The Englund Gambit, against the Queen’s Pawn Opening, sometimes gets a bit of criticism from intermediate players who claim that it’s no good once White learns to deal with the trap lines. I would counter, however, that it remains a strong and tricky system for the player in Black, who wants to avoid the positional games and theory that come out of (1. d4) – for instance, the Queen’s Gambit lines, or the London system. I would also note that International Master Levy Rozman (aka GothamChess) reports in his YouTube videos that the Englund Gambit remains playable in online games all the way to master levels.

One of the things with the Englund Gambit is that if White avoids the trap lines by declining the gambit, or playing moves take takes it out of the trap lines, it’s fine for Black! We see this in this game!

After the gambit is accepted, White avoids the trap line by playing f4 (1. d4 e5 2. dxe5 Nc6 f4). Although this is “okay” [+0.2] I’ve basically equalised as Black, White has some structural weaknesses on the kingside, and it’s likely that White as a Queen’s Pawn Opening player, is completely out of opening theory on move 3!

Although the games continue for some moves yet, as we’ll see, this permanent weakness in the defences on the kingside contributes to White’s eventual loss!

In the opening, my general approach was to simply develop pieces normally, and by move 6, Black had a [-1] advantage despite being down a point of material. All my minor pieces were developed, all of White’s pieces were still on the back rank, and I was prepared to potentially castle either side. The advantage of the Englund Gambit is rapid development and positional advantage.

On move 10, a forward knight advance forced a concession from White who had yet to be able to castle. An impending fork of the king and rook resulted in White moving their king (11. Kd1). Now, the king was stuck in the centre of the back rank! Stockfish now rated the evaluation at almost [-4], again, with White up a point of material.

Entering the middle game, the position gets quite complicated, and neither my opponent nor I play accurately. However, ignoring the blips, the evaluation mostly stays between [-2] and [-4]. We trade some pieces, with each trade giving me the advantage. Simply, I had more developed pieces, White’s king was in the centre, and my rooks and queen were developed controlling the centre files.

Then on move 28, I found a royal fork with my knight (28… Ng2+). As foreshadowed in the opening, this was only possible due to the weakened pawns on the kingside, and White opted to resign. GG!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/69032503201

