The Anti-London Game Every Chess Player Should Know

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In this video, I shared one of my favorite games in which the London Opening gets destroyed. The game features a positional masterpiece played between Grandmasters Vladimir Petkov and Momchil Nikolov. Analyze the game here: lichess.org/z5...
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[@NotQuiteFirst]

Lol having Alexa introduce the sponsorship was perfect, well played

[@mba4677]

As smooth as his voice

[@happydog4095]

It was the strongest move in this position

[@Yea___]

This 11 month old thread made me happy

[@ike45mc]

Bravo perfect opening.

[@hozhang1826]

Audible: gave sponsorship Eric Rosen: *proceeds to "oh that's right" and casually opens the audible tab*

[@LureThosePixels]

Would we have it any other way from him "Oh no my sponsorship"

[@brk9783]

Alternative Title: Eric Rosen is revealing his biggest fear.

[@revimfadli4666]

Wouldn't that be anti-Stafford or anti-Ponziani?

[@Swordbringer]

@BURAK ULUER 😂😂

[@maxkho00]

@@Swordbringer That's a direct quote by Eric Rosen btw

[@maxkho00]

@@brk9783 I'm just saying for those who don't

[@N0w3Y343]

@BURAK ULUER forgot bongcloud

[@JamesRuga]

Why doesn't Eric ever commentate on main platforms?? His voice is so soothing

[@RaffaelSilvado]

Such a positive vibe too

[@nishiharach.]

Because main platforms don't exactly look for soothing-voice commentators but exciting commentators that would hype the viewers and keep them engaged.

[@christoporusnicholas2511]

In my opinion he is much better as a teacher than a commentator

[@garrettmarshall7664]

@@nishiharach. he would be perfect for the PGA tour

[@thoop6795]

He has the same vibe as one of those geckos 🦎

[@revimfadli4666]

"it's probably one of the saddest Ke2" Not as sad as Agadmator when seeing the Double Bongcloud, perhaps

[@kekwe3088]

I hope agad is over it

[@thegorn]

Psychologists say he might never recover

[@ಭಾರತೀಯ_ನಾಗರಿಕ]

I think I missed it... Can anyone tell the reference??

[@Finnyke]

@@ಭಾರತೀಯ_ನಾಗರಿಕ Agad was kinda disappointed in Carlsen-Nakamura double bongcloud game as he was looking forward to seeing their matchup

[@jessuh7500]

@@Finnyke they were gonna draw anyway

[@lucagerza7372]

I can already see levy’s title: “Beating Eric Rosen’s anti London system”

[@rysi0k110]

Yes

[@g73hc3gsv3i]

Not really, coz this doesn't involve any sorts of nasty tactic or cheap tricks rather it has a long term strategical idea on exploiting the b2 weakness. There are ways to avoid the line but this weakness is always present in the London.

[@Abhishek-150]

This isn't a trick opening against London which you can gambit in bullet and blitz games.. This is a proper anti-london setup with long term strategical planes which you can use in your classic games as well. Levy making video about this opening is like he's making video on how to beat Nimzo- Indian or some other great opening..

[@realimsocrazy]

I usually skip through sponsors on people’s vids but i just couldn’t do it on this one, Eric deserves it so I’ll watch every bit

[@peep2268]

saaaame, he convinced me to pick up this book too

[@Corejanjan]

Ikr

[@apricot8301]

Truuee

[@DavidfromMichigan]

Lol. Me too. Honesty and sincere. Love this guy.

[@ayushtiwari8190]

Or maybe u don't value time

[@captainsnake8515]

That was one of the most genuine sponsorships ever. You could totally tell that Eric would actually recommend audible even without the sponsorship.

[@kaybrera]

orrr you could tell audible offered a lotttt of money lol. either way congrats to Eric!!

[@captainsnake8515]

@@kaybrera I mean if he didn’t actually use audible like he said, he just committed a federal crime, so I doubt he or audible would risk it

[@murkkz1679]

That sponser section was smooth xD

[@skyray6289]

Never watched the sponser section until now

[@ImEverythingYouCrave]

you can hear how scripted it is lmao

[@peep2268]

@@ImEverythingYouCrave they're supposed to be lmao

[@randynguyen997]

Chris Madison you don't know how sponsors work do you?

[@blah8576]

@@randynguyen997 although all sponsorships are scripted you want it to sound genuine and not like your reading from a piece of paper, so it seems like you actually like the product

[@zjafo3442]

Welp back to playing e4 until people forget this video

[@Adventurer32]

misread this as eu4 and was really confused because I had just left a game of it

[@doraorak]

@@Adventurer32 eu4 probably is a better option lol

[@lordofcastamere9376]

You should not play London System in the first place. Go for queens gambit or an Indian game

[@xavierazad]

@@lordofcastamere9376 Why?

