Why exactly does the London get so much hate?

ding liren

I think it's one of those Good when I'm doing it , Bad when I'm facing it openings

Until some time ago, I "hated" London System because almost everyone at my level plays it after 1.d4 and I wanted to try something else. But then I stopped giving importance to openings, because I saw that they are not the most important aspect ( always at my level ).

Currently, the only reason I still "hate" the London System is because I often lose against it. I still haven't figured out how to manage that type of game ( and probably for this reason it seems to me boring too ). From this point of view, I think playing against the LS is instructive, as far as I'm concerned.

That said, for the LS as for all other things, everyone can play the way they want... I don't think "real chess" exists ( what would it be ? who decided it ? where is it written? ). A chess player, if he's good, must know how to win against any opening or system or style, no excuses.

Here’s a quick little setup against the London System:

Thank you. I didn't consider it: it's that c5 after d5 that I hadn't considered. I'll try.

while a very true statement, they did not play it (the London) exclusively or by rote. They played it to create variety once in a while.

I feel the same. Sometimes I even chat with my opponent late in the game and say "Another Long-Done System goes down in flames".

Hating on other peoples' chess openings is a large part of chess culture. Generally it starts with people who find a concept ugly but who lack the skill to defeat it. So it becomes a complex.