Help with London System after 1.d4 c5

This is true (though the Reti and Catalan specifically can't be reached if black plays c5). However, I do think this move order does reduce the amount of lines you have to face. For example, after 1.Nf3 d5, white can still play a KIA and black is likely to play the move c5 at some point anyway, while he can instead opt for 2.c4. This is still more options than after 1.Nf3 Nf6, when 2.c4 c5 is definitely an English and 2.d4 just leads to black's normal repertoire, whether 2...d5, 2...e6 or 2...g6 - with both options the KIA is still possible so it can't be used to argue one way or another

Oh, I see what you're saying. I started with 1.d4 d5 as black, and I've never really looked at symmetrical English lines, but for other players the reverse may be true

Hi OP

Regarding the exchange slav, the example game of Lakdawala you gave wasn't that opening. Also black doesn't typicallly play Qb6 in that opening, i.e after 1.d5 2c4 c6 3pxp pxp 4Nc3 Nf6 5Nf3 Nc6 6Bf4 depending on black's rep 6...Bf5, 6...a6 or even 6 ...e6. If Qb6 is played at all, it is much later. 

 Because he doesn't live in Europe perhaps?

So u want to play London system against anything?

Sorry it is chess, not london system game.

U have to adapt to your opponent's moves.

True.

GM Simon Williams does teach to remain flexible. He does teach 1.d4 c5 2.d5, which will certainly not get one the pyramid pawn structure found in the London (e3, d4, c3). Against the KID, Williams and others recommend not playing c3, but playing Nc3, looking to play e2-e4. 

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It’s funny, but the more I study the London, the more I find exceptions to the common setup for White. It seems to have evolved into an opening, and not just a system. Move order has become more defined, more variations Popping up. What defines the London, the best I can understand, is 1.d4 and 2.Bf4, or Bf4 on move 3, just getting that bishop outside the pawn chain, whenever it makes sense to do so. 

Regarding move order, it used to be 1.d4 2.Nf3 3.Bf4, but now the newest books all say to play 2.Bf4, and to delay Nf3 until after Black plays ...e6, which then blocks Bc8, avoiding a pin on Nf3. Magnus Carlsen really delays Nf3, playing Nd2 first, and waiting to see what his opponent will do.

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Again, I was very happy playing 1.d4 2.c4 until I saw Magnus playing The London, and then watching YouTuber IM Eric Rosen play it live on Twitch. He just finished a video series on The London.

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My bright idea is to learn The London to combat the KID, which is a favorite at my club. Taking them out of their pet lines is my hope, and the London I’m talking about against the KID does not look like a London pawn structure, or any 1.d4 main line against the KID.  

Thanks for help with The English. Great explanation! 

There are lots of options, and you may like something else better. I'm happy if you found it useful though

After 1. d4 ...c5 2. d5, you aren't playing a London. You're probably in some kind of King's Indian or Benoni, which is just what black wants. You probably wouldn't know what to do after 2. d5 anyway, against someone who plays the Benoni expertly. Seriously, if you want to play the London, play 2. c3. Thought that would be obvious, except for the people who think that the London is always 1. d4 and 2. Bf4. That's ridiculous, actually. The London is a formation, not a move order.

Black wants a Benoni?

No no no.

Well, maybe.

But not as much as I want to face a Benoni as white

It's just a bad opening. No reason for white not to do the tiny amount of study necessary to make black suffer... it doesn't mean it's an automatic win of course, but black will surely suffer more than some tame 2.c3 stuff.

Plus, IMO, trying to play the same thing vs absolutely everything gets boring really fast. The other extreme is playing mainlines for everything. I think the right balance is somewhere in the middle.

<<<I could be stubborn and play the line at the beginning of the post. The computer says the position is about equal. GM Simon Williams says to play 2.d5 after 1.d4 c5. That stops White from losing a pawn, but there is no London Bf4 if Black plays 2...e5, and now White is stuck playing some mainline in The Benoni. Yuck>>>

Don't you mean wonderful? 1. d4 ....c5 2. d5 ....e5 is fine for white. Black has a really passive game unless you allow him to attack with pawns on the k-side against the castled king. Otherwise black can't do much. I suppose I'd play e4 and then moves like Bd3 and Ne2. I might play c4 or I might not. Force f4 and try to play f5. If you get it right, black gets tangled up in knots. You have all the piece communication and your d5 cuts black in half. That's why the Modern Benoni is e6, countering white's centre.

The Modern Benoni isn't a bad opening at all but it is a really difficult opening to play against well-prepared players. It demands a high order of tactical and positional skill, Didn't Bronstein play it?

I don't play 1.d4

And as black I certainly don't play 1.d4 c5.

I honestly thought 1.d4 c5 was called the benoni