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London Opening 4...e5!?!? How should white play? ._.

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FunnyAnimatorJimTV
Hi- I've been playing the London Opening (I say Opening, not System because I'm one of the people who doesn't actually play it to play a boring system for no reason, but I actually want it to work as a real opening with good theory) for about 4 months now and I have a question about one specific line that goes

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 c5 3.d5 d6 4.Nc3 e5!?

Please don't ask about the first 4 moves for white- I just want to know what a good followup for white would be after this move.

I've considered a few options:

-dxe6 which frees up most of white's problems, but it also liberates black and white no longer has a good d5 pawn. This could be a backup line but I wouldn't really like to play this.
-Bg3 this might be fine if not for the fact that black can get a strong grip on the e4 square with either immediate 5...e4 or 5...Bf5 first.
-Bg5 This might be fine as it controls the e4 square for a move but black can easily fix this with something like Be7 or h6.
-Bc1 the bishop just dodges back- it's like a regular Czech Benoni but white has way less control because he doesn't have a pawn on either c4 or e4.

That's one of the problems I'm finding white has in this line- black puts a stake in the center and white doesn't have as much control because there are no pawns able to be put on e4 or c4.

If any of you have any ideas on what white could do against this e5 move it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks and Happy Checkmating!
darkunorthodox88

just play dxe6 and e4. black must choose between a backwards d6 pawn or play the somewhat awkward fxe6.

Yigor

U can try 5. Bd2 too. peshka.png

FunnyAnimatorJimTV
@Yigor after Bd2 black can again play e5-e4, or a6 and after b5 play e4.
FunnyAnimatorJimTV
@Yigor As a response to a6, I meant a4 from white, not b5
FunnyAnimatorJimTV
@darkunothodox88 Yes if other alternatives fail for white then dxe6 could be a backup and it looks fine; an example could be 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 c5 3.d5 d6 4.Nc3 e5 5.dxe6 Bxe6 6.e4 Nc6 7.Nf3 Be7 8.Bd3 0-0 9.0-0 Re8 10.Re1 Qb6 11.b3 Rd8 12.Qd2 It doesn't look like black has too many difficulties but maybe this is white's best option
Yigor
FunnyAnimatorJimTV wrote:
@Yigor after Bd2 black can again play e5-e4, or a6 and after b5 play e4.

 

All right. If U prefer to avoid both 5. dxe6 and e4 by black then the only good option seems to be 5. Bg5, for example:

 

 

It seems to be perfectly playable. peshka.png

darkunorthodox88
Yigor wrote:
FunnyAnimatorJimTV wrote:
@Yigor after Bd2 black can again play e5-e4, or a6 and after b5 play e4.

 

All right. If U prefer to avoid both 5. dxe6 and e4 by black then the only good option seems to be 5. Bg5, for example:

 

 

It seems to be perfectly playable. 

you just eased black's clamp by trading and gave black the bishop pair

Yigor
darkunorthodox88 wrote:
Yigor wrote:
FunnyAnimatorJimTV wrote:
@Yigor after Bd2 black can again play e5-e4, or a6 and after b5 play e4.

 All right. If U prefer to avoid both 5. dxe6 and e4 by black then the only good option seems to be 5. Bg5, for example:

 

It seems to be perfectly playable. 

you just eased black's clamp by trading and gave black the bishop pair

 

  • The opening, chosen by white, isn't perfect anyway.
  • The bishop pair isn't necessarily better than bishop+knight.
  • IM pfren also suggests 5. Bg5 peshka.png
FunnyAnimatorJimTV
Yeah Bg5 looks OK as well- some lines can go

5.Bg5 Be7 6.e4 h6 (neither Nxe4 or Nxd5 work for black cause white has something with Bb5+) 7.Bxf6 Bxf6 8.Nf3 0-0 9.Be2 Na6 10.0-0 Nc7 11.Nd2
or
5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e4 Be7 8.Nf3 0-0 9.Be2 Qg6 10.0-0 Bh3 11.Ne1 =
FunnyAnimatorJimTV
@BobbyTalparov Yes I think it has come down to a debate between dxe6 and Bg5. Also, white's idea with Nc3 is to get a quick e4 in, so if black plays a normal move like 4...Nbd7 or 4...g6, white can play e4 and get a better Benoni position than from main Benonis. But the downside is that if black finds the e5 move it looks a bit more challenging for white.