James Mason and the invention of the London System
The more and more in-depth analysis of thousands of variations makes it increasingly difficult to achieve a tangible advantage at the beginning of a game, especially in the most frequently played openings. Many chess players therefore turn to less often used systems which are not so familiar to most of their opponents and which nevertheless offer enough potential to play for a win. In March 2018, for example, correspondence chess grandmaster Arno Nickel told me that he had recently used the London System successfully in several correspondence games. That makes you listen up, because especially in correspondence chess all means including computer support are allowed. What kind of opening is this "London System" that is increasingly being used successfully not only in correspondence chess, and which grandmaster was the first to take a closer look at it?
Henrik Danielsen used this system to win the Icelandic blitz championship in 2011. Some strong GMs and IMs didn't realise the danger before it was too late. Even after Black’s best defence, White will be able to fight for an advantage. After watching 60 minutes you have a total opening plan against 1...d5.
What is the London System?
In former times, the opening 1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 was simply called "Irregular Opening". It often results from a transposition of moves, e.g. after 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 or 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4, etc. The 26th edition of the well known German "Chess Player's Textbook" by Jean Dufresne and Jacques Mieses in the new edition by IM Rudolf Teschner from 1975 shows how poorly this variation was treated only a few decades ago. Only one variation is actually mentioned there, and even this one ends after only 5 (!) moves:
1.e4 | 1,185,008 | 54% | 2421 | --- |
1.d4 | 959,510 | 55% | 2434 | --- |
1.Nf3 | 286,503 | 56% | 2441 | --- |
1.c4 | 184,834 | 56% | 2442 | --- |
1.g3 | 19,892 | 56% | 2427 | --- |
1.b3 | 14,600 | 54% | 2428 | --- |
1.f4 | 5,954 | 48% | 2377 | --- |
1.Nc3 | 3,911 | 50% | 2384 | --- |
1.b4 | 1,791 | 48% | 2379 | --- |
1.a3 | 1,250 | 54% | 2406 | --- |
1.e3 | 1,081 | 49% | 2409 | --- |
1.d3 | 969 | 50% | 2378 | --- |
1.g4 | 670 | 46% | 2361 | --- |
1.h4 | 466 | 54% | 2382 | --- |
1.c3 | 439 | 51% | 2425 | --- |
1.h3 | 289 | 56% | 2420 | --- |
1.a4 | 118 | 60% | 2461 | --- |
1.f3 | 100 | 47% | 2427 | --- |
1.Nh3 | 93 | 66% | 2506 | --- |
1.Na3 | 47 | 62% | 2476 | --- |
Please, wait...
1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 Nf6 3.Nf3 c5 4.e3 Nc6 5.c3 Bg4
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| - | | - | | | D02 | Dufresne/Mieses p. 458 | |
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Fortunately, more useful opening books are available these days. ChessBases for example offers some excellent DVDs which cover the London System in detail.
The first prominent proponent of the London System
The opening is now called the "London System" because it was applied several times in the London 1922 tournament. However, it had been been played much earlier. To get an overview, I consulted the MEGA Database of ChessBase to see all games played with this opening until the end of the 19th century. In fact, one name appeared more often than all the others: James Mason, the author of the well-known chess books "The Principles of Chess" and "The Art of Chess". From 1880 to 1894 he applied the London System with the white pieces in total (at least) 21 times in major tournaments. His score: 10:5 with 6 draws.
Who was James Mason?
"Harmoniously uniting in itself the curious, the beautiful, and the true, Chess appears to hold a permanent relation to the innate susceptibilities of intelligence." - James Mason ("The Principles of Chess", p. III)
James Mason was born on November, 19th, 1849 in the Irish town of Kilkenny and raised by adoptive parents. In 1861 they emigrated with him to the United States of America. Some years later he was already a decent chess player as we can learn from some of his games played in 1868.
At the age of 26 James Mason won the 4th US-American Chess Congress, which was held in Philadelphia from August, 17th, to August, 31st, 1876. He won eight games and lost only one with five draws. Thus he took 1st place in the double-round tournament with 10 1/2 out of 14 ahead of Max Judd (9) as well as Henry Edward Bird and Harry Davidson (8 1/2 each). In the same year Mason won another tournament in New York and a match against Henry Edward Bird (after whom the Bird opening 1.f4 is named). These successes brought the young US-American of Irish origin, who at that time was still working as a journalist for the "New York Herald", into the group of the best chess masters of that time.