[@lordofcastamere9376]

@@xavierazad do you like it when about 50% of your games are the same? It's always the same pawn structure with seldom a different pawn structure. Everytime the same, such that you don't learn anything about other pawn structures

[@feiny9361]

I’m so proud of myself I actually found pawn to be b4. Lol nobody cares I’m just happy and wanted to express that happiness.

[@samarthtripathi8397]

I found it too. My dad started asking me why I was yelling "before" at the phone.

[@skysphr]

It's funny because he talks more about the book than Audible.

[@theexaminer4906]

That's something Audible actively encourages content creators to do, most of their ads are like this

[@Kugelschrei]

@@NeoCipher790 ... which is what they want. If you are into reading more than audiobooks, you wont use their service anyways. If you arent into reading, then you need an incentive to use their service, which is a good book recomendation. So now you are interested in that book and the easiest way to consume it is thorough audible, since you are lazy and dont want to read anyways. Marketing this way makes a ton of sense

[@Chooopy]

@@NeoCipher790 Yeah...he's selling the book. Which in turn gets people to download audible so they can listen to the book. Sounds like it's exactly what they would want.

[@thisbevibhor]

Let's go, baby. Here's to the first sponsor, I just saw your short clip of one viewer, you've come a long way, you should be proud.

[@popcornic1038]

Tbh first time i really watched sponsorship and enjoyed it

[@royalredbird9717]

One thing to remember: Whenever thr the centre is closed, it's not necessary for you to castle, because your king would be completely safe in the centre.

[@g73hc3gsv3i]

This is exactly the Queenless endgame I go for against the London since I'm very familiar with it and easy to create a queenside passed pawn.

[@BakedPretzel]

This is the most sincere audible sponsored book recommendation I've seen yet, might actually give it a read

[@Kugelschrei]

Same here

[@jonathonjubb6626]

I must be getting used to ER, I saw the connect five before he mentioned it! Brilliant low-key analysis, love it...

[@Miss_Lexisaurus]

I'm learning the London as my first opening so this was really helpful and also I spotted 2 of the "find the move" things without pausing and I'm very proud of myself!

[@Seph.ackerman]

'Beat the Eric Rosen Anti London system' - incoming

[@eddieabney2497]

I appreciate you breaking down games. I hope you do more of this in the future. I always find your commentary insightful and enjoy hearing your opinions on their game play. Thank you

[@nosaboyyt]

welp just got second place using london in a chess club and ik for a fact people there follow you religiously so ig I'm playing e4

[@johnvuillemot4805]

Be a man. Play the bird. That doesn't make sense. But do it anyway

[@strikercool911]

D4 GANG TO LIFE DUDE

[@ODR96]

Play the crab opening for some wild games

[@nosaboyyt]

yo idk if you guys are joking or not but imma try both of em tomorrow fr

[@moses4203]

@@nosaboyyt whats your rating

[@MelbourneChessCoach]

Hey Eric, this is a seriously good video. I love when you analyse games like this! And congratulations on the sponsorship, what a great company to support!

[@TrishitDas]

Lol levy ( Gothamchess )is going to do this anti anti London system 😂😂 Edit : damn !! 100 likes !! 😳😳

[@freetheorcas8509]

Still waiting for anti-d5 video, the confusing part is when opponents play well ;P

[@randynguyen997]

Agadmator did a London video and an anti London video. Levy did an anti anti London system on agadmators video so uh he kinda already did that but if you wanna talk about Eric Rosen then sure?

[@TrishitDas]

@@randynguyen997 yeah I know that , now it's time for rosen's anti anti London system

[@soyever8619]

When he said "b4, absolute brilliant move" I felt so good with myself for seeing it before

[@freetheorcas8509]

I'm a beginner but I've always preferred Queen's gambit and Indian game as d4 openings because there's more diversity and variations to explore from both sides. I like the Meran Semi-slav, Botvinnik Semi-slav, Cambridge Springs, Tarrasch QGD, Tartakower QGD, Samisch King's Indian, Averbakh King's Indian, Russian Grunfeld, Nimzo-Indian, Queen's-Indian, Taimanov attack Benoni, Nescafe-frappe attack Benko, etc. There are so many ways to play to only play 1 system. That's what I feel really passionate about in chess and why I got hooked on the game. The london system is simple to learn and a fairly solid opening, but I think beginners who learn only the london system don't learn to play all these other openings - which is pretty restrictive. It has plenty of drawbacks as well.

