This Opening Got Me to 1500

Love it or hate it, the London has been my tried-and-true opening since I started playing chess two years ago. In this video, I’m using four of my own London games as a case study for understanding this opening and other insights as I climbed from 800-1500 in Chess.com rapid games.

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CHAPTERS:

00:00 – Intro
00:41 – Game 1 (788)
08:00 – Game 2 (960)
11:54 – Game 3 (1270)
14:46 – Game 4 (1530)
18:24 – Thanks for watching

Original outro music by Nela Ruiz

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130 Comments

  1. (New subscriber)-I enjoyed your video, it really was well explained-Ihope to see more.

  2. London system is my blitz opening. I use Bird as my long game opening.

  3. london system is a disgusting opening. You should be ashamed for playing it

  4. What about playing black, what opening you used to play

  5. Freid Leming, Worlds Rootin'est Tootin'est Milkman says:

    Newb question: why retain the bishop at 5:23 instead of the knight?

  6. Just keep on vlogging idol
    New subs from Bunga Cabucgayan Biliran Philippines
    Where are you located in maam

  7. Thanks Kamryn. Your explanations are very helpful 👍

  8. What you play the London and proud of yourself

  9. how do you find 900-1200s who are so bad? All my opponents at that level are so good 😭

  10. can you please do a video on defending the london system or any things you feel strong about playing black?

  11. Thanks so much. Just played this for the first time at ~900 and it's the change I've been needing. Definitely going to learn a lot from using a real opening lol, cheers.

  12. No lie. That third game got me nervous with the opening aggression and made me realise that this happens a lot in my own games and I probably just need to relax a bit more. Because when I feel threatened like that I typically make bad decisions!

  13. Trael's TechnologyTM Al Sãn Tua Fr̃i Sun El says:

    This got me from losing 5 times in a row to drawing, stalemate, then winning consistently now. Its even worse because I already know quite a few openings so im gonna reclaim my 550 elo 😁

  14. You explain chess tactics better than anyone I’ve watched.

  15. Good job! I got to 1900 on lichess with the London System. 😃👏♟

  16. Thank you so much. Your Videos make the Most Sense for me. It s so clear

  17. Really good video, Tx, London is my favorite opening;)

  18. Do you have a opening set up with the black pieces?

  19. Great video and explanations. I really like the London. I'm around 800, and the more I play chess, the more I realize why it's so good. The knight and dark square bishop are so powerful at controlling the e5 square. (with added benefit of the dark square bishop easily moving to g5 protected by the knight if there's an opportunity to attack the queen). The pyramid pawn structure is great and opens up the queen and light square bishop to the queen side, and they can also easily line up on the a4 diagonal against the king.

  20. The presentation is very clear and so interesting to see a strong player looking back and critiquing their games. I found this educational and inspirational. Thanks for sharing.

  21. Noway the last game was a 10 minutes game, there are so many moves omg

  22. 7:49 When you run to G4 with the King, Queen goes to H3, King has to take, then Queen to H2 and then the other guy looses its Queen.

  23. I have a problem with the opening move d4. I'm not sure how you would proceed when black defends with a pawn to e5?

  24. Actually, when they move Nc6, you can punish by switching to the Jobova, going Nc3, followed by Nb5 threating a nasty fork at c7. Doesn't always work, but when it does, it's great.

  25. thanks for the really clear presentation, not gonna lie this actually taught me more, more quickly, than many of the most popular chess tutors. you have my sub 🙂

  26. (game 1) I have seen a YouTuber once who, instead of moving back the bishop from f4 to g3 when attacking by the black's dark bishop, you just leave it there and move your pawn to c3, allowing your opponent to take your bishop and then recapture with your pawn on e3.
    It gives you two pawns that will protect your knight ready to jump on e5.
    If your opponent takes your knight with their knight, then now you have a nice center control and also repairing your pawn structure.
    It seems like the engine likes that move better than retreating with your bishop.
    But seems like it's working well for you the way you do it ^^

  27. I'm glad you mentioned not moving the same piece twice in the opening. This is how I was taught to play many years ago and you are about the only chess channel that I've seen that emphasizes this rule. This fits into the whole idea of tempos, which is another bullet point for beginners. I knew nothing about these concepts when learning the game back in grade school but when I got to high school I had an English teacher who was a 1700 (which was a big deal back then) and he taught me quite a bit about these fundamentals. So thanks for this.

  28. I'm eating your London system for breakfast. What do you say we take a match against each other?😎

  29. Love your honesty! You're a wonderful chess instructor and player! THANK YOU!!😇

  30. I watched so many videos about London system and yours is absolutely the best! Thanks a lot!

  31. Great video, appreciate your insight and personal critique.

  32. Loved your video! very pedagogic, I am stuck in 900 elo, I have good tactics, but dont study any opening so I always improvise and lose advantage in the first movements

  33. I also used the London to carry me to 1500. I played probably 95% of my games as white using the london. I started to realize that my winning percentage was higher as black and it made me realize that I need to improve something, proportionately. I didn't look at any E4 openings in particular, but I just started playing. My rating dropped momentarily, but it quickly bounced back and improved past where I was initially. RIP London 🙏

  34. Why not try a game between the London system for white and the hippopotamus defense system for black? I have never played the London system. I only play the hippopotamus but have found many other systems not to my liking. I am only an intermediate player but the hippopotamus defense system is sold as the universal system for both black or white.

  35. Stream and merch drop THIS SATURDAY, JUNE 24 at 8 PM Central/6 PM Pacific on my Twitch channel (link in description)! Join for a merch discount code. I’ll be chatting, doing puzzles, and playing some blitz. Bring all the good vibes 💕

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