We’ve a London special to enjoy this month, combining some critical lines, instructive games and intriguing sidelines. While Black does score the most brutal win, White also meisters well at times, not least in two largely positional battles from the Reykjavik Open.

The London: 2...c5 3 e3 Nd5 [A45]

After 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bf4 c5 the natural London response is, of course, 3 e3 when 3...Nd5!? is an unexpected counter:

After 4 Bg3 White should not be unhappy though: 4...Qb6 5 c4! still seems quite decent and after 4...cxd4 simply 5 exd4 cannot be bad. 5 Qxd4!? was somewhat more ambitious in Degtariev, E - Teclaf, P, where Black was surely OK before allowing White to emerge with an early clear advantage.

The London: 2...c5 3 e3 Qb6 [A45]

The critical move after 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bf4 c5 3 e3 is, of course, 3...Qb6 when 4 Na3 Qxb2 5 Nb5 may lead to a common early repetition - or it may not! In any case, the London player needs to know how to counter 5...cxd4? 6 exd4 when the most dangerous move is 6...e5!?:

Would you know to go 7 Bd2! and so claim a big advantage as White? We’ll examine things and also see what to avoid in Fajdetic, H - Graif, W.

The London: 2...c5 3 d5 b5 [A45]

White often, of course, meets 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bf4 c5 with 3 dxc5 or 3 d5. The latter can quickly lead to quite an unbalanced and intriguing position after 3...b5!? 4 e4!? Nxe4 5 Qf3:

The critical move here is 5...Qa5+ when White should go 6 c3, not 6 Nd2?, despite the fact that it led to something of a massacre in Carrizo, L - Hutt, A.

The London: 2...e6 3 Nf3 c5 4 e3 Qb6 5 Nc3 [A46]

After 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 Bf4 c5 4 e3 Qb6 White has a couple of especially tempting options, 5 Na3 and 5 Nc3. The latter was seen in Mishra, A - Raja, H, which was a relatively short draw, if one full of intrigue, beginning with 5...Nh5?:

What should White play here? Mishra took on b8, but 6 Be5! was the route to a clear advantage, intending Nd2-c4, as well as Nb5.

The London: 2...g6 3 Bf4 Bg7 4 e3 d6 5 h3 0-0 6 c3 Nfd7 [A48]

Meeting 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bf4 g6 3 e3 Bg7 4 Nf3 d6 with 5 c3 feels a little committal to me, but, of course, it cannot be bad and 5...0-0 6 h3 Nfd7 7 Be2 e5 8 Bh2 Nc6 9 0-0 remains something of a tabiya:

We’ll touch on four options for Black, including 9...Kh8 10 b4 a6 11 a4 f5 when 12 Nbd2?! e4 already left White on the back foot in Savchenko, B - Khubukshanov, E, which became quite the slugfest and also featured more than one somewhat unexpected move.

The London: 2...Nf6 3 Nf3 c5 4 e3 Nc6 5 Nbd2 Qb6 [D02]

1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 Bf4 c5 4 e3 Nc6 5 Nbd2 Qb6 remains a fairly critical line, as does the subsequent 6 dxc5 Qxb2 7 Rb1 Qc3 8 Bb5 e6 (8...g6!? is an important alternative) 9 0-0:

Here Black really needs to remember 9...Be7! to avoid being worse. Instead, 9...Bd7?! 10 Bd3 saw White quickly taking control, control which he retained throughout an instructive, if fairly one-sided victory in Cornette, M - Bombek, P.

The London: 2...Nf6 3 Nf3 e6 4 e3 Bd6 [D02]

After 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 Bf4 d5 4 e3 Bd6 provoking an exchange on f4 with 5 Bd3!? is a policy likely to only become more popular after Keymer-Van Foreest from Wijk, as we considered last month. Black doesn’t have to exchange and 5...0-0 is an important alternative when I recently tried 6 0-0 against Mr TWIC, Mark Crowther. I wasn’t so keen on 6 Nbd2 due only now to 6...Bxf4 7 exf4 b6:

Here 8 Qe2 c5 9 c3 a5! forced through the exchange of bishops and saw Black equalize in Gupta, A - Tamas, C.A., which quickly became quite a complex manoeuvring battle.

Will we have more Londons or any games from the Candidates to enjoy next time? Until then, Richard