The London System in 12 Practical Lessons

London-systemet, med d4, Lf4 og oftest også Sf3, er spilt for å unngå vanlig åpningsteori, men har blitt så vanlig at det er naturlig å oppsummere praktiske erfaringer både teoretisk og tematisk.

Denne boka er delvis en direkte oppfølging av boka "The Agile London System" fra 2016, der Oscar Prado var en av forfatterne. Det er også et eget kapittel med noen kommentarer til Kiril Georgievs konklusjoner i boka "Fighting the London System" fra 2017.

Men først og fremst kan denne oppdaterte boka brukes til å lære ideer og poenger i London-systemet, også for alle som ikke har studert åpningen tidligere. Nyttig stoff for alle interesserte med ratingnivå fra cirka 1200 og opp.

Forlagets egen omtale:

The London System is being played by an ever increasing number of players, and it’s easy to see why. Against virtually every Black defence after 1.d4 it offers White an easy-to-learn and reliable set of lines. In the process, White has interesting choices between strategic or more aggressive approaches, while avoiding loads of opening theory. Ideal for players who don’t have much time to study.

Creative elite players such as Alexander Grischuk, Baadur Jobava, Richard Rapport and even World Champion Magnus Carlsen have the London in their repertoire.

Following the enormous success of The Agile London System, the book he co-authored in 2016, Oscar de Prado revisits his favourite opening. The general focus is less on theory and has a more practical approach – although he does present recently played games and some important theoretical updates. De Prado avoids long and complicated variations and concentrates on explaining straightforward plans, clear-cut strategies and standard manoeuvres.

If you follow De Prado’s lessons you are unlikely to face surprises or to emerge from the opening in a worse position, and you will learn to make the right middlegame choices. Studying this book is the most efficient way to acquaint yourself with a flexible chess opening that is easy to learn and hard to counter.

Oscar de Prado Rodriguez (1973) is a FIDE Master from Spain. He has successfully been playing the London System for many years. In 2016 he published, together with co-author Alfonso Romero, the acclaimed The Agile London System.

Innholdsfortegnelsen:

007 Preface by grandmaster Pepe Cuenca

013 Introduction

015 Lesson 1 General ideas and move-orders

028 Lesson 2 The attack on the b2-pawn

059 Lesson 3 The early exchange of the f4-bishop

076 Lesson 4 An interesting scheme with f2-f4

088 Lesson 5 Typical attacks in the London System

106 Lesson 6 Ideas with a quick h2-h4

120 Lesson 7 Play on the queenside

134 Lesson 8 Good knight vs bad bishop

152 Lesson 9 Typical queen manoeuvres in the London System

170 Lesson 10 Typical London System endgames

192 Lesson 11 Latest theoretical developments in the London System

219 Appendix Notes on the book Fighting the London System by Kiril Georgiev

223 Lesson 12 Exercises: tactics, theory and strategy

233 Solutions to the tactical exercises

244 Solutions to the exercises in theory and strategy

255 Index of main variations

263 Index of names

272 Bibliography