[@niboj4838]

When Eric doesn't acknowledge the connect 4 :(

[@1.4142]

he said connect 5

[@thegorn]

He also salivated at the thought of a potential connect 6

[@settingsx]

When I myself found the key move to undermine whites position by playing b4 I’d really wanna give props to GothamChess always referring to most forcing moves like checks, captures, attacks. That felt so good to be right :)

[@LeventK]

Agadmator: "Stay tuned! :)"

[@peep2268]

Sammy the chess boy misses you levent

[@lazprayogha]

11:50 no, not "quadruple fork". You know what the correct name is, Eric.

[@kharkovluzhin8333]

Wooden shield?

[@henrik19acmilan]

Fourk?

[@dennystreet2454]

I am a beginner at chess. 1 month of learning and my mind is blowing up. How many traps, tricks at openings, defenses you have to remember. Oh my goooooooooood!

[@iMarc89]

What's interesting is that literally two weeks before this video, I started playing an early c5 against the London to get the reversed QGD setup. My reasoning was that if white is going to play solidly but fairly passively, this setup gives decent attacking chances. Without seeing the video, I literally played this game, with Bf5 and Qb6, even including the Knight manoeuvre to attack the weak b2 pawn. After the light squared bishop trade and the defense of the pawn, however, I didn't play b4 over the board. I considered it but eventually didn't see the advantage because I saw the line with the white rook on the b file after I won the pawn and it didn't look too great to me. Sure, I liked my extra pawn but I preferred White's activity. In the end, I developed my bishop and castled, white started an attack on the king's side, I defended successfully and the game ended in a draw.

[@H223Tommy]

Love hearing a shout out to Josh Waitzkin's Art of Learning. Such a great book!

[@Squashmalio]

Nikolov is a great player and I love his family, his mom is very chill

[@neilmacdonald6637]

Very instructive, Eric! Was happy to discover the Ke7-Ka4 idea at the prompt!

[@jasonbraun3149]

Good video showing how to win as black after the queens are traded. I got caught in this line as white a few times before I discovered that white has 7) Nh4! instead of 7) Qb3? Once the black bishop is kicked off that diagonal (or traded on g6), white has the normal Qb3 with a slightly better game.

[@gm2407]

Im happy I saw the pawn push and piece sacrifice. Only the knight maneauver I didnt consider.

[@himedesaldo1285]

I knew the pawn move and the tactic behind it, i feel sooo like a gm right now😂

[@coolguy9616]

Why do I feel inclined to watch Eric’s sponsorship ad

[@ereejim]

I loved that intro to the sponsorship Eric, nicely done!

[@bub2901]

Thats why I always go Qb3 myself after Bf5/Bg5. Best response from black is in most cases offering his own Queen if he can

[@justalecks1106]

At first I skipped the sponsorship part of the video, then I watched the video, then I saw the comments and was convinced to go back and watch the sponsor part, making it the first sponsorship part of a video I have ever watched. I have either been trapped by a “oh no my queen” or Eric REALLY deserved it

[@TheMg49]

White's first mistake was a3. Better was Bishop to e2, then castle kingside. I'm not consulting an engine here. Just my initial humble opinion. White played too defensively. Again, just imho. Black's queenside is the weaker of the two, that is until White played a3, traded off the white-squared bishops, and moved Rook to c1. I'm not convinced that this is any sort of refutation of the London. White just played too slow and defensively. Black's white-squared Bishop is of little help on the queenside once it's tucked away on h2. White wasted time trading the bishops that could have been used to attack Black's queenside. Comments and corrections are most welcomed. Oh, and yeah, thanks to Eric Rosen. I like this channel a lot. Thumbs up and subscribed.

[@Jealod24]

At 3:00... Most lower rated players would want to play e6 before c5 to open up their dark squared bishop to protect the eventual pawn move to c5. And yea, white in this game didn’t take the c5 pawn with his d4 pawn, I think any lower rated player looks at that and says “anyone I play will take that pawn on c5 immediately”... then you have to deal with that pawn, your queen can’t come out to b6, etc... and it’s not a good move for white to take that pawn, as the tension and control from d4 is better than moving too far forward on c5, but still... lower rated players are going to face that capture.

[@GaryTheGray]

This is the approach I've been using as a defense for quite a while. It just feels right for all the reasons you mentioned. Great commentary and analysis.

[@EricGray1936]

Love the recap at the end, bringing it all together

[@jackhoulahan7148]

the transition to ad from into was amazing. i love it.

