---

Some of my most interesting games often come from tournaments as the daily format allows longer time to think, and there is motivation from both me and the opponent to do well!

In this match, I had the Black pieces and White led with the Queen’s Pawn Opening. As is usual for me, I respond with the Englund Gambit and they accept (1. d4 e5 2. dxe5). White declines from entering the trap lines, which is also fine for me as by move 5 (2… Nc6 3. Nf3 Qe7 4. e3 Nxe5 5. Nxe5 Qxe5), I win back the pawn and we enter a game where the evaluation is equal [0.00] and I’ve taken White out of Queen’s Pawn Opening type positions.

We remain fairly equal and balanced in the rest of the opening and the early middlegame and on move 24, I disrupted the balance! I traded both my rooks for White’s queen, and soon, we entered an endgame where along with pawns, it was White’s rook pair vs my queen.

Often, the queen will outplay a rook pair and in part, it is simply easier to play with the queen than coordinate the rooks. This is especially the case when there are still pawns in play which can impede the mobility of the rooks.

This was demonstrated in this game. On move 27, we entered the endgame and the evaluation on move 28 was [-0.2] after I made an inaccurate move. However, my inaccuracies were rather less impactful than inaccuracies by White. My queen hunted the White king, finding forks and capturing some pawns. And then finally on move 44 with Qe4+, White’s king had only two legal moves. One resulted in a forced loss of one of their rooks. The other was mate. GG!

The big takeaway from this game is to not be afraid of trading both your rooks for the opponent’s queen!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/daily/545389993

