The Steinitz countergambit. Literally move 2. It's baffling to me why more people don't play it, it's one of the most popular responses even at the GM level and one of the best-scoring as well.
White doesn't get his usual slow game at all, black bolting out of the blocks like lightning.
If it was the case that it was unsound then sure, that would be a reason not to use it. It's perfectly sound and very good, I would never play anything else.
White doesn't get his usual slow game at all,
And how exactly is black stopping white from playing a typical London after 3.e3?
2...c5 is not some aggressive gambit, it is basically just one of the main lines of the London. It's not a bad move, but if your goal is to stop white from playing his usual slow London, you're out of luck.
If black really wants to stop white from playing the same solid boring London setup he can try something like this.
The Steinitz countergambit. Literally move 2. It's baffling to me why more people don't play it, it's one of the most popular responses even at the GM level and one of the best-scoring as well.
White doesn't get his usual slow game at all, black bolting out of the blocks like lightning.
If it was the case that it was unsound then sure, that would be a reason not to use it. It's perfectly sound and very good, I would never play anything else.
Assuming you face the Accelerated London. However, even if you do, by far the most common response at all levels is 3. e3 and now both sides continue developing. I agree that the Steinitz Countergambit is the most accurate move order, but you also have to understand what to do afterwards. Almost all of your games will continue as such: 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. c3?! Qb6, after which the most common response is 6. Qb3? c4 7. Qxb6?? axb6 after which Black should be completely winning with little effort, but also common are 7. Qc2 Bf5 8. Qc1 and 7. Qc2 Bf5 8. Qxc5?? Qxb2.
If you ACTUALLY want to Gambit against the London, go watch the videos by Johnathan Schrantz/vampirechicken and FM William afraid on YouTube on the subject.
i just play 1.e5 and have punished a london pre-mover once already
You can't. I tried. Their winrate never gets lower than 47%. In any variation. Best thing to do is just to be better than the london player. I do play the 1.e6 2.c5 3.Qb6 line tho. Won 5 out of 8 games
@lassus_dinnao
this line sucks just play steinz countergambit
If you ACTUALLY want to Gambit against the London, go watch the videos by Johnathan Schrantz/vampirechicken and FM William afraid on YouTube on the subject.
what's the gambit?
this?
@lassus_dinnao
this line sucks just play steinz countergambit
aint no way i'm actually gonna play d5 only to get a 50/47 winrate against the london
Hi! I think the best way to counter the London System depends on your main repertoire as Black.
For instance, if you play the KID, then perhaps a good move order is 1...g6 so you start with Modern Defense which makes ...e5 easier at some point, with tempo on the f4 bishop.
If you are a QGD player, then the line with ...c5 and ...Qb6 attacking b2 is the way to go.
Good luck!
i play it classically like this
you just play principled chess but you also will want to eventually throw in a Nh5 to win their bishop
I agree that ...Nh5 is an important move to keep in mind. If White wants to keep his dark square bishop, he'll have to use a tempo to give it an escape square on h2. That one tempo can be enough to give Black time to reach a solid position.
I like to play a Queen's Indian style setup, and then take things from there, depending on what White does.
I just played a game against an FM who played the London, a few hours ago, actually. On that other site: https://lichess.org/ASsZf8dI/black
Though if I feel I'm playing poorly for the day, I'll develop my queen bishop to a6 and exchange it for White's d3 bishop, just to get White's strong bishop off the board. Then it's just a matter of trading down to an endgame ...
Is there a way in which Black can counter the London and prevent white from getting a solid position (effectively)?