James Mason
1877/78: James Mason at the top of the world rankings
The mathematician Jeff Sonas tried to calculate the historic Elo-ratings of the players of the past and the world rankings based on their tournament and match results (cf. www.chessmetrics.com). Surprisingly, James Mason was number 1 from August 1877 to June 1878! Here is an excerpt of the Elo-list list from August 1877:
- James Mason 2713
- Louis Paulsen 2678
- Amos Burn 2674
- Johannes Hermann Zukertort 2643
- Adolf Anderssen 2636
- Joseph Henry Blackburne 2621
- William Potter 2612
- Edward Alberoni 2607
- John Owen 2575
- George MacDonnell 2563
Mason's lead over the runner-up is 35 Elo-points. He is the only one of the top players of that time above the 2700 line.
To be fair, however, it should be added that Jeff Sonas removed players from his lists who had been inactive for a long time, i.e. did not participate in tournaments or matches. William Steinitz had still been number 1 in the list of July 1877 with a rating of 2752. One month later, however, his name is no longer listed. In August 1878, Johannes Hermann Zukertort took the top spot in the world rankings with a rating of 2743, while James Mason dropped back to number 8. Steinitz reappeared in the list of June 1882, on rank 3 - 4 and a rating of 2692 (tied with Mackenzie), but still behind Zukertort (2742) and Blackburne (2706). James Mason's best rating of 2715 dates from October 1876 and is in a comparable range.
At the time James Mason reached his highest historical Elo-rating, he was 26 years old. He thus belongs to the important group of chess players who reach their peak in their mid-20s. In this context, let us only think of Vladimir Kramnik from the year 2000! Even earlier was Mikhail Tal. He reached his highest historical Elo-rating (2799) at the age of 23, two months before his 24th birthday.
Chess professional in England
In 1878 James Mason moved to England and took part in several top-class international chess tournaments, e.g.
Berlin 1881 (2nd DSB Congress): Fifth with 9 1/2 out of 16 behind Blackburne (14), Zukertort (11), Winawer and Chigorin (10 1/2 each). In this tournament Mason was the only player who succeeded in defeating Blackburne. He also won against Chigorin and Louis Paulsen.
Vienna 1882: Third with 23 out of 34 behind Winawer and Steinitz (24 each) but ahead of J. H. Zukertort and Mackenzie (22 1/2 each). Blackburne followed with 21 1/2. 18 participants had been playing for 6 1/2 weeks, from Mai, 10th, to June, 24th.
Nuremberg 1883 (3rd DSB Congress): Third among 19 participants with 12 out of 18 behind Simon Winawer (14) and Joseph Henry Blackburne (13 1/2). Again he beat Blackburne and Louis Paulsen.
Hamburg 1885 (4th DSB Congress): Here James Mason shared 2nd prize with Blackburne, Englisch, Tarrasch and Weiss, only half a point behind Isidor Gunsberg (12 out of 17). Mason beat the winner of the tournament, Isidor Gunsberg, in their individual encounter. In the group of runners-up Mason won against Blackburne, but was defeated by 23-year-old Siegbert Tarrasch.
Mason's addiction to alcohol is rumoured to have affected his chess results in the following years. Accordingly, he performed worse at the German Chess Congresses, in which he still participated four more times:
At the 6th DSB Congress in Breslau 1889 Mason came in 8th-9th (tied with Blackburne). He scored 9 out of 17 which is still more than 50 %.
At the 7th DSB Congress in Dresden 1892 he again came in 8th-9th, this time with Hermann von Gottschall, and again achieved a plus score (9 out of 16).
At the 9th DSB Congress in Leipzig 1894, Mason was only 15th in a field of 18 players, and at his last participation, the 13th DSB Congress in Hannover 1902, he was the last-but-one.
How did James Mason play the London System?
Let's take a closer look at some of the games James Mason opened with the "London System". I selected a total of six winning games and commented on two of them. In three of these games we see the typical pawn structure d4, flanked by e3 and c3. In the other games James Mason sometimes played very unconventionally, e.g. Nc3, d4xc5 or even Bf4xNb8. Who would believe that with this exchange of his developed bishop for the inactive black knight he could defeat the world championship challenger Michail Chigorin in only 13 moves?