[@IvanWongHongKong]

hahahaha i had this exact theme in my own game and i missed b4 😭😭😭 the key to white surviving is not playing Bc2 immediately, castling first and try to survive a worse but not losing position

[@kyrill19]

This great Eric, as always. Awesome explaining and great video. I didn't expect bishop sacrifice but awesome. Your so soothing and such a good teacher.

[@sasubpar]

Watched this video on a plane yesterday, had the black pieces today against the London and implemented this idea. Worked perfectly!

[@tandumdrum91]

Loved how Black won Connect 5 :) Eric is too funny

[@TheSusBus64]

I’m watching this to know how to counter the London counter

[@SpiralSine6]

Hell yeah, London’s my go-to and I need to know how to reinforce it.

[@cftpafan]

@@SpiralSine6 Best way to counter this imo is to not play c3 so you can leave open the possibility of Nc3 when the queen comes out, and instead play 4. Nf3 and then take the c5 pawn on your next turn.

[@vimmiduggal6658]

@@cftpafan black can trade in their pawn and your central pawn is gone. Attacking h7 is also more tough. I think C3 is not where it goes south

[@thestockfishgirl2681]

My respects to IM Rosen. His teachings are quite good if we consider that he is just a human being. He is not at my same level in chess (3600 rated), but he is very clear to teach mere mortals.

[@amirrezamosadegh117]

I love this kind of videos. Your explanation is so good! We definitely need more of these...

[@whatsinaname7289]

How nice of you to show how to beat your favorite opening!

[@sebastiandierks7919]

I'm a London player myself. I'm usually happy when black closes it up with c4, usually to hit the bishop on d3. I just retreat the bishop to either c2 or e2 and play b3 to undermine blacks central structure. Usually black plays b5 to protect c4 and I play a4. There's a lot of pawn tension and I really get this structure quite often, basically every time black plays c4 it's a very natural sequence. Usually I'm happy with this structure because black often takes either on a4 or on b3 and I end up destroying black's center and often even winning a pawn. However, lately I often face b4!, instead of taking one of my pawns, which very much resembles this game. It's so much tension, with white pawns on b3 and c3 and black pawns on b4 and c4. Often I end up losing the game on the queen side. I haven't really figured out how to play against b4. Anyway, a queen side pawnstorm from black including b4 seems to be a decent anti-London concept, even if you don't create a backward pawn on b2 and a pin to the a1 square like white did in this game.

[@kkartha]

Excellent Analysis & Game ! Thank you!!

[@SumNutOnU2b]

I happened to stumble across Eric's LiChess study for this game last night. Probably right after the video was filmed. So, I missed out on the "pause the video" moments because I've already analyzed the game. But on the other hand I've got some extra insight into where white went wrong. According to stockfish White's Rc1 was the first mistake, although I'm not sure if I agree. The engine suggests h4 instead, but honestly many of the possible lines that follow are very similar to the actual game so it's not really a big improvement. Where white _really_ went wrong was when he castled. After black plays b4 white had to play Nb1. It's an "only move" situation. White is still on the defensive and slightly inferior, but everything holds unless somebody blunders later

[@RyanEmmett]

Really like this educational style of video, and appreciate the extra work that went into it. Thanks Eric.

[@samwrihiro]

I saw the move b4 after Bc2 in the first study position but i assumed white would castle first to not allow that move. How would play continue after 1... Nd7 2. Bd1 Nb3 3. O-O. All I could find was 3... Na4 4. Bxa4 bxa4 with the idea to to go Ra6-b6 attacking b2 again, but white can now defend with the rook so its not so clear how black continues

[@stevenboelke6661]

I think Qb3 was a mistake for white. As a London player, delaying Nd2 and playing b3 in response to Qb6 has been the most effective way to protect that pawn and also prevent black from playing c4.

[@calbarosbarbitos8752]

Was able to find the b4 pawn push after being told there was a tactical move but not sure I would ever think to play it in my game.

[@Red-do4ws]

As a not very good player in chess, this is very educational and entertaining. Thank you and keep up the good work!

[@haveachocobar]

Thank you for sharing this game, it was very enlightening. Love your videos, Eric!

[@sunacchi3640]

17:02 the best play here is pawn to c1 promoting to queen white takes it with rook at b1 you take it with knight he then he either take the knight or defend his last rook

[@seanoreilly5729]

Awesome video Eric! I hope this style has a playlist. I would have checked that before writing this comment, but I'd be too lazy at that point to rewrite it.

