What Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, London Defensive System puts on the board
Material is level, with white to move.
Black has central pawns on d5.
White can still castle either side; Black can still castle either side.
What White is trying to build
Pressure the centre with pieces before deciding which pawns will occupy it.
Use a kingside fianchetto to make e5 and d4 central decisions costly.
How Black challenges it
Build a centre that can survive c4 and d4 pawn breaks.
Keep development flexible enough to meet a transposition.
The tactical pattern to recognise
The g2 bishop gains force when the centre or queenside opens.
Many move orders transpose into English, Catalan or queen’s-pawn structures.
What to check before committing
Allowing a large centre without preparing a pawn break against it.
Treating a transposition as if the original move-order plan still applies unchanged.
Choose the next book move
Preview a move to see the resulting position and the idea behind it. Select it to continue on the same board.
Reference links and alternate move orders
Move orders
1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 c6 3.Nf3 d5 4.b3 Bf51.c4 Nf6 2.g3 c6 3.Nf3 d5 4.b3 Bf5 5.Bb21.c4 Nf6 2.g3 c6 3.Nf3 d5 4.b3 Bf5 5.Bg21.c4 Nf6 2.g3 c6 3.Nf3 d5 4.b3 Bf5 5.Bg2 e6 6.Bb2
Related variations
- Réti Opening: Advance Variation, Michel Gambit
- Réti Opening: Advance Variation, Navara Gambit
- Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, Bled Variation
- Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, Bogoljubow Variation
- Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, Capablanca Variation
- Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, Gurevich System
- Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, New York System
- Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, Torre System
- Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, with dxc4
- Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, with g3
- Réti Opening: Réti Gambit, Keres Variation