Good habit you're developing there. Self analysis is key.
97.5% accuracy London system win and My first annotated analysis
Sort:
Mar 20, 2021
0
#3
well played , I am not familiar with this opening, i would have been uncomfortable with recapturing the bishop with my h pawn. I like the way you finished the game!
Thanks mab23 and PaschalG79 for the kind feedback, I appreciate it.
@mab23, I can understand the reluctance to recapture with the h pawn, and with just about any other opening I don't think I'd be comfortable doing it either, it is an odd move. Believe it or not, backing the dark squared bishop off to the g3 square and recapturing with h3 has been the standard reply to Bd6 by black in the London system since Akiba Rubenstein played it in 1911 (I am no Akiba Rubenstein, I just shamelessly steal his ideas). You can check that game out here if you're interested: https://www.chess.com/games/view/11397 The move probably pre-existed this game, but it seems to be the first time a very strong GM played it and it caught on after that.
The idea behind the move is though this would weaken your kings side if you end up castling short (not a given in the London, often enough you castle queen side or not at all due to the very solid pawn structure), it opens up the h-file for your rook if you don't. If black then castles King's side, this can make for a potent attack on the castled kings position when combined with putting the light squared bishop on d3 and maneuvering the queen onto the h-file. Ironically, Most the GMs who play the London now days (even Carlsen and Nakamura use it frequently in blitz and bullet games) seem to agree that taking the dark squared bishop is most often a mistake for either side, though trading bishops was more common in the past.
Interestingly not the first time I've had greater than 97% accuracy (according to Stockfish at any rate) in the 1...d5 2...e6 line of the London system. The positions in this line repeat frequently so it's not so hard for even relatively weak players such as myself to recall or at least recognize the best move. Thought this might be worth sharing. If someone better than myself wants to comment, I'm always keen to learn more about the game.