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London System (1.d4 d5 2.Bf4)
How do London System games actually end? Across 18,987 Lichess games that reached the position after 1.d4 d5 2.Bf4, White won 51.3%, 5.0% were drawn and Black won 43.8%. Below: the main line move by move, the most played continuations (the favorite is 2...Nf6), the rating effect and the opening's history.
The main line, move by move
| Move | Position name | Games | White | Draws | Black |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.d4 | Queen's Pawn Game | 697,933 | 50.4% | 4.7% | 44.9% |
| 1...d5 | Queen's Pawn Game | 292,120 | 52.6% | 4.8% | 42.5% |
| 2.Bf4 | Queen's Pawn Game: Accelerated London System | 18,987 | 51.3% | 5.0% | 43.8% |
| 2...Nf6 | - | 5,584 | 49.1% | 5.2% | 45.7% |
| 3.e3 | - | 2,870 | 52.0% | 4.9% | 43.1% |
| 3...e6 | - | 947 | 52.9% | 4.2% | 42.9% |
The 5 most common continuations (for Black)
| Move | Variation | Games | White | Draws | Black |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2...Nf6 | - | 5,584 | 49.1% | 5.2% | 45.7% |
| 2...e6 | - | 4,000 | 51.4% | 5.0% | 43.7% |
| 2...Nc6 | - | 3,426 | 56.0% | 4.5% | 39.6% |
| 2...Bf5 | - | 2,324 | 50.8% | 5.0% | 44.2% |
| 2...c6 | - | 1,528 | 47.5% | 5.2% | 47.3% |
How rating changes the same position
| Rating band (average of the pair) | Games | White | Draws | Black |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1600-1799 | 13,085 | 51.7% | 4.4% | 44.0% |
| 2200-2499 | 138 | 55.1% | 4.3% | 40.6% |
The story of the opening
The London System took its name from the London tournament of 1922, where the d4 plus Bf4 setup emerged as a practical antidote to the new Indian defenses. For nearly a century it carried the reputation of an ambitionless opening, the choice of players who refused to study. The 21st century flipped that verdict upside down.
First Gata Kamsky, then Magnus Carlsen proved the scheme survives elite chess, and the online era did the rest: since White executes essentially the same plan against any reply, the London became the most recommended system for improving players and one of the most played queen's pawn setups on Lichess. The modern criticism is the opposite of the old one: not that the London is weak, but that it shows up far too often.
Compare it with every other opening in the opening statistics archive, or visit its neighbors: English Opening and Réti Opening. Nerd aside: chess notation is a 64 square code, cousin to the ones living next door, like binary and Morse.
Source: the Lichess open game database (database.lichess.org, CC0 data), months 2014-06, 2015-01, 2016-01, snapshot of 2026-07-09: blitz, rapid and classical games with the players' average rating between 1600 and 2199, aggregated by move sequence. Variation names and ECO codes: lichess-org/chess-openings (CC0).
Last updated: · Methodology and sources