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chess noob Quick Wins! is a series of short videos, to demonstrate very quick wins! As a beginner, you become aware of the Scholar’s Mate and the Fool’s Mate, but neither of these show up in real games. However, there are tricky quick checkmates and wins that occur, even at the intermediate level of chess.

The Englund Gambit trap line is enormously fun as a range of delicious wins can occur, even when the famous 8-move checkmate doesn’t necessarily happen. In this game, my opponent planned a civilised game of the Queen’s Pawn Opening, but I ruined that with the Englund Gambit, which they accepted (1. d4 e5 2. dxe5).

We enter the Main Line and arrive at the “killer queen” triple fork positions (2… Nc6 3. Nf3 Qe7 4. Bf4 Qb4+). White has a think and finds the best move, the backwards bishop move, and I capture b2 (5. Bd2 Qxb2). Then, they almost immediately play the blunder move (6. Bc3), which likely indicates they may have calculated this previously. The thing is that this move LOOKS good – it attacks the queen, it’s defended, and provides x-ray defence of the rook in the corner. It’s so natural!

However, it’s a blunder because after (6… Bb4), the bishop is pinned against the king and at best, White must accept material loss. We trade bishops, and then White plays (8. Qd4), a seeming audacious move that “forces” a queen trade. Except it doesn’t!

Without calculating too deeply, I play (8… Nxc2+), a royal fork! Emotional damage, and White resigns. However, there was an even better move! I should have played (8… Qc1+)! White would have been forced to bring the queen back to d1 to block the check, but then, Nxc2#. It isn’t quite a smothered mate, but it’s definitely a SNUGGLE mate! GG!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/84511343867

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023.07.31"]
[Round "-"]
[White "garlenus"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "A40"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Englund-Gambit-2.dxe5-Nc6-3.Nf3-Qe7"]
[UTCDate "2023.07.31"]
[UTCTime "02:56:37"]
[WhiteElo "1414"]
[BlackElo "1401"]
[TimeControl "900+10"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]
[StartTime "02:56:37"]
[EndDate "2023.07.31"]
[EndTime "03:00:38"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/84511343867"]
[WhiteUrl "https://www.chess.com/bundles/web/images/noavatar_l.84a92436.gif"]
[WhiteCountry "2"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.f52a0759.50x50o.ab18600a8723.png"]
[BlackCountry "17"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. d4 {[%clk 0:14:58.7]} 1... e5 {[%clk 0:15:08.2]} 2. dxe5 {[%clk 0:15:05.8]
Englund Gambit Accepted $1} 2... Nc6 {[%clk 0:15:16.5]} 3. Nf3 {[%clk 0:15:13]}
3... Qe7 {[%clk 0:15:24]} 4. Bf4 {[%clk 0:15:12.8]} 4... Qb4+ {[%clk
0:15:32.5][%c_arrow
b4b2;keyPressed;none;from;b4;opacity;0.8;to;b2;persistent;false,b4e1;keyPressed;none;from;b4;opacity;0.8;to;e1;persistent;false,b4f4;keyPressed;none;from;b4;opacity;0.8;to;f4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f4;persistent;false,e1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e1;persistent;false,b2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b2;persistent;false]
Killer Queen of the Englund Gambit $1} 5. Bd2 $1 {[%clk 0:14:48.2][%c_effect
d2;square;d2;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 5... Qxb2 {[%clk 0:15:39.9]} 6.
Bc3 $4 {[%clk 0:14:45.5][%c_effect c3;square;c3;type;Blunder;persistent;true]
Such a natural move, but it's a serious blunder $1} 6... Bb4 $1 {[%clk
0:15:47.9][%c_effect b4;square;b4;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 7. Bxb4
{[%clk 0:14:25.7]} 7... Nxb4 {[%clk 0:14:52.5]} 8. Qd4 $4 {[%clk
0:13:52.6][%c_effect d4;square;d4;type;Blunder;persistent;true] A blunder [-M2]}
8... Nxc2+ {[%clk 0:14:57.3][%c_effect
e8;square;e8;type;Winner,e1;square;e1;type;ResignWhite] Emotional damage $1 But
there was a better move...} (8... Qc1+ 9. Qd1 Nxc2# {Not quite a smothered mate,
but it's definitely a SNUGGLE mate $1}) 0-1