---

This was a super interesting and fun game I played earlier in the week that really played out in three stages!

I had the Black pieces and as usual against the Queen’s Pawn Opening, I played the Englund Gambit, to which my opponent Declined (1. d4 e5 2. d5). I usually played (2… Nf6) in this position, but I don’t especially like those lines. The position is often a bit closed and although White’s pawn on d5 is over extended, it is often quite irritating as there isn’t an easy way to get rid of it quickly.

In this game, I decided to try the (2… c6) line! It’s only slightly less optimal according to Stockfish, but it immediately asks White the question of what the pawn is doing there! And it worked! One of the tactical themes in the Englund Gambit (e.g., the trap line) is that Black can place overwhelming pressure on White’s queenside. And this worked out well in the opening! Firstly, I damaged White’s queenside pawn structure by trading my dark square bishop for their knight, and then with the c-pawn moved, my queen now flies to the a-file (7… Qa5), again pressuring the weak dark square diagonal to the king!

On move 15, I had a strong sense I had a good position, but I couldn’t see the continuation. Eventually, I decided to “cash out” by trading queens. White has lost their right to castle, a smashed queenside, and down a pawn. I thought that that was adequate compensation moving to the next stage of the game. Interestingly, Stockfish called it [0.00]!

The next stage involved some middlegame positional play. White had the bishop pair but couldn’t utilise them to their advantage. I managed to trap White’s dark square bishop in their attempt to defend their advanced d-pawn. Eventually, we traded further pieces and entered a rook and pawn endgame where I held a two-pawn advantage, and even better, I had connected passed pawns.

The final stage was a demonstration of how to pawns, king, and rook walk hand in hand down the board. White played very accurately here, but a single rook and king cannot stop the advance. Nonetheless, White played on valiantly, only resigning on move 62. My pieces had reached the second rank and all hope was lost. GG!

The big takeaway from this game is to potentially try the 2… c6 line if your opponent declines your Englund Gambit! Focus on attacking on the queenside – it’s a fun line to play!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/88238381413

