Yes, basically c5 is the move to play early on against the London. You have to be patient. White's kingside is rock solid. Watch out for Ne5 for white and its ramifications. As black play on the queenside; don't be afraid of queen exchanges when they face each other on b3 and b6.
Winning with black against the London is very satisfying. It's something of a moral victory IMO.
early c5, Qb6 for example may give good start for black
the stats are HIDEOUS for black after 3.c4 (the krause system) under 2000. 3...cxd4 is "best" and that's 51:45. stats look pretty bad for everything a londoner plays though.
going a ply deeper though, the "main line" (in popularity) 4.Nxd4 cxd4 is roughly equal statistically though. i'm trying to break out of the stonewall straightjacket and was hoping to find an anti-london gambit or at least develop a piece before 4 or more stonewall pawn moves.
hmmmm! in reading this, https://chesscience.com/counter-the-london-system-with-10-openings-options/
it looks like i'm a chigoran player. it's intuitive and based on rapid development? exactly what i'm looking for!
Hi all,
Looking to expand my black repertoire.
Do you have a good line against the 2 london move orders as seen as below? I like to play the opposite of what a lot of opponents are (seemingly) trying to achieve from the opening:
I checked game explorer and is seems that an early ...c5 against the london is quite strong statisticaly. In other case (Like 1.d4-2.Nf3) it wouldn't be seen as sound. Why is that in you mind?
Do you have some lines suggestions?