c7-c5 vs London System

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Avatar of tlay80

Lately, against 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4, I've been playing 2 . . . c5 3. e3 Qb6. This has the advantage of being sharper and more interesting than most London System games and of tending to piss off players of that godforsaken opening. But because it's on the sharp side, I'd love to read some published analysis of it, rather than just relying on databases, as I've been doing.  Are there any books that cover this line in depth that can be recommended?

Avatar of TwoMove

Dembo's book on Anti-KingIndian's cover's it and sharp play after 4Nc3 Qxp. Don't know about more recent ones.

Actually think I am getting confused with a similar Bg5 line, because the "sharp" play can end quite quickly if white feels like it after 5Nb5 Nd5 6Rb1 Qxa2 7Ra1 etc

Avatar of PSV-1988

The line is discussed in Fighting the London System by Georgiev, which was published in 2017. He says that 4...Qxb2 can lead to a forced draw and prefers 4...d6, with the idea of fianchettoing both bishops.

Keep in mind though that against 2 Nf3 and 3 Bf4 you'll need something else. 

Avatar of ThrillerFan

Why be pissed off at your opponent playing a lame opening?

Just blow him away!

http://charlottechesscenter.blogspot.com/2019/12/game-analysis-atlanta-class_14.html?m=1

Avatar of Quasimorphy

Not a book but Chessexplained's (Christof Sielecki) Benko Repertoire chess course at chessable.com has some coverage of that 2...c5 line.  I'm not very familiar with his work over there, so I don't know how much depth or how much explanation there is.  Might be worth looking at. I'm not sure, but I think all the courses there have a 30 day money back guarantee. That one apparently does.

 

https://www.chessable.com/chessexplaineds-benko-repertoire-a-complete-answer-to-1d4/course/3258/

Avatar of DaniilKalabukhov
tlay80 wrote:

Lately, against 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4, I've been playing 2 . . . c5 3. e3 Qb6.

 

So if you play Benko Gambit you should learn how to deal with White's passive replies such as 3. c3 or e3. A good repertoire book should give you knowledge how to handle these lines. But if you usually play King's Indian Defense (KID) or Grunfeld - there aren't any reasons to play 2... c5 and 3... Qb6. In KID I like the idea of playing Nfd7 after development - Nf6, g6, Bg7, c5, b6, Bb7, d5, Nc6, 0-0 -  in order to play e5 next move. There are a few set ups which give Black a great position against London System. KID is actually a really flexible opening.

Avatar of tlay80

Thanks, all.