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023.02.01"]
[Round "-"]
[White "cabfranca"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "A40"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Englund-Gambit-2.dxe5-Nc6"]
[UTCDate "2023.02.01"]
[UTCTime "23:17:04"]
[WhiteElo "1229"]
[BlackElo "1433"]
[TimeControl "1800"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]
[StartTime "23:17:04"]
[EndDate "2023.02.01"]
[EndTime "23:52:29"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/69032503201"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/119858312.c9840011.50x50o.108d6fd4fe16.jpeg"]
[WhiteCountry "27"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.82046355.50x50o.c8c8e6b7296c.jpg"]
[BlackCountry "17"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. d4 e5 2. dxe5 {Englund Gambit Accepted [+1]} 2... Nc6 3. f4 $6 {[%c_effect
f4;square;f4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
g1f3;keyPressed;none;from;g1;opacity;0.8;to;f3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f3;persistent;false] An inaccuracy [+0.3]}
3... d6 4. exd6 Bxd6 5. g3 $2 {[%c_effect
g3;square;g3;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e2e4;keyPressed;none;from;e2;opacity;0.8;to;e4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e4;persistent;false] A mistake [-1.6]. One
of the potential goals of the Englund Gambit is to take the Queen's Pawn Opening
player out of their opening theory and induce errors.} 5... Nf6 6. e3 Bf5 $6
{[%c_effect f5;square;f5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c8g4;keyPressed;none;from;c8;opacity;0.8;to;g4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g4;persistent;false] Stockfish recommends
a more aggressive approach with White having weaking their light squares around
the king [-1.1]} 7. Bd3 $6 {[%c_effect
d3;square;d3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] An inaccuracy [-1.8]} 7... Be4 $2
{[%c_arrow
d6b4;keyPressed;none;from;d6;opacity;0.8;to;b4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
b4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b4;persistent;false][%c_effect
e4;square;e4;type;Mistake;keyPressed;undefined;persistent;true] A mistake
[+0.4]} 8. Bxe4 $6 {[%c_effect
e4;square;e4;type;Inaccuracy;keyPressed;undefined;persistent;true][%c_arrow
g1f3;keyPressed;none;from;g1;opacity;0.8;to;f3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f3;persistent;false] However, White
captured in the way I expected, so it ended up okay for me [-0.5]} 8... Nxe4 9.
Qf3 f5 10. Nd2 Nb4 11. Kd1 $2 {[%c_effect
d1;square;d1;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d2e4;keyPressed;none;from;d2;opacity;0.8;to;e4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e4;persistent;false] A mistake [-3.8]}
11... Bc5 $1 {[%c_effect c5;square;c5;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 12. a3 Nc6 $2
{[%c_arrow
b4d5;keyPressed;none;from;b4;opacity;0.8;to;d5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d5;persistent;false][%c_effect
c6;square;c6;type;Mistake;persistent;true] Stockfish considered Nd5 to be the
better move [-1.32]} 13. Ne2 $2 {[%c_effect
e2;square;e2;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d1e1;keyPressed;none;from;d1;opacity;0.8;to;e1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e1;persistent;false] But only if White saw
that the best tactic was to unpin their knight, which they didn't [-4]} 13...
O-O $2 $9 {[%c_arrow
d8d7;keyPressed;none;from;d8;opacity;0.8;to;d7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d7;persistent;false][%c_effect
g8;square;g8;type;Mistake;persistent;true] Complicated position. Qd7 was optimal
but it isn't clear why to me [-4 to -0.5]} 14. h4 $2 $9 {[%c_arrow
d1e1;keyPressed;none;from;d1;opacity;0.8;to;e1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e1;persistent;false][%c_effect
h4;square;h4;type;Mistake;persistent;true] A mistake [-4.4]} 14... a5 $6
{[%c_effect a5;square;a5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_highlight
e8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e8;persistent;false][%c_arrow
f8e8;keyPressed;none;from;f8;opacity;0.8;to;e8;persistent;false] Defending the
knight on e4 is best as Ke1 unpins White's knight [-2.7]} 15. h5 $6 {[%c_effect
h5;square;h5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d1e1;keyPressed;none;from;d1;opacity;0.8;to;e1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e1;persistent;false] [-4.1]} 15... h6 16.
Ke1 Nf6 17. Nc4 $6 {[%c_effect
c4;square;c4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d2b1;keyPressed;none;from;d2;opacity;0.8;to;b1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
b1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b1;persistent;false] An inaccuracy [-4.9]}
17... b5 $4 {[%c_effect b5;square;b5;type;Blunder;persistent;true] A blunder
[+5.8] as a I hang the knight} 18. Ne5 $2 $9 {[%c_effect
e5;square;e5;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
f3c6;keyPressed;none;from;f3;opacity;0.8;to;c6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c6;persistent;false] A mistake [-3.3]}
18... Nxe5 19. fxe5 Ng4 20. Nf4 Nxe5 $6 {[%c_arrow
f8e8;keyPressed;none;from;f8;opacity;0.8;to;e8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e8;persistent;false][%c_effect
e5;square;e5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Stockfish calls this an inaccuracy
[-2.2]} 21. Qg2 $2 {[%c_effect g2;square;g2;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
f3d5;keyPressed;none;from;f3;opacity;0.8;to;d5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d5;persistent;false] A mistake [-4.7]}
21... Qe8 $2 {[%c_effect e8;square;e8;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c7c6;keyPressed;none;from;c7;opacity;0.8;to;c6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c6;persistent;false] Complex position
[0.00]} 22. Nd5 $4 $9 {[%c_effect
d5;square;d5;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_arrow
g2d5;keyPressed;none;from;g2;opacity;0.8;to;d5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d5;persistent;false] A blunder [-7.2]}
22... Rc8 23. Nxc7 $2 {[%c_effect c7;square;c7;type;Mistake;persistent;true] A
mistake [-11]} 23... Rxc7 24. Qd5+ Kh8 25. Bd2 Bxe3 26. Bxe3 Ng4 27. Qd4 $6
{[%c_effect d4;square;d4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Apparently, there is a
forced [-M11] from this position} 27... Nxe3 28. Qf4 $6 {[%c_effect
f4;square;f4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true]} 28... Ng2+ {[%c_effect
h8;square;h8;type;Winner,e1;square;e1;type;ResignWhite] <br /><br />Game may
have continued...} (28... Ng2+ 29. Kf1 Nxf4 30. Rh2 Qe4 31. gxf4 Rd8 32. Kg1
Rcd7 33. Rf2 Rd1+ 34. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 35. Rf1 Qe3+ 36. Kh2 Rd2+ 37. Kh1 Qh3+ 38. Kg1
Qg2#) 0-1