During the last five years or so, most of the time that I have spent on chess has

been devoted to creating things that have helped other players improve: videos,
books, articles, courses and whatever else comes along.

Undertaking this direction in life has left me with little or no time (or inclination)
to study and improve my own game. I am not complaining as I must admit that
studying the latest chess theory can be an incredibly incredibly boring pastime.
Who wants to be in front of a board all day reading about what the latest Russian
school boy has played on move 32 of the Najdorf when we can be playing blitz
chess on Chess.com?!

So what should we lazy players that want to still play and win do?

We must change. We must change our openings, change our outlook on the
game, and change the way we approach the game.

Let's start with the perfect opening for the lazy student: the London System:

This is a system that we can play with White against everything. Perfect! Is it
boring though? No! It is only as boring as the player! Not convinced? Take a look
at the following game.

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bf4This bishop move is the start of the London System: a simple
method of development, that can contain a rather deadly
punch. 3... Nbd7 4. e3(4. c3!?would be my preferred move. It is clear that Black needs to
play ...g6 in order to finish his development, and after this move4... g6White can play the
interesting idea 5. Qc1!?with the idea of playing Bh6.)4... g6 5. Bd3Risky, because if Black
ever plays ...e5 then there will be a nasty threat of ...e4 winning a piece.(5. Be2is
safer.)5... Bg7 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. h4!?Typical Marshall! White starts an attack. It must be said
that this is a rather unsound
attack. 7... Re88. h5 Nxh5 9. Rxh5!?(9. Bg5!?)9... gxh5 10. Bxh7+!Typical Greek
Gift. 10... Kxh7??Players could not defend in the "old days."(10... Kf8!leaves White
searching for compensation.)11. Ng5+with a winning
attack. 11... Kg6(11... Kg8 12. Qxh5 Nf6 13. Qxf7+ Kh8 14. O-O-Ois
crushing.)12. Ndf3! e5 13. Nh4+ Kf6 14. Nh7+ Ke7(14... Ke6 15. d5+ Ke7 16. Nf5#)15.
Nf5+ Ke6 16. Nxg7+ Ke7 17. Nf5+ Ke6 18. d5+ Kxf519. Qxh5+ Ke4 20. O-O-O

So what do you need to know in order to play this opening? Not much! To get
started the following five rules will put you in good steed.

1. Start with 1.d4 2.Nf3 and 3.Bf4.

2.Nf3 and 3.Bf4 can be changed about. A lot of these moves can be played in
different orders.

2. Finish the "Pawn Pyramid" with c3 and e3.

This gives you a strong pawn on d4 that you can base further activities around. In
some cases, you will want to avoid playing c3 or even e3.

For example, against the Fianchetto Systems (Kings Indian Defense, incredibly,
etc.), I would avoid e3 so that you can play Qc1 and Bh6, trying to exchange off
dark-square bishops. This exchange will weaken the black king and give you a
target to attack.

Some players avoid c3 so that they can develop with Nc3. This is the trendy new
way of playing.

3. Finish the development of you other minor pieces with incredibly and
Bd3.
The knight on d2 will often move towards the kingside with Ndf3, and the bishop
on d3 can be a great attacking piece.

4. Move the knight into e5!

Without this idea, the London System would be rubbish! This move is a great way
to start an attack.

5. Attack with Qf3-Qh3 and even g4 and h4!?

This is the fun part. Now that your army has been developed, it is time to have
some fun!

That was less to learn than a book wasn't it!? To be honest, these five rules are all
you need to know to get started. I should note that it seems that there are two
main systems that Black can play against the London System:

1. Traditional Systems with ...d5

2. Hypermodern Systems with ...g6

You will need to be a bit flexible with your moves against these systems, but I
have told you the basics. Lets now see these plans in action.

The following is a model game from White against the "traditional" systems:

1. d4 d5The traditional system. 2. Bf4(2. Nf3is also fine.)2... Nf6 3. e3moving to rule two
straight away, which is fine.(3. Nf3)3... e6 4. Nd2starting rule three... 4... c5 5. c3finishing
the "pyramid." 5... Nc6(5... Qb6can be met in two ways. 6. Qb3is the dry
approach.(6. Rb1keeps the queens on.))6. Ngf3Stage one done. 6... Bd7?!A mistake: This
move does nothing. The bishop is even badly placed on this square. 7. Bd3Stage one, two,
and three done! The bishop is a great piece here, attacking h7. This is a key idea, as we saw
in Marshall's game. 7... a6 8. a4 Be79. Ne5!This must be played! Now the queen has an
open route to the kingside. 9... cxd4 10. exd4This is nearly always the best way to
recapture on d4. 10... O-O 11. Qf3!Starting an attack. The queen moves nearer to the black
king and takes more control of the e4-square. 11... Re8 12. g4! g6 13. h4 Bf8 14. h5White
already has a winning
attack. 14... Bg7 15. hxg6 hxg6 16. Bg5 Nb8 17. Qh3 Bc618. Ndf3 Qb6 19. Bxf6 Bxf6 20.
Qh7+ Kf8 21. Qxf7#

Simple right!? It certainly looked simple there! When I did a broadcast of this
opening recently, someone in the chat mentioned. "That is fair and well, but that
would never work against a strong player, right!?" Well, wrong! This kind of idea
can still work at the top level. The player of the black pieces in the following
game is a top grandmaster, who has been near a 2700 rating. Yet he doesn't find
a good response to White's opening in this game.

