By Anyone4Chess

The long answer is: I will play the London System sometimes because I risk nothing and gain everything. In my opinion it is the perfect opening to teach students the fundamentals of the game while allowing them to discover through their own games that getting in a early c4 is of great value, leading them into a more aggressive opening. This discovery is made with understanding rather than just being told to make these types of moves. Some coaches use different openings to achieve the same goal however, the result is the same.

Playing this type of opening allows me a chance to get a feel for the player's strengths and weaknesses, does the player like tactics and does he or she know how to play a positional game (i.e. pawns). The London System is not suited to someone who wants to obtain and keep the opening advantage; it is more of a 'wait and see' opening; however, if you give me the advantage in the opening I will gratefully accept it. The opening allows you to get to a middle game without too much thought, where you can start your heavy thinking. Think of this opening as a tool to use when you are playing someone you do not know, and you want to gather information about his or her playing abilities.

To be fair, Capablanca, Reti, Alekhine, Kamsky, Tony Miles and Kasparov played this opening in their careers, so it can not be all bad!