1.e4 | 1,185,008 | 54% | 2421 | --- |
1.d4 | 959,510 | 55% | 2434 | --- |
1.Nf3 | 286,503 | 56% | 2441 | --- |
1.c4 | 184,834 | 56% | 2442 | --- |
1.g3 | 19,892 | 56% | 2427 | --- |
1.b3 | 14,600 | 54% | 2428 | --- |
1.f4 | 5,954 | 48% | 2377 | --- |
1.Nc3 | 3,911 | 50% | 2384 | --- |
1.b4 | 1,791 | 48% | 2379 | --- |
1.a3 | 1,250 | 54% | 2406 | --- |
1.e3 | 1,081 | 49% | 2409 | --- |
1.d3 | 969 | 50% | 2378 | --- |
1.g4 | 670 | 46% | 2361 | --- |
1.h4 | 466 | 54% | 2382 | --- |
1.c3 | 439 | 51% | 2425 | --- |
1.h3 | 289 | 56% | 2420 | --- |
1.a4 | 118 | 60% | 2461 | --- |
1.f3 | 100 | 47% | 2427 | --- |
1.Nh3 | 93 | 66% | 2506 | --- |
1.Na3 | 47 | 62% | 2476 | --- |
Please, wait...
1.d4 e6 2.Bf4 d5 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bd3 4.c4 4...Bd6 4...c5 5.c3 Nc6 6.Nd2 Bd6= 5.Bg3 5.Nf3 Bxf4 6.exf4 Qd6 7.Qc1= 7.Qd2= 5...c5 6.c3 c4 7.Bc2 b5 8.Nf3 8.a4 b4! 8...a5 9.Nbd2 b4? 9...Bb7= 9...0-0 10.e4! Nh5? 11.Bxd6 Qxd6 12.Ng5 g6 12...Nf6? 13.e5 13.Nxh7! Kxh7 14.e5 Qe7 15.Qxh5+ 10.Ba4+! Kf8 10...Bd7? 11.Bxd6 Bxa4 12.Qxa4+ 11.Ne5 Bxe5?! 12.Bxe5 bxc3? 13.bxc3 Qe7 13...Bd7 14.Bc2! 14.0-0 14.Rb1 14...Nbd7 15.Bg3 h6 15...h5 15...Qa3 16.Qc2 Nb6 17.Bc6± 16.e4 Nb6 17.e5 Ne8 17...Nxa4? 18.exf6 Qd7 19.Qf3± g6? 20.Nxc4! Ba6 21.Ne5+- 18.Bc2 g6 18...Qa3 19.Rb1!? 19.Qf3 19...Ra6 20.f4 g6 20...Qxa2? 21.Qc1! Na4 22.Ra1 Nxc3 23.Rf2!+- 20...Qxc3? 21.Rf3! Qxd4+ 22.Bf2 21.Bh4± 19.a4 Bd7 20.f4 Ng7 21.Nf3 Kg8 22.Bh4 Qe8 23.Bf6 Kh7 24.Nh4 24.g4 24...Rg8 25.Rf3 Nh5 26.f5! exf5 27.Nxf5! Nc8 27...Bxf5? 28.Rxf5! Ng7 28...gxf5 29.Bxf5+ Rg6 30.Qxh5+- 29.Rf3± 27...gxf5? 28.Rxf5! Ng7 29.Rh5+ Bf5 29...Nf5? 30.Rxh6+! Kxh6 31.Qf3 Qe6 32.Qh3+ Kg6 33.Qh4! 29...Kh8? 30.Rxh6# 30.Bxg7 Bxc2 31.Qd2! Qe6 32.Rxh6++- 28.Ne3 28.Nxh6! Nxf6 28...Kxh6 29.Qd2+ Kh7 30.Qg5 Nxf6 31.exf6 Rh8 32.Rf4! Qe3+ 32...Kg8 33.Bxg6! fxg6 34.f7+ 33.Kh1 Kg8 34.Bxg6! fxg6 35.f7+! Kf8 35...Kg7 36.Qf6+ Kh7 37.Qxh8+! Kxh8 38.f8Q+ 36.Qd8+ Kg7 37.f8Q+ Rxf8 38.Qxf8+ Kh7 39.Rf7# 29.exf6 Kxh6 30.Qd2+ Kh5 30...g5 31.h4! Kh5 32.hxg5 Rxg5 33.Kf2!+- 30...Kh7? 31.Rf4+- 31.Bf5! 31.h4+- 31.Re1+- 31...Bxf5 31...gxf5? 32.Rh3+ Kg4 33.Qh6+- 32.h4 g5 33.Rxf5 Kxh4 34.Qf2+ Kh5 35.g4+! Kg6 35...Kxg4 36.Qf3+ Kh4 37.Kg2+- 36.Rxg5+! Kxg5 37.Qf5+ Kh4 37...Kh6 38.Qh5# 38.Kf2 28...Nxf6 29.Rxf6 Be6 30.Rb1 Ne7 31.Rxe6!? 31.h4! 31...fxe6 32.Ng4 Kg7 33.Qf3? 33.Qd2! Rh8 34.Qf4 Qf7 35.Qf6+! Kg8 35...Qxf6? 36.exf6+ Kf7 37.fxe7 Kxe7 38.Ne5+- 36.Rb7 Re8 37.Qh4 Kg7 38.Nf6± Ref8? 38...Ra8? 