[@awilly4849]

Eric: let’s talk about the audible sponsorship Me: this is the perfect time to wipe my ass

[@jaymoney5090]

You got sponsored by Audible!! You're officially a big KZbinr now!

[@matthewwysocki5019]

Excellent review. I play the London so this is instructive and insightfully so. Thanks!

[@mikestubbs1708]

Hmmm...talk about end-game pawn power! All black's pawns remain! Not often one sees that happening - but it's very nice indeed! Super game!

[@gabreldj]

Incredible video Eric! This was a very instructive presentation of a very great game

[@The_Kirk_Lazarus]

I figured this was coming. Not one month's time of buying your tactics course I see this. 😄

[@mateocandelaria9870]

What a killer game. This stuff is why I love chess

[@uwerlmi6120]

CONGRATS ON THE SPONSOOOOOOOR 🎊 🎉 🎊 🎉 🎊 🎉 🎊 👏 👏

[@wrmcphee]

Excellent game review! Thank you!

[@jeremyyonzon5971]

thanks for your videos! i enjoy watching your games/videos

[@Jamp33]

Best audible ad ever haha

[@diosn6909]

This is a nice setup for Black. Sth to be mentioned is that White's main move is 6.Qb3 and not 6.Ngf3 to avoid this variation for Black. Thx for the video!

[@JonCraigHopkins]

Very instructional. Excellent analysis and commentary. Thanks!

[@alexkenny6276]

Eric's voice is soooooo relaxing. I could listen for hours

[@Savukala]

White's Nd2 comes so early that he/she has no chance of trading of the strong bishop with the support of the queen.

[@DevTNT]

You're the only person that made me listen to an audible sponsorship

[@thegorn]

Eric becoming like Linus Tech Tips with the sponsorships

[@randynguyen997]

Hey Eric, I have been watching you for some months now and I went from making a chess account with 800 elo and now have about 1700 elo. Totally haven't been analyzing for 3 hours a day praying to get better. From watching you I have been noticing threats, traps, pins, and fork threats. I wish I could support you more but I'm only a kid.

[@MechaShiva1986]

I rarely comment and there's so many already but I have to thank you for this video. I love your old lectures. This is just what I wanted.

[@iamnotuta2658]

i realized the most of the game, black never sacrifice a single pawn.

[@geethuvarghese9103]

Wow.. Bishop sac was the turning point. N then the game was Awsome, Thxx Eric..

[@Holphana]

audible is great! thanks for having integrity :)

[@magnuswinter3040]

I have a Question: Why exactly did White play a3 on move on move 9 rather than developing first with Be2 and 0-0. Was that necessary for some reason?

[@deepg6501]

To avoid these issues white has the option to delay the move Nf3 till black commits e6 which is an idea I saw in a GingerGM London video

[@darkhorse2reign]

Anti- London play to a guy at my level is almost like an AI playing chess. If you're the London Player you think "I'm so solid there's nothing my opponent can do." Then that surprising knight and pawn and bishop attack what seemed to be an impenetrable defense. White can only say "ugh".

[@ElbowFeverFurman]

Got the audible sponsorship, congratulations 👏

[@NoahPrentice]

yay for Eric getting sponsored!!!!!

[@Ateafe]

11.57 why didnt you make the move: KnA4. Thats winning in my eyes.

[@dukeoversteer]

Hi Eric. I'm starting to slowly climb the ladder around 800 blitz and I'm constantly getting smashed by the London. This gives me hope :) All the best from Australia.

[@BGChess]

Two GM from my county Bulgaria.Feel proud.

[@hellstormangel]

Anti-London Anime Arc: Agadamtor enters Levy enters Rosen enters ....

[@Chunda8]

It's kind of disappointing that everyone is out to crush the London. The shame is that the intentions and ideas behind the London are good. It was meant as a tool for beginners and maybe early intermediate players to almost be guaranteed to reach a middlegame in good principle without getting wrecked early by triicks, gambits, traps, wayward queens, etc.. So yeah, there are plenty of other options for White and you can't just play your first moves on autopilot without paying attention to what Black is doing. It seemed to be promising when I used it to beat the 1000-1400 bots. Better for White for beginners is probably the Italian, the Bishop's, Two Knights, the Stonewall, maybe the KIA. I'm kind of leery of the Scotch. The Caro-Kann seems cool, but I feel like I need to learn lots of lines for pretty far out- so that is a project. The Stonewall seemed to have some interesting attacking options and is also good for crushing bots. Some other White systems are very similar to the London, but again, no autopilot.

[@davidleblanc2239]

Thank you so much, we need more and more of this stuff

[@user-st6to8kh7e]

Congrats on the sponsorship!