Queen's Pawn Game: London System (4… Nc6 5. Nbd2)
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. Nbd2
The Queen's Pawn Game: London System is a chess opening classified as ECO D02, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. Nbd2. It is a line of the Queen's Pawn Game. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 212 times by this move order. White won 44%, 8% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 5… Qb6 (26% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.14 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 5… a6 6. c3 cxd4 7. exd4 Bf5 8. Nh4)
- ECO
- D02
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pp2pppp/2n2n2/2pp4/3P1B2/4PN2/PPPN1PPP/R2QKB1R b KQkq - 2 5- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. Nbd2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 11 | |
| 1500-1999 | 49 | |
| 2000+ | 152 | |
| All | 212 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Qb6 | 56 (26%) | |
| 5… cxd4 | 51 (24%) | |
| 5… Bf5 | 32 (15%) | |
| 5… Bg4 | 32 (15%) | |
| 5… e6 | 28 (13%) | |
| 5… Nh5 | 4 (2%) | |
| 5… c4 | 3 (1%) | |
| 5… h6 | 2 (1%) |
Master games
2,003 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 49%, draw 22%, Black 29%). The strongest:
- GM Levon Aronian (2781) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2847) 1-0 · FTX Crypto Cup Prelim · 2021-05-24
- GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2777) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2831) 1/2-1/2 · Tata Steel India Blitz · 2024-11-17
- GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2762) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2802) 1-0 · Saint Louis Rapid 2024 · 2024-08-12
- GM Levon Aronian (2781) – GM So, W. (2770) 1-0 · NIC Classic KO 2021 · 2021-04-27
- GM Pavel Eljanov (2669) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2804) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE World Rapid Team · 2025-06-11
Search all games of the Queen's Pawn Game: London System and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Americanchampion (2834) – GM Fabsid (2793) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Americanchampion (2816) – GM Fabsid (2787) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- FM enclasesUNI (2640) – GM xiaochess (2929) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Pawn Game: London System (3… c5 4. e3) 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3
Continuations
- Queen's Pawn Game: London System (5… e6 6. c3) D02 · 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 e6 6. c3
More Queen's Pawn Game lines (all)
- Queen's Pawn Game (1. d4) A40
- Queen's Pawn Game: Anglo-Slav Opening A40
- Queen's Pawn Game: Modern Defense A40
- Queen's Pawn Game (1. d4 d6) A41
- Queen's Pawn Game: Rossolimo Variation A41
- Queen's Pawn Game: Liedmann Gambit A43
- Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation (2. Nc3 d5) A45
- Queen's Pawn Game: Veresov, Richter Attack A45
- Queen's Pawn Game: Torre Attack, Breyer Variation A46
- Queen's Pawn Game: Veresov Attack, Classical Defense A46
- Queen's Pawn Game: Barry Attack (3… d5 4. Bf4) A48
- Queen's Pawn Game: Barry Attack (4. Bf4 Bg7) A48
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.