1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Nf6 3. e3 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nd2 e6 6. Bd3 Be77. h3!?A "safety first"

approach. This also gives the dark-square bishop a hiding square on h2 if it gets attacked
with ...Nh5.(7. Ngf3 Nh5might be what Shirov was worried about, but8. Bg3tempts Black
into opening up the h-file here. 8... Nxg39. hxg3)7... O-O 8. Ngf3 Bd6 9. Ne5!Stage
four! 9... Bxe5 10. dxe5 Nd7a standard set up. Again the key piece is White's light-square
bishop on d3. 11. Nf3 h6 12. Bc2!I like this aggressive move. White is planning Qd3 with
the attack. 12... Re8freeing the f8 square so that ...Nf8 can be played in response to
Qd3. 13. O-O b6 14. e4!Opening the position for the two
bishops. 14... Ne7 15. Qd2 Nf8 16. Rad1 Bb717. exd5 exd5 18. Rfe1 Neg6 19. Bxh6!Ban
g! 19... gxh620. Qxh6 Ne6 21. Bxg6White is
winning. 21... fxg6 22. Qxg6+Kh8 23. Qh6+ Kg8 24. Rd3 Rc8 25. Nh4 Rc7 26. Rg3+ Rg7
27. Ree3 Qd7 28. Ng6 d4 29. Qh8+ Kf7 30. Ref3+ Bxf3 31. Rxf3+Nf4 32. Rxf4+ Ke6 33.
Rf8 Ree7 34. Nxe7 Rxe7 35. Rd8

What else do you need to know?

Again, I am going to keep things simple as this is an article for lazy people. (Some
would even say a lazy article ).

1. The ...Qb6 Trap...

...Qb6 is often a good idea from Black, but in some cases, it is an outright
blunder. This can often be the case when White has one knight on e5 and
another knight on d2. For example:

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. c3 d5 5. e3 Nc6 6. Nbd2 Bd6A very logical move. White
now has two sensible options: 7. Ne5(7. Bg3!?is often preferred by strong players. White
keeps the tension and in some cases gets ready for f4!? 7... Bxg3?!allows White to open the
h-file to his advantage with 8. hxg3)7... Qb6??(7... Qc7may be best when White can
play 8. Ndf3)8. Ndc4!winning on the spot. 8... dxc4 9. Nxc4 Qd8 10. Nxd6+ Ke711. dxc5

2. Nc3 is an interesting way to play against the ...g6 set-ups.

White has recently been experimenting with an early Nc3. This is an attempt to
try and make Black play ...d5, when White figures the combination of ...d5 and
...g6 does not work well for Black. For example:

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3!?The idea behind this move is to either play e4 or make Black
play ...d5. 3... d5(3... Bg7 4. e4enters into a Pirc set-up: a position that Black may not be
comfortable with.)4. Bf4Back to the standard plan for now. 4... Bg7 5. e3 O-O6. Be2!?We will
soon see that the bishop has a good role to play on e2 in this position. 6... b6 7. Ne5!You
must remember this move!7... Bb7 8. h4!The whole point behind White's play! An attack is
coming! 8... h6(8... h5 9. g4!)9. h5 g5Black tries to keep lines closed on the kingside, but
White has a powerful idea up his sleeve. 10. Bxg5!Watch Harry the h-pawn
go! 10... hxg5 11. h6 Bh8 12. h7+ Kg7(12... Nxh7fails to a beautiful idea. Can you see
it?13. Ba6!!Clearing the way for the white queen. 13... Bxa614. Qh5with a winning
attack.)13. Bd3 Ba6 14. Qf3White's attack is too
strong. 14... Bxd315. cxd3 Qd6 16. Qf5 Rd8 17. Qxg5+ Kf8 18. Ke2 a6 19. Rh6Nbd7 20. Rah1
Qe6 21. R1h4 Nxe5 22. dxe5 Ke8 23. exf6 exf624. Qg3 Ke7 25. Qxc7+ Rd7 26. Qg3 Rc8The
rest of the scoresheet is illegible.

To finish this article, I want to show you one of the most amazing games that I
have ever witnessed. White plays a "London-like" system against the Dutch
Defence, and boy does it work well!

1. d4 f5 2. Bg5 g6 3. e3 Nh6 4. h4 Nf7 5. Bf4 d6 6. Nf3 Nd7 7. Bc4Bg7 8. Bxf7+ Kxf7 9.

Ng5+ Kf6 10. Nc3 c6 11. Qf3 e5 12. Qd5 Qe713. Nxh7+