The Boring System revisited

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Back in October, I faced a London System and complained that it led to a dull game that noone could possibly enjoy, and I couldn't beat it, and wouldn't someone please suggest some way to spice things up?

Last week, however, I met it again and was quite happy to play the same tedious lines all over again. The difference? In the earlier game I held a rating advantage of about 15 ECF points (about 120 Elo, for any non-English readers); but in this second game I was outrated by 20 points (say 150 Elo).

Actually, I think this is quite rational. As black, against a stronger opponent, I should be happy to hold a draw. Certainly I don't think that it should be up to me to create complications. I've no idea, though, why white would choose to play this way. I'm pretty sure that he wasn't playing for a draw, but he never really looked like getting anything more. If anything, black was developing a slight edge before dropping a pawn and shutting up shop.

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