players.

Idea#1 Apply pressure on h7

In almost all variaitions of the London, black will attempt to castle kingside, because castling queenside is often very risky, for example my game against @aflaguy63 ended in 21 moves. By putting pressure on h7, you are are attacking the king`s position. The main defender of h7 is black`s knight on f6, so if you take this piece off the board, or force him to retreat, then your attack will be more powerful, and often a move such as g6 must be played in order for black to hold things together...

Idea#2 If you are given the open H-file use it!

If you play against strong players, then they will scarcely allow you the open H-file, and so when you drop your bishop back to g3, it usually remains untouched - but if your opponent doesn`t know this they might take your bishop - because your king`s rook will become a very dangerous piece if this file is open towards the black king. However, if you are given the open H-file, and don`t use it, then it is of no value, so use it to attack!

In many situations the queen will swing out to h5, and when applied in conjunction with other pieces, for example a knight on g5, or 'the light squared bishop behind her majesty, forming a battering ram...' (Ginger_GM), then the threats are multiplied. In the following game, when my queen landed on the h file, checkmate was inexorable, because black had no defensive resources at hand.

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Generating An Attack#2 - London system middlegame plans

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