Jan's Opening Clinic 24: Part 4

In Episode 4 of Season 24 of his Opening Clinic, Jan Gustafsson gives another update on his Vienna series, "mainly because everybody, but especially Vishy Anand, seems to have decided to play the Vienna against Magnus". He also tackles the "system" 1.d4 d5 2.Be3, or 1.d4 Nf6 2.Be3, which you probably shouldn't try at home. What you should try is the London System, which French Grandmaster Adrien Demuth covers in 13 videos and almost 7 hours for a new chess24 video series.

For this episode Jan wasn't asked about the London System, but Adrien Demuth's newly-released chess24 video series should answer all your questions. The great virtue of the London System, which often begins 1.d4 d5 2.Bf4, is that as Adrien explains it can "basically be played against any opening", including such diametrically opposed lines as the Queen's Gambit and the King's Indian. The ease with which it could be played always made it popular among beginners, but the opening was long considered only half-correct. That's all changed, as players such as World Champion Magnus Carlsen have refined the system and now play it at the very highest level. Check it out!

The London System Adrien Demuth

But back to the Opening Clinic! You can find all the questions Jan was asked under this article. You can also find the earlier answers here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. And here's Part 4:

You can jump straight to an answer that interests you by using the clickable timestamps below - you'll also find those timestamps in the description under the video at YouTube:

1. Best Berliner28: Berlin 1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 O-O 6.O-O d6 7.Nbd2 Ne7 8.d4 exd4 9.cxd4 Bb6 10.Re1 Bg4 11.h3 Bh5 12.a4 a6 13.Bf1 Re8 14.a5 Ba7 - what to do? (00:37)
2. Sushiboy8: KID 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O exd4 8. Nxd4 Re8 9. f3 Nc6 10. Be3 Nh5 11. Qd2 Nf4 - what to do? (05:43) 
3. JohannWilhelmMoebius: Caro-Kann 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.dxc5 e6 5.a3!? - do you like it? (10:20)
4. Intermove: Do you have a solid, easy-to-learn line against 1.d4 with some attacking potential? (15:40)
5. Carnicero: 1.d4 d5 2.Be3 is great (22:08) 
6. Zeveraar: 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 - any ideas for White? (24:50) 
7. Sandstad: What's new in the Vienna? (30:32) 
8. feritarkibzan: What's new in the Bxc4 Vienna? (36:20) 
9. MrDodgy 1.d4 Nf6 2.Be3 g6 3.Qd2 - can Black survive? (42:30)

The plan is to release Part 5 of Jan's Opening Clinic 24 in a week's time on our Shows page.

See also:

• Jan's Opening Clinic 24 article with all the questions for Jan 
• Jan's Opening Clinic 24: Part 1
• Jan's Opening Clinic 24: Part 2
• Jan's Opening Clinic 24: Part 3