The London and Jobava Challenge 2026

Seven Grandmasters. Two openings. Fourteen different answers.

There is no shortage of repertoires against the London System. What there has never been is seven of them, side by side, produced independently by strong players who did not know what the others were writing.

That is what the Modern Chess Autumn Challenge produces, and this database is the result of its first stage. Each of the seven participants was handed the same two problems — a repertoire for Black against the Classical London (1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4) and against the Jobava London (1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bf4) — and each solved them their own way.

Fourteen recommendations. No two alike.

The author who is fighting his own opening

The most remarkable contribution comes from GM Baadur Jobava, who takes on the system that carries his name. He does not understate it:

"The Jobava London is my baby. I've been crushing with it as White since 2012 — so many beautiful wins! But today I switch sides, and I hand you a weapon almost nobody knows: a whole system to fight my own opening with the black pieces."

His answer is 4...Nc6, a move he describes as full of poison precisely because nobody studies it — the idea being to play a Jobava London of your own. As he puts it: beating them at my own game.

Against the Classical London he stays consistent with 3...Nc6, applying the same instinct on the other move order.

Seven solutions to the same problem

What makes this database unusual is that you are not being sold one author's taste. You can compare, and then choose:

Against the Jobava London

• Jobava — 4...Nc6 — clamping down on b5 before White can dream of it, then playing his own opening from the other side
• Jospem — 4...c5 with a piece sacrifice — the most uncompromising answer in the collection
• Lodici — 3...g6 — steering toward Grünfeld-style structures, an approach unlike anything in the 2025 edition
• Sosa — 4...Qa5 — the early queen sortie
• Šubelj — 4...Bf5 — the principled bishop development
• Ajay — 3...Nh5 — challenging the bishop immediately, from a former Jobava London player
• Sebastian — the ...a6 and ...b5 plan — queenside expansion as the answer

Against the Classical London

• Jobava — 3...Nc6 · Jospem — 6...Bf5 · Lodici — 6...Nh5 · Sosa — 4...Qb6 · Šubelj — 4...Bg4 · Ajay — 5...Nh5 · Sebastian — 6...Nh5

Note the convergence at the end: four of the seven independently reach for ...Nh5 against the Classical London, at different moments and with different supporting ideas. When strong players working separately arrive at the same resource, that is worth knowing — and the database lets you see exactly how each of them handles it.

Why this format teaches more than a single repertoire

A conventional opening course gives you one answer and asks you to trust it. This gives you seven, each with the reasoning behind it, and lets you judge.

That has two practical consequences. First, you can pick the treatment that matches your style — the piece sacrifice if you want chaos, the ...g6 systems if you prefer structure, the queen sorties if you like provoking early commitments. Second, and less obviously: seeing the same position solved seven ways teaches the position itself. You come away understanding what Black is actually fighting for against the London, not merely which moves to play.

For anyone who faces the London

The London and the Jobava London have become two of the most common systems in club and online chess. Most players meet them without a plan and drift into a slightly worse game. This database ends that — with more prepared answers than you will ever need, from players who were competing to produce the best one.

Watch. Compare. Choose your weapon.