39.Nh5+! Kf8 39...gxh5 40.Rxe7 40.Bxg6! Qxg6 40...Nxg6 41.Rxf7+ 41.Qxe7+ Kg8 42.Nf6+ 39.Rxe7! Qxe7 40.Nh5+ Kf7 40...gxh5 41.Qxe7+ 41.Bxg6+! Kxg6 42.Qxe7 Kxh5 43.Qxe6 Rd8? 44.Qf5+ Kh4 45.g3# 33...Rf8! 34.Nf6 Qc6 35.h4 Ra7 36.Rf1 Qc8? 36...Kh8! 37.Qg4 37.Qg4? 37.Bxg6! Kxg6? 38.Qg4+ Kf7 39.Ne4+ Ke8 39...Nf5 40.Nd6+ 40.Nd6+ 37...Nf5! 38.Rf3 Raf7? 38...Rxf6! 39.exf6+ Kxf6 40.h5! Rg7 41.Qf4 Kf7 42.Qxh6 Kg8 43.Bxf5 gxf5 44.Qf6! Kh7 45.h6 Rg8 46.Re3 Qd8 47.Qf7+ Kh8 48.Rxe6 Qg5 49.Qf6+ Qxf6 50.Rxf6 Rg3! 51.Rxf5 Rxc3 52.Rxd5 Kh7 53.Rxa5 Kxh6 54.Rc5 Rc2 55.Kh2± 38...Qd8 39.Nh5+! Kh7 40.Nf4 Qe8 41.h5! gxh5 42.Nxh5 Kh8 43.Nf6 Rg7 44.Qh3 Qg6 45.Bxf5 exf5 46.Rxf5 Rgf7 47.Kh2! Qg7 47...Kg7? 48.Rf4! 48.Rh5 Rxf6 49.exf6 Rxf6 50.Rxd5 39.Qxg6+! Kh8 39...Kxg6? 40.Rg3# 40.Bxf5 exf5 40...Rxf6 41.Qh7# 41.Qxh6+ Rh7 42.Qxh7# 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Mason,J | - | Gunsberg,I | - | 1–0 | 1883 | D00 | Nuremberg | |
Mason,J | - | Chigorin,M | - | 1–0 | 1889 | D00 | USA-06 Congress Grand Tournament | 26 |
Mason,J | - | Weiss,M | - | 1–0 | 1882 | D00 | Vienna | 16 |
Mason,J | - | Wittek,A | - | 1–0 | 1882 | D02 | Vienna | 18 |
Mason,J | - | Chigorin,M | - | 1–0 | 1883 | D02 | London | |
Mason,J | - | Englisch,B | - | 1–0 | 1883 | D02 | London | 19 |
Please, wait...
James Mason died on January, 15th, 1905, in Rochford (England). He was 55 years old. As well as his games he also left some remarkable books to the chess world. The best known are "The Principles of Chess" and "The Art of Chess". The didactic method used in them anticipates many things, which were only later deepened and elaborated by authors such as Lasker ("Manual of Chess"), Tarrasch ("The Game of Chess"), Nimzovich ("My System") and Znosko-Borovsky ("The Middle Game in Chess"). They represented a considerable progress compared to the textbooks of that time, because most of them consisted essentially of a conglomeration of innumerable opening variations, games with only brief annotations and the most important endgames.
There are two interesting articles dealing with James Mason by Edward Winter:
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter137.html
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/alcohol.html
What is the trend in the London System? To play with or without Nf3? You can find the answers in the completely new powerbook - based on more than 187 000 games, most of them sourced in the engine room of playchess.