The London System's pitch is simple: the same solid setup against almost anything Black does, built around d4, Bf4, e3, and a pawn triangle that nothing short of dynamite breaks open. You spend your opening moves on a known plan instead of a memory test.
The trade-off is honesty: the London doesn't fight for an advantage as hard as the Queen's Gambit does. What it buys you is a middlegame you've seen a hundred times while your opponent is on their own. For an improving player, that familiarity is worth more than half a pawn of theory.
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Move 1 of 14
d4
Take the center from the queenside. Unlike e4, this pawn arrives already defended by your queen.
Common deviations