[Event "Cellar Dwellers 26 - Round 2"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023.07.30"]
[Round "-"]
[White "TasmanianTone"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Tournament "https://www.chess.com/tournament/cellar-dwellers-26"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "A40"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Englund-Gambit-2.dxe5-Nc6-3.Nf3-Qe7"]
[UTCDate "2023.07.30"]
[UTCTime "03:46:16"]
[WhiteElo "1141"]
[BlackElo "1182"]
[TimeControl "1/259200"]
[Termination "vitualis won by checkmate"]
[StartTime "03:46:16"]
[EndDate "2023.08.21"]
[EndTime "02:14:21"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/daily/545389993"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/44247850.cb43773d.50x50o.74dc6d8463d4.jpg"]
[WhiteCountry "17"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.f52a0759.50x50o.ab18600a8723.png"]
[BlackCountry "17"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. d4 {[%clk 71:45:54]} 1... e5 {[%clk 71:30:36]} 2. dxe5 {[%clk 71:53:28]
Englund Gambit: Accepted} 2... Nc6 {[%clk 71:57:29]} 3. Nf3 {[%clk 71:06:42]}
3... Qe7 {[%clk 71:59:39]} 4. e3 {[%clk 71:36:21] Interesting conservative move
that gives up the pawn [+0.4]} 4... Nxe5 {[%clk 71:59:35]} 5. Nxe5 {[%clk
71:59:06]} 5... Qxe5 {[%clk 71:59:49] And after that opening salvo, the Englund
Gambit has worked [0.00]. The evaluation is equal and White is taken out of
Queen's Pawn Opening theory $1} 6. Nc3 {[%clk 49:48:43]} 6... Nf6 {[%clk
71:49:16]} 7. Bd3 {[%clk 45:44:15]} 7... c6 {[%clk 71:23:33]} 8. O-O {[%clk
30:41:51]} 8... d5 {[%clk 69:47:42]} 9. Bd2 {[%clk 45:55:25]} 9... Bd6 {[%clk
71:46:55][%c_highlight
d6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d6;persistent;false,e5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e5;persistent;false][%c_arrow
d6h2;keyPressed;none;from;d6;opacity;0.8;to;h2;persistent;false] This forces
White to weaken the king's defences} 10. g3 $6 {[%clk 47:11:08][%c_arrow
f2f4;keyPressed;none;from;f2;opacity;0.8;to;f4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f4;persistent;false][%c_effect
g3;square;g3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] White moved the wrong pawn [-1]}
10... Bh3 {[%clk 69:20:38]} 11. Re1 {[%clk 70:56:21]} 11... h5 $2 {[%clk
71:51:43][%c_effect h5;square;h5;type;Mistake;persistent;true] This was a
mistake according to Stockfish [+2.9] as White can credibly attack down the
centre while my king hasn't castled} 12. f4 $2 {[%clk 56:57:35][%c_arrow
e3e4;keyPressed;none;from;e3;opacity;0.8;to;e4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e4;persistent;false][%c_effect
f4;square;f4;type;Mistake;persistent;true] However, White doesn't see the tactic
and this is a mistake [-2.4]} ({Very strong attack available to White} 12. e4 $1
{[%c_effect e4;square;e4;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 12... d4 13. Bf4
{[%c_arrow
f4d6;keyPressed;none;from;f4;opacity;0.8;to;d6;persistent;false,e4e5;keyPressed;shift;from;e4;opacity;0.8;to;e5;persistent;false,e5f6;keyPressed;shift;from;e5;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false,e5d6;keyPressed;shift;from;e5;opacity;0.8;to;d6;persistent;false]
And I'm losing a piece...}) 12... Qe6 {[%clk 71:43:14]} 13. Qf3 {[%clk
71:13:14]} 13... Bg4 $2 {[%clk 71:57:29][%c_arrow
e8c8;keyPressed;none;from;e8;opacity;0.8;to;c8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c8;persistent;false][%c_effect
g4;square;g4;type;Mistake;persistent;true] This was a mistake where I lose some
advantage [-1.4]. Castling the king out of the centre is better.} 14. Qf2 {[%clk
71:57:07]} 14... Ne4 $6 {[%clk 71:36:52][%c_effect
e4;square;e4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
h5h4;keyPressed;none;from;h5;opacity;0.8;to;h4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h4;persistent;false] This was an
inaccuracy [-0.6]. My intuition here was to push the h-pawn, but I couldn't see
how I would make it work. Stockfish can see, however $1} 15. Nxe4 {[%clk
68:30:43]} 15... dxe4 {[%clk 70:34:21]} 16. Be2 {[%clk 55:22:54]} 16... Be7
{[%clk 71:53:50]} 17. Bxg4 {[%clk 70:29:44]} 17... hxg4 $6 {[%clk
71:59:03][%c_arrow
e6g4;keyPressed;none;from;e6;opacity;0.8;to;g4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g4;persistent;false][%c_effect
g4;square;g4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Stockfish recommended committing
with the queen but I got cold feet [0.00]} 18. b3 $6 {[%clk 46:28:02][%c_effect
b3;square;b3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] An inaccuracy [-0.7]} 18... O-O-O
{[%clk 71:55:17]} 19. a4 $6 {[%clk 49:43:43][%c_effect
a4;square;a4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d2c3;keyPressed;none;from;d2;opacity;0.8;to;c3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c3;persistent;false] An inaccuracy [-1.3]}
19... Rh3 {[%clk 71:37:14]} 20. Rad1 {[%clk 45:08:33]} 20... Rdh8 {[%clk
71:28:49]} 21. Bc3 {[%clk 51:42:09]} 21... Qh6 $2 {[%clk 71:16:09][%c_effect
h6;square;h6;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
h3h2;keyPressed;none;from;h3;opacity;0.8;to;h2;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h2;persistent;false] An overly
