Make ...e5 your London plan
Against d4 with Bf4, aim for ...d6, ...Nbd7 and ...e5 with tempo. Play it in your next 10 London games and track the score.
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Indian Game
The London keeps you passive, and your clock does the rest.
Score44%−4% vs your average
Win chance after move 1244%−3% vs your average
Blunders per game0.74−0.17 vs your average
Clock left at move 109:33−6s vs your average
1
23
4
5
6
7
h8
g
f
e
dcba1. d4 d6 2. Bf4
What it says about you
You play 1...d6 or 1...Nf6 against 1.d4 hoping for c4 and a King's Indian, but these opponents answer with Bf4, usually a London setup. So the opponent chooses this. Your results suggest you treat it like a KID that has not arrived yet, rather than an opening with its own plans.
How you play it
You score 44.1% (15-19-0), below your 48.3% overall, although you are trending up at 53.8% over the last 13 games. You leave the opening worse (a win chance of 44.1 at move 12 against a 47.3 baseline) and stay there (44.8 at move 20). 9 of 14 decided losses were decided in the middlegame, and the top causes are being slowly outplayed (5) and big positional errors (5): a slow squeeze, not a blunder. Zero draws in 34 games, and the shortest average game length of your Black openings (37 moves).
Last 90 days: 13 games, 54% score.
What you're missing
- 01
Clock management. Three of your four recent mistakes came in time trouble: 31...a4 at 46.6s (78% down to 55%), 34...Qc5 at 33s (81% down to 57%), and 51...Rg2 at 6s walking into a fork (43% down to 7%).
- 02
Precise piece placement. 12...Re6 dropped you from 87% to 63% when 12...Ndf6 was best. In this structure your knights belong on f6 and d7 with the rooks behind them, not in front of your pawns.
- 03
The East Indian London setups. 50% over 4 games and 33.3% over 3, plus 33.3% over 3 in the Knights Variation East Indian. You have no clear plan against a solid London.
- 04
10 losses from being slowly outplayed or from positional errors. That means the plan, not tactics, is failing.
How to improve it
- 01
Use ...e5 as your main plan against Bf4. After ...d6, ...Nbd7 and ...e5 you gain a tempo on the bishop and fight for the centre, which is the whole reason for starting with 1...d6 against the London.
- 02
Use ...Nh5 to chase the f4 bishop when it has no good retreat. Taking the bishop pair takes the sting out of White's setup.
- 03
Keep ...c5 with ...Qb6 in mind as a second plan. Pressure on b2 and d4 is the classic weak spot of the London.
- 04
Look at games by London specialists from Black's side, for example Radjabov's KID setups against the London. The key idea is to keep pieces on and make White choose.
Where it goes wrong
Your losses in this opening, by where and how the decisive mistake happened.
Phase of the decisive mistake
What the mistake was
Variations you reach
| Main line | 9 | 44% |
| East Indian London | 4 | 50% |
| East Indian London System | 3 | 33% |
| Knights Variation East Indian O O | 3 | 33% |
Winning positions converted here: 76% (13 of 17).
Recent mistakes in this opening
Your move in red, Stockfish's in black.
123
4
56
7h8
gf
edcb
avs jpgazza (2271) · 26-09-26 →
1
23
4
5
6
7h8
g
f
e
d
cb
a
vs jpgazza (2271) · 26-09-26 →
1
23
4
5
6
7h8
gf
e
d
cb
a
vs jpgazza (2271) · 26-09-26 →
1
23
4
5
6
7h8
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
vs jpgazza (2271) · 26-09-26 →
Next steps
Keep 3 minutes for move 30
Three of your four recent mistakes here came with under a minute. Faster decisions in the quiet opening phase save time for the critical middlegame.
Review the East Indian losses
Go through the London and Knights East Indian games (10 games, well under 50%) and note where your pieces were placed badly.
Drill it
Puzzles built from your own mistakes in the Indian Game, and every game you've played in it.