The Classical London System for White – Part 1 + PGN June 29, 2026

The Classical London System for White – Part 1: Posing the Problems Instead of Solving Them

For decades the London System has carried a reputation for being quiet, safe, and a touch boring — a system you reach for when you want a calm game rather than a fight.

GM Alexey Dreev opens this course by dismantling that idea from forty years of personal experience. The London, he argues, is far more unpleasant to face than its tame image suggests.

Black has many setups that equalize on paper, yet in nearly all of them he is left untangling small, irritating practical problems move after move. That gap between reputation and reality is the thread running through Part 1, and the goal is stated plainly: by the end, you are the one posing the problems.

What sets this course apart

The course is built around the classical defenses — the structures Black has trusted for generations — and answers them with precise move-order handling rather than generic plans. Two finesses set the tone.

After 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 Nc6, Dreev recommends 5.Nbd2! — a quiet but important order that sidesteps Black’s main equalizing resource, the …Qb6 hit on b2 that follows the natural 5.c3.

And once the main tabiya arrives after 5…e6 6.c3 Bd6 7.Bg3 O-O 8.Bd3, the course refuses to settle for slow maneuvering. The recommended 9.e4! fights directly for the initiative — the clearest statement that this London is a fighting weapon, not a way to avoid one.

The authors and their reasoning

Dreev brings a rare kind of authority here. He has played several of these Black setups himself, including the …Nh5 lines, so he knows exactly where Black’s practical pain points lie and how to press them.

He is joined by GM Pier Luigi Basso, a frequent collaborator whose analytical work anchors many of Modern Chess’s repertoire courses. Having previously turned their attention to a very different corner of 1.d4 theory in Catalan According to Dreev, the two now apply the same blend of deep preparation and practical judgment to the London — a separate project, but one shaped by the same hand.

Map of variations

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 e6 6.c3 Bd6 7.Bg3 O-O 8.Bd3 — the main tabiya of the classical system

• 8…b6 — the most popular, but not the most testing → Chapter 1
• 8…Qe7 → Chapter 2
• 8…Re8 → Chapter 3
• 8…g6 — surprising, yet the engine’s top choice → Chapter 4
• 8…cxd4 and sidelines → Chapter 5

Earlier deviations:

• 7…Bxg3 and sidelines → Chapter 6
• 6…Be7 7.Ne5! → Chapter 7
• 6…cxd4 7.exd4 Nh5 — Black fights for the f4-square → Chapter 11
• 6…Nh5 — a line Dreev has played himself with Black → Chapter 12
• 5…cxd4 6.exd4 Bf5 → Chapter 8
• 5…cxd4 6.exd4 Bg4 → Chapter 9
• 5…Bg4 — solid and positional; White takes the bishop pair → Chapter 10
• 5…Nh5 — the modern system championed by GM Dardha → Chapters 13–14
• 3…Nh5 — GM Gavrilescu’s idea from the Modern Chess Autumn Challenge 2025 → Chapter 15