That really helped thanks!
I need help with the London System
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i played the london a while back. books i've read recommend 3 e3 and either nc3 or na3 afterwards. theory probably recommends the gambit line starting with 3 d5. i think it's technically a line of the trompowsky. the line features the bishop retreat to d2 once black takes b2 and threatens the nc3, so if you think about that, it wouldn't make a difference if it was on f4 or g5 a move ago, if you're going to retreat it to d2 anyway.
anyway i think it is called vaganian gambit.
there is a lot of recent hype about the 3 e3 and either 4 nc3 or 4 na3 line however. i saw some guys on youtube trying to out-analyze each other. you can watch that. i think it's agadmator and gothamchess and one other guy i forgot the name of. just type these names and "london" and you should find it on youtube.
Hey Chess.com! First post, but out of necessity, really. I need help. I'm starting to play the London System, and I'm seeing this from my opponents when I play it. (Hopefully you can see the following diagram)
How do I proceed from here? Is there a way to counter this, or are these moves just nonsense? I'm thinking about just defending my d4 pawn with moves like e3 and Nf3, although the latter move blocks in my queen. I've thought of also of capturing immediately on c5, which I feel like is a bad move. Alternatively, do I just continue normally? (i.e; d4, Bf4, e3, Nf3, Nd2, etc.) Thank you in advance for the advice.
PS: I know the London doesn't require a lot of theory, but I only learned how to play it a few days ago, and I don't know a lot of the lines (if there are different lines, idk). I realize that I may be getting a lot of this wrong.