Chess Improvement

Chess Strategies: 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4!?

May 18th, 2009

Does anyone know of the theory on the following very brief opening moves?

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4

Doesn’t Bf4 in the “London System” occur after White plays Nf3? IMHO,
White’s not obligated to play Nf3 right off the bat. For example, why couldn’t White opt for 1.d4 2. Bf4 3.Nc3 and perhaps 4.Qd2, with a view toward 5. 0-0-0 or even 5.Bh6, in the event of a Kingside fianchetto by Black?
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Hi, I have played this once, I think it were against d5 instead, but the
2. Bf4 is I think called “the London system” because the idea is to play c3, e3, Nbd2, Ngf3, Bd3 and I think Qc2 and white is very solid. Drawish. Anyway I do not know much theory except maybe that …Qb6 is good at some time. But I do not know the theory.
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Yes, this normally heads toward a London System. The point of 2.Bf4 (vs 2.Nf3/3.Bf4) is that after say 3.e3, Black cannot play 3…Nh5 without possibly dropping the knight to 4.Qxh5. After White plays h3 or after Black has played …e6, then White can play Nf3 and save the Bf4 from the Nh5 via Bh2 or Bg5 attacking the Qd8. It is a very solid opening that works well vs players with Black who are not strong in the endgame.

Such players are likely to play strategically weak moves in the middlegame and wander into inferior endgames where White has good chances to win with few chances to lose. Hopefully Black will get bored and lose even quicker. I have enjoyed many such wins.

Any opening can become wild and tactical. There are a few such lines after 2.Bf4, but mostly White gets to choose them. There are a number of shorter kingside attacking wins for White. A key point is the control of e5 by the pawn, bishop and knight. The thematic weak point for White is b2, which the Bf4 abandoned.

Black usually does well to play …Qb6 at some point.
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The London system isn’t based on the knight going to f3. it’s based on the bishop going to f4 and the pawns landing on d4 e3 and c3. if you place the knight on c3 then your going into another formation.
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Thanks for your interpretation. So what I hear you saying is it’s the “pawn triangle” which characterizes the London system, along with the Bishop being developed ‘outside’ the triangle, specifically on f4, right? This “pawn triangle” also subsequently occurs in the Colle (1.d4 d4 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3) and Torre Attack (1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bg5), if I’m not mistaken. But, this begs a question. Where does White typically develop his Kingside Knight? Isn’t it usually on f3. In both of these other systems I mentioned, it usually goes there (f3). In fact, in the words of 2 authors of a book on the London system, they do seem to indicate that the King Knight’s placement on f3, early on, is a component of the London setup.

A Chessville review by Rick Kennedy of Sverre Johnsen and Vlatko Kovacevicâ’s “Win with the London System”
http://chessville.com/reviews/WinWithLondonSystem.htm states “Basically the London is a set of solid lines where after 1.d4 White quickly develops his dark-squared bishop to f4 and normally bolsters his center with c3 and e3 rather than expanding. Although it has the potential for a quick kingside attack, the White forces are generally flexible enough to engage in a battle anywhere on the board. Historically it developed into a system mainly from three variations 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 or 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 or 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4″

I mention this discussion of the King Knight’s placement (and, for that matter) the Queen Knight’s role because in my original query on this subject, I was interested in whether anyone was familiar with a White opening sequence involving 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4!? AND further, if anyone knew of the theory on a White setup (not necessarily called the London system) involving 3.Nc3 / 4.Qd2 and perhaps 5.0-0-0 or even 5.Bh6, where Black had fianchettoed on the Kingside, as in the KID or Pirc.

Yes, your observation is correct. This is, indeed “another formation” and it is this ‘other’ formation that I was also originally inquisitive about and am still waiting to hear about. Exactly what should Black be doing against such a plan/formation?

For example, if he steers the game into King’s Indian Defense channels, how does he avoid an early exchange of his ‘Indian’ Bishop save for playing …h6 ? (e.g 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Qd2 0-0 [here 4...h6 would stymie White's plan of Bh6] 5.Bh6 followed by 6.Bxg7.)

These are just a few thoughts I have on this matter and anything anyone could add to the discussion would be greatly appreciated.
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1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 was used by Scottish GM Jonathan Rowson to win the 2004 British Championship.

See “dealing with d4 deviations” by FM Jon Cox, Everyman Chess, 2005 for much good stuff about the Colle, London, Stonewall and other such stuff.

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