Best Jobava London Courses

If you are under about 1500 and have not played the classical London yet, learn that first. If you have settled on the Jobava London, compare Elisabeth Pähtz's ChessBase course (€29.90, about 6 hours, December 2021), the cheapest with a public chapter list, with GMs Szymon Gumularz and Pier Luigi Basso's Modern Chess repertoire (€99, 4h 43m, June 2026), the newest. Modern Chess's two-part course by Jobava and Basso (€198, 14h 45m) is the only one we read whose chapter list names what to do after 1...Nf6 without ...d5. Prices are as of 8 November 2026.

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Test depth: Public information only. Nobody at ChessCourseFinder has taken these courses. This page is based on published documentation, pricing and reports read on 8 November 2026. How we review explains the limits.

How we picked

We listed every Jobava London course our research found and flagged how each was documented. Catalogue research counted seven (Chessable 4, ChessBase 1, Modern Chess 2), and for this update we read Modern Chess's pages for the Gumularz and Basso repertoire and Jobava and Basso's series, which the first count did not include in full. Chessable pages could not be read directly. We did not rank the Chessable titles, because ranking them on a search snippet would be guessing. Courses that teach how to beat the Jobava (as Black) are excluded.

Do you need a course at your level?

Probably not yet. The Jobava London is the Nc3 version of the London: the knight comes out early and the bishop goes to f4, instead of the quieter e3, Nf3 and Nbd2 build-up of the classical London. Coaches commonly advise a simpler set-up for newer players, which is received wisdom rather than a measured result, so below about 1500 the classical London is the more conventional base. Come to a Jobava course once you have chosen the system and keep meeting the same Black replies.

Theory load

Sellers call it light, and our reading is moderate. Modern Chess's Gumularz and Basso page says "low theory, high results". Pähtz's page says "there is no need to learn tons of theory". US Chess Sales, a chess retailer, says there is less theory to learn than in the regular London. John Watson, in a May 2022 Chess Life review posted by ChessBase, wrote more cautiously that it has become popular "largely without needing massive preparation".

Against that, each Black third move calls for a different set-up. Pähtz's chapter 1 alone has several branches after 4.Nb5 (4...Bd6, 4...Bb4+ and three 4...Na6 lines), and Gumularz and Basso's chapter titles run to fifteen. So the honest answer is that you avoid long forcing theory but still have a separate plan to learn against each reply. Our view is that the load is probably higher than the classical London's, because the piece placement changes with Black's move, and that is opinion.

The move-order problem a buyer has to solve

The two chapter lists above start from 1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bf4, but you do not always get that order, and this is the question a course page is least likely to answer.

These figures combine all ratings and speeds, and your own pool will differ.

The practical choice after 1...Nf6 2.Nc3 is between keeping Bf4 anyway and switching with 3.e4, which US Chess Sales says White can play when Black does not answer 2.Nc3 with 2...d5. Going 3.e4 steers towards Pirc-type or French-type positions, and that is extra material outside a Jobava course. Another route, shown in Wikipedia's sample line, starts 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 and brings the knight to c3 later. That keeps the bishop move but gives Black other options: the same article names 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 c5 3.e3 Qb6, hitting b2, as the most critical line.

Watson's review treats the fianchetto as one of the two main defences and says the Jobava is "particularly fun to play against KID and Grünfeld move orders". Before buying, check whether the course shows the fianchetto with ...d6 as well as with ...d5, since those need different plans.

Coverage matrix

"Listed" means the seller's chapter list names the line. "Not named" means it is not in the chapter titles we read, which may not mean it is absent.

The sharpest gap between these courses is 3...c5. Pähtz's page gives it only two entries in an extra chapter, while Gumularz and Basso's page calls 3...c5 "the modern main line" and its 4.e3 cxd4 5.exd4 chapter "the longest and most important". Pähtz's course is from December 2021, so if you expect that reply it is the first thing to check.

The courses we found

Prices below are as shown on 8 November 2026. Cost per hour is our calculation, and listed hours are not study time. The Modern Chess rows (and the Modern Chess quotations and chapter details elsewhere on this page) come from pages read earlier that day; a later re-check returned HTTP 429, we did not retry, and they were not re-confirmed, so check them on the seller's page. The ChessBase and Lichess figures were re-read.

Our research flagged two further Chessable titles, a "Lifetime Repertoires" Jobava London that one result labelled "(got for free)" and a short "Short & Sweet" version, as unresolved on price and identity, so they are not counted. Short & Sweet courses moved behind Chessable PRO, as our free-courses page records, so do not assume either is free.

How to choose between them

There is no reliable quality ranking, so choose by constraint. These are provisional judgements from public pages, and documentation is not the same as quality.

• Lowest cost with a chapter list: Pähtz, at about a third of the Modern Chess price. Check the 3...c5 coverage first.
• Newest and one purchase: Gumularz and Basso, at €99, if you can accept that all sales are final.
• Most material and the move-order sidelines: Jobava and Basso, at €198 for two parts.
• A Chessable course: check for a chapter list by Black's third move before paying, and look at the with-video price, since the trainer-only price has no video.

Modern Chess's terms, last updated 29 December 2025, say all sales are final once access is given, so use the free preview on each course page before buying.

Who should skip a Jobava course

Skip it if you have not tried the system in games, if you prefer a quiet position, or if you only want the London's basic pawn structure; for that, our classical London guide and the low-theory repertoire page are better starting points.

Free and cheaper routes

Free study covers much of the early moves: the opening explorer and public studies on Lichess (Lichess studies and practice) show the replies played at your rating. Watson's review is free to read and compares how the different products meet 3...c6 and the fianchetto, though it is from 2022.

What the seller's pages do not tell you

• The Chessable titles have no public chapter list we could read, so they cannot be checked against Black's third moves.
• Pähtz's page gives two different running times (6 hours of video, and "approx. 4-8 hrs"), and its stated level ("Advanced, Tournament player, Professional") is well above the 1500 line this page uses for the classical London, so check it before buying.
• The Chessable prices we saw are for the trainer without video; the video edition is priced several times higher in the snippet.
• Neither Pähtz's page nor Gumularz and Basso's names the fianchetto with ...d6 or a 1...Nf6 reply without ...d5, the positions that come up when Black avoids 1...d5.
• Modern Chess's series pages do not say which of its Jobava repertoires it recommends for which player.

See also how to choose a chess course, our Pähtz London review for her classical course, and the openings hub.