Introduction To The London System & Jobava London System...
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/the-london-system
book recommendations are at bottom of article.
You might also check out the following article...
The Stonewall Attack...
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/stonewall-attack
In particular, see at the bottom of the article, the section 'Stonewall Attack vs The London System'.
Hello @fizzleputts
I appreciate your thoughts on this matter and that you took the time to share them.
I’m finding generally in life, you know, to get any good at anything months and months, if not years, is a better expectation to have than otherwise. I see your point and when I decided I wanted to devote time to chess, I did so aware that I wouldn’t see much improvement for awhile.
Hm, I hadn’t really thought about all of that. I had a vague idea that chess might be an avenue towards self-improvement. Self-improvement can be tricky because it’s often arduous and uncomfortable. My idea was that by starting to study chess it would allow me a discipline that could foster better analytical thinking, perhaps, and strategic thinking. It is something to study. Studying is good for you, in my opinion, just stimulating the mind and finding new ideas and concepts to explore and chew on. I don’t have too many ambitions as far as money goes. I was hoping more for the intellectual benefits and, since it’s a game, and one that I enjoy playing at that, I was hoping it would make the process more appealing, thus, giving me all the more more reason to follow through.
Anyways, general update for anyone else reading:
I started reading Pandolfini’s Ultimate Guide to Chess, and am about half way through. It turns out this notation stuff gets easier the more you read it. I haven’t memorized the board but when I read the notation Ifigure it all out quickly enough. I’ve been playing games against humans (not just the computer) and my elo is around 500, so I was interested to see where I am.
I had another question. I was thinking of making a mew thread but don’t wanna breach any forum etiquette by having two threads around. Anyways, I’ve been working with the London System and I’ve learned how to get all the pieces where they go, but would really like to get a closer look at what to do once you set up. I am going to scour YouTube more for answers, but it’s hard. In many videos I’ve seen, the instructor explains how to ge the opening, gives a few tips for how to respond to certain moves, and then plays a few games. I’m really trying to dig into the strategy, as that seems to be my weakest point in the game. So, I’m looking for a book or video that really goes into not just how to set up the system, but strategy on how to proceed. Maybe that is a hard ask because every game goes so differently. I’ll be needing to learn how to be more strategic, and I was thinking this might be an avenue in which to do so.
Anyways, thanks everyone for your contributions! Logical Chess: Move by Move is next on my radar once I finish Pandolfini’s!
P.S. I was specifically looking for books because I’m way more efficient at retaining info from books than I am from videos. I do watch a few videos a day as well!