conservative mistake [0.0] where I lose the advantage of tempo. Immediately
capturing the h2 pawn and trade the rook pair for White's queen is best.} 22.
Re2 {[%clk 25:21:32]} 22... Bc5 {[%clk 71:48:33]} 23. Bd4 {[%clk 49:34:33]}
23... Qd6 {[%clk 71:56:39]} 24. Red2 {[%clk 66:24:53][%c_arrow
f2e1;keyPressed;none;from;f2;opacity;0.8;to;e1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e1;persistent;false] An inaccuracy [-1] as
effectively, I can now force trade the rooks for the queen $1} 24... Rxh2 {[%clk
71:06:13]} 25. Qxh2 {[%clk 71:22:36]} 25... Rxh2 {[%clk 71:35:53]} 26. Rxh2
{[%clk 55:51:33]} 26... Bxd4 {[%clk 71:52:34]} 27. Rxd4 {[%clk 70:48:03]} 27...
Qa3 {[%clk 71:04:33]} 28. Rhd2 {[%clk 48:55:17]} 28... Qc1+ $6 {[%clk
50:49:07][%c_effect c1;square;c1;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
a3a1;keyPressed;none;from;a3;opacity;0.8;to;a1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a1;persistent;false] This was an
inaccuracy [-0.2]. Qa1+ is better as the queen has the dark square diagonal to
manoeuvre to c3.} 29. Kf2 $2 {[%clk 68:40:19][%c_arrow
g1h2;keyPressed;none;from;g1;opacity;0.8;to;h2;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h2;persistent;false][%c_effect
f2;square;f2;type;Mistake;persistent;true] However, this was a mistake [-2] as
it gives the queen room to go to h1} 29... Qh1 {[%clk 66:24:53]} 30. Rd8+ {[%clk
53:34:18]} 30... Kc7 {[%clk 64:59:57]} 31. R2d7+ $2 {[%clk 55:48:52][%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
d7;square;d7;type;Mistake;persistent;true] A natural move, but a mistake as
White has no more checks with their rooks [-4.7]} 31... Kb6 {[%clk 70:58:27]}
32. b4 $6 {[%clk 67:40:34][%c_arrow
f2e2;keyPressed;none;from;f2;opacity;0.8;to;e2;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e2;persistent;false][%c_effect
b4;square;b4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Natural looking move to trap my
king, but my queen is simply too powerful so this is an inaccuracy [-5.7]} 32...
Qf3+ {[%clk 71:58:36]} 33. Ke1 {[%clk 71:55:40]} 33... Qxe3+ {[%clk 71:59:43]}
34. Kd1 {[%clk 71:34:55]} 34... Qf3+ {[%clk 71:40:09]} 35. Kc1 {[%clk 71:35:37]}
35... Qa3+ {[%clk 71:41:12]} 36. Kd1 {[%clk 55:18:53]} 36... Qxa4 $6 {[%clk
71:58:10][%c_arrow
a3f3;keyPressed;none;from;a3;opacity;0.8;to;f3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f3;persistent;false][%c_effect
a4;square;a4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Stockfish isn't concerned that the
king could get trapped but I can't play perfectly. I decide to take away this
danger, but is is a relative mistake [ -3.4]. However, I'm still winning so I
think this is still the human move.} 37. Rb8 {[%clk 70:00:34]} 37... Qa1+ {[%clk
71:59:10]} 38. Kd2 {[%clk 68:12:48][%c_arrow
d1e2;keyPressed;none;from;d1;opacity;0.8;to;e2;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e2;persistent;false] An inaccuracy [-4.6]}
38... e3+ $5 {[%clk 72:00:00][%c_effect
e3;square;e3;type;Interesting;persistent;true] I gambit this pawn $1 Stockfish
calls this a mistake [-1.7], but that's only if White doesn't take the pawn.}
39. Kxe3 $4 {[%clk 71:59:51][%c_effect
e3;square;e3;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d2e2;keyPressed;none;from;d2;opacity;0.8;to;e2;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e2;persistent;false] But it looks
irresistable and I was calculating possible checkmates at this point [-6.3]}
39... Qc3+ $6 {[%clk 72:00:00][%c_arrow
a1e1;keyPressed;none;from;a1;opacity;0.8;to;e1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e1;persistent;false][%c_effect
c3;square;c3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Not the most accurate but it's
fine [-4.4]} ({The more accurate move that cleanly wins a rook} 39... Qe1+ 40.
Kd3 Qd1+ {[%c_arrow
d1d7;keyPressed;none;from;d1;opacity;0.8;to;d7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d3;persistent;false,d7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d7;persistent;false]
Skewer $1}) 40. Rd3 $2 {[%clk 71:58:31][%c_effect
d3;square;d3;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e3e2;keyPressed;none;from;e3;opacity;0.8;to;e2;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e2;persistent;false] A very difficult
position to play for White, which is why a queen is often better than two rooks
[-6.5]} 40... Qe1+ $1 {[%clk 71:56:47][%c_effect
e1;square;e1;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 41. Kd4 {[%clk 54:44:35]} 41...
Qxb4+ {[%clk 72:00:00]} 42. Ke3 {[%clk 70:05:47]} 42... Qe1+ {[%clk 72:00:00]}
43. Kd4 {[%clk 71:59:34]} 43... c5+ {[%clk 72:00:00]} 44. Kc4 {[%clk 71:59:36]}
44... Qe4+ {[%clk 71:33:27]} 45. Kc3 $4 {[%clk 70:56:50][%c_effect
c3;square;c3;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c4b3;keyPressed;none;from;c4;opacity;0.8;to;b3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
b3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b3;persistent;false] A blunder, though
White only had the choice between checkmate and losing the rook} 45... Qb4#
{[%clk 72:00:00][%c_effect
b6;square;b6;type;Winner,c3;square;c3;type;CheckmateWhite] GG $1} 0-1