Thursday, January 14, 2010

Play the London System Announced

Everyman Chess has now officially announced 'Play the London System' by Cyrus Lakdawala. It is scheduled for September 2010 in the US and October 2010 in Europe, but Everyman hasn't exactly stuck rigorously to their publishing scheme the last year. At 192 pages it will be be of similar size as our 2005 work.

With this information I will take new contact with Gambit Publishing and suggest they publish an updated version of 'Win with the London System' early in 2011. There almost certainly will be an update but its extent is unclear (as is the timing).

11 comments:

Igor Lakovic said...

"In this book Cyrus Lakdawala presents a reliable repertoire for White with the London System. Using illustrative games and drawing upon his vast experience in the opening [...]"

According to my DB (Mega 2010) Lakdawala's "vast experience" consists of … two games!

Keep the good work Sverre! London and Guide to Ruy Lopez are excellent!

Sverre Johnsen said...

Dear Igor,

I am glad you like our books on the London and Zaitsev!

I had to check your information and was surprised to discover that you are right (I found a 5th game which with some justification can be classified a London). However, he is born in 1960 so his experience should not be underestimated.

I suspect he has been playing a lot of week-end tournaments in the US which have generally not made it into the databases.

It seems that he also is an eager ICC blitz player (Kawas has more than 40.000 blitz games) and the London is a very efficient blitz weapon.

So I expect a good work from mr. Lakdawala and am eager to see what he can add to London theory.

Anonymous said...

Everyman now says this book is scheduled for July!

Sverre Johnsen said...

Interesting.

This is actually in accordance with what Lakdawala has so far been estimating himself. However, surprisingly, now his (Kawas') ICC notes say September 28th!?

Anyway, Everyman's publishing dates have been extremely unreliable for the last couple of years. So I suppose we will just have to wait and see.

I also look forward to his book on the Veresov. It will be interesting to see his recommendation against 3...Nbd7 and I am always curious how eager Veresov authors are to double pawns with Bxf6.

Anonymous said...

Actually, Cyrus is an active player in the U.S. Southern California region. He plays at the San Diego Chess Club every week even though he is the highest-rated player. From what I've observed, every single game he has played at the San Diego Chess Club as White has been a London System.

Anonymous said...

You know, I read your book about the London and I liked it a lot. I even started to learn the opening! I play chess but don´t really like to study much, just enough to "get by". The London seemed a good opening, there´s not much written about it.

I don´t know if the book from Everyman will it be as good as yours!


By the way... do you know some players who only play the London as white?

And what do you think about other D pawn openings compared to the London? I mean Stonewall attack, Torre, Barry, 150, Colle Koltnovski... I think the London is better because you can play it more or less against anything.. but what´s your opinion?

Sverre Johnsen said...

Anonymous 1,

Well, this basically confirms my guess above.

Sverre Johnsen said...

Anonymous 2,

I am glad you liked the book. The London system is close to ideal for players with your attitude to opening study. There is a revised version on its way from the printers these days but for most London players the revisions will be of little consequence.

A comparison of the various d-pawn openings may be a fitting subject for a blog entry. I will see if I can get around to it in the near future. For now I will only agree that it probably is the most versatile member of the d-pawn family. (btw I don't consider 'the 150-Attack' a d-pawn attack)

Yes, I know a few people who 'always' play the London system as White. I don't think this is a particularly good idea for three reasons:

1) There are a few openings against which the London don't really work. Probably 1...g6 is the most important of these.

2) The London lacks somewhat in long-term prospects as White normally doesn't claim a lot of central space. So if White fails to capitalize on his active piece play he will frequently have to simplify in order not to be worse. This is mainly a problem against really strong opponents.

3) Playing only one opening - no matter how good it is - will handicap you in several ways as a chess player. I would advise you to add at least one other opening to your weaponry - preferably a quite different line.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your response! I´ll think about it.. what other opening would you recomend? With not much theory please!

You know? I´d love to see that new blog about the D pawn openings!I suppose it would help me and others like me :) I normaly play the Colle, but I switch to Torre or Stonewall (yes, I know it´s not very good with white, but somehow I like it). I play Stonewall as black and some French line I learned against 1.e4, and by reading your blog I learned that some Norwegian players like this "repertoire" too! I chose the Stonewall because after watching the Foxy openings DVD because it seemed to me that it hadn´t much theory, that it was more important to learn the ideas first. I´ll by your book on this one, too.

Again thanks. I write in a hurry because I´m at work now..

Hope too see the new Blog Soon!

Sverre Johnsen said...

I plan to start updating my blog more frequently - at least for a few months - and I expect the d-pawn comparison to be a relatively easy piece. So, yes, it should be up in the near future.

For the moment I play only blitz and with White I complement the London with the Veresov (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bg5) and 1.g3. Both are relatively low on theory and very different from each other as well as the London. Perhaps not the optimal combination but I normally get decent positions and there is no danger of boredom.

Anonymous said...

I just ordered "Win with the London System" before seeing your announcement of a new version early next year - bad timing, I suppose! I would appreciate it if you could explain further your comment "for most London players the revisions will be of little consequence."