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023.09.12"]
[Round "-"]
[White "The-Black-Horse"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "A40"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Englund-Gambit-Declined"]
[UTCDate "2023.09.12"]
[UTCTime "06:16:26"]
[WhiteElo "1310"]
[BlackElo "1346"]
[TimeControl "900+10"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]
[StartTime "06:16:26"]
[EndDate "2023.09.12"]
[EndTime "06:44:38"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/88238381413"]
[WhiteUrl "https://www.chess.com/bundles/web/images/noavatar_l.84a92436.gif"]
[WhiteCountry "45"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.f52a0759.50x50o.ab18600a8723.png"]
[BlackCountry "17"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. d4 {[%clk 0:15:03]} 1... e5 {[%clk 0:15:01.4]} 2. d5 $6 {[%clk
0:15:08.8][%c_effect d5;square;d5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Englund
Gambit Declined. Technically it's good for Black [-0.2] but it isn't necessarily
so easy to play and historically, I've won less than half the time} 2... c6
{[%clk 0:14:49.1][%c_arrow
g8f6;keyPressed;none;from;g8;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false,f8c5;keyPressed;none;from;f8;opacity;0.8;to;c5;persistent;false,c5b4;keyPressed;none;from;c5;opacity;0.8;to;b4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f6;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false,b4;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;b4;persistent;false,c5;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;c5;persistent;false]
I usually play Nf6 but I thought that I'd try the more confrontational c6 line
this time $1} 3. Nc3 {[%clk 0:14:55.6]} 3... Nf6 {[%clk 0:14:44.5]} 4. Bg5 {[%clk
0:14:56.6]} 4... Bb4 {[%clk 0:14:37.7]} 5. d6 $6 {[%clk 0:14:55][%c_effect
d6;square;d6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] An inaccuracy [-1.3]} 5... Bxc3+ $6
{[%clk 0:14:38.8][%c_arrow
d8a5;keyPressed;none;from;d8;opacity;0.8;to;a5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a5;persistent;false][%c_effect
c3;square;c3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] One of the things with the Englund
Gambit is that it can quickly attack White's queenside and weaken the queenside
diagonal to the king, which is a little unusual. I decided to immediately \"cash
out\" my advantage, but Stockfish suggests increasing the pressure with Qa5
first [-0.9]} 6. bxc3 {[%clk 0:15:01.4]} 6... h6 {[%clk 0:14:47.9]} 7. Bh4 $6
{[%clk 0:15:01.3][%c_effect
h4;square;h4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_highlight
f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false][%c_arrow
g5f6;keyPressed;none;from;g5;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false] An inaccuracy
[-1.3]. It would have been better to take the knight, the draw the Black queen
away from the queenside.} 7... Qa5 $1 {[%clk 0:14:19.7][%c_effect
a5;square;a5;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_arrow
a5c3;keyPressed;none;from;a5;opacity;0.8;to;c3;persistent;false,c3e1;keyPressed;none;from;c3;opacity;0.8;to;e1;persistent;false,c3a1;keyPressed;none;from;c3;opacity;0.8;to;a1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c3;persistent;false] White's weak
queenside dark squares is revealed} 8. Qd2 $2 {[%clk 0:14:58.7][%c_effect
d2;square;d2;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d1d3;keyPressed;none;from;d1;opacity;0.8;to;d3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d3;persistent;false] A mistake [-2.7]}
8... Ne4 $1 {[%clk 0:14:20.6][%c_effect
e4;square;e4;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e4d2;keyPressed;none;from;e4;opacity;0.8;to;d2;persistent;false,e4d6;keyPressed;none;from;e4;opacity;0.8;to;d6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d2;persistent;false,d6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d6;persistent;false]}
9. Qd3 {[%clk 0:14:41.5]} 9... Nxc3 $6 {[%clk 0:13:36.2][%c_effect
c3;square;c3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e4d6;keyPressed;none;from;e4;opacity;0.8;to;d6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d6;persistent;false] Stockfish calls this
an inaccuracy [-2.2] as the knight could capture the d-pawn $1 If the White's
queen captures back on d6, the Qxc3+ is a fork of the king and rook} 10. Qd2
{[%clk 0:14:26.8]} 10... b5 $6 {[%clk 0:12:06][%c_arrow
a5a3;keyPressed;none;from;a5;opacity;0.8;to;a3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a3;persistent;false][%c_effect
b5;square;b5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] An inaccuracy but a complicated
position [-1.5]} 11. Nf3 $6 {[%clk 0:14:16.3][%c_arrow
a2a3;keyPressed;none;from;a2;opacity;0.8;to;a3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a3;persistent;false][%c_effect
f3;square;f3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] This developing move was an
inaccuracy [-2.6]} 11... b4 {[%clk 0:11:58.8] My logic was to advance the b-pawn
and free the queen from guarding the knight} 12. e3 $6 {[%clk
0:13:43.9][%c_effect e3;square;e3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d2e3;keyPressed;none;from;d2;opacity;0.8;to;e3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e3;persistent;false]} 12... Ne4 {[%clk
0:11:45.2]} 13. Qd3 $6 {[%clk 0:13:42.9][%c_effect
d3;square;d3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d2c1;keyPressed;none;from;d2;opacity;0.8;to;c1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c1;persistent;false]} 13... b3+ $1 {[%clk
0:11:43.7][%c_effect b3;square;b3;type;GreatFind;persistent;true] Taking
advantage of the weak dark squares - discovered check with an advance of the
b-pawn $1 [-3.2]} 14. Nd2 {[%clk 0:13:41.3]} 14... Nxd2 {[%clk 0:09:48]} 15. Qxd2
{[%clk 0:13:46.1]} 15... Qxd2+ $2 {[%clk 0:09:36.6][%c_effect
d2;square;d2;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
b3b2;keyPressed;none;from;b3;opacity;0.8;to;b2;persistent;false][%c_highlight
b2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b2;persistent;false] In this position, I
couldn't decide the best move. I'd been thinking of this position for a while
for the last several moves and I decided to just cash out and accept the smashed
queenside as compensation. This was a mistake [0.00].} ({What I should have
played $1} 15... b2 16. Rb1 Qxa2 {And chess continues in a very nice position $1}
17. Qd1) 16. Kxd2 {[%clk 0:13:53.3]} 16... bxc2 {[%clk 0:09:25.8]} 17. Kxc2
{[%clk 0:14:00.4]} 17... O-O {[%clk 0:09:31.7] And now we enter stage 2 of the
game $1} 18. Be7 {[%clk 0:14:05.1]} 18... Re8 {[%clk 0:09:38.5]} 19. g3 {[%clk
0:13:56.7]} 19... Na6 {[%clk 0:09:20.4]} 20. Bh3 $2 {[%clk 0:13:34.9][%c_effect
h3;square;h3;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
a1b1;keyPressed;none;from;a1;opacity;0.8;to;b1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
b1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b1;persistent;false] A mistake [-2.9]}
20... Nb4+ $1 {[%clk 0:09:16.4][%c_effect
b4;square;b4;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 21. Kd2 {[%clk 0:13:38.6]} 21...
f6 $2 {[%clk 0:09:02.9][%c_effect
f6;square;f6;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%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] My logic was to trap
the gate on the dark square bishop. However, this wasn't necessary and I could
have played Nd5 immediately [0.00]} ({The bishop was trapped anyway...} 21...
Nd5 {[%c_arrow
d5e7;keyPressed;none;from;d5;opacity;0.8;to;e7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e7;persistent;false]} 22. Bh4 g5
{[%c_arrow
g5h4;keyPressed;none;from;g5;opacity;0.8;to;h4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h4;persistent;false] There was already no
esacape...}) 22. Ke2 $2 {[%clk 0:13:36.4][%c_effect
e2;square;e2;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
h3f1;keyPressed;none;from;h3;opacity;0.8;to;f1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f1;persistent;false] Bf1 to be able to
play Bc4 pinning the knight is extremely difficult to see $1 By not playing this,
it is a mistake [-3.2]} 22... Nd5 $1 {[%clk 0:09:11.7][%c_effect
d5;square;d5;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 23. f4 {[%clk 0:13:02.7]} 23...
Nxe7 {[%clk 0:09:18.5]} 24. dxe7 {[%clk 0:13:07.1]} 24... Rxe7 {[%clk
0:09:27.6]} 25. f5 {[%clk 0:13:12.3]} 25... Ba6+ {[%clk 0:09:26.6]} 26. Kf2
{[%clk 0:13:19.1]} 26... Rb8 {[%clk 0:09:25.7]} 27. Rhb1 {[%clk 0:13:23]} 27...
Ree8 {[%clk 0:08:36.3] I decided to play conservatively. However, as I'm up on
material, the simpler approach would have been to simply trade down pieces} 28.
Bf1 {[%clk 0:13:10]} 28... Bxf1 {[%clk 0:08:40]} 29. Kxf1 {[%clk 0:13:17.5]}
29... Kf7 {[%clk 0:08:39.4]} 30. g4 {[%clk 0:13:23.5]} 30... g6 {[%clk
0:08:32.8]} 31. e4 {[%clk 0:13:30.5]} 31... d5 {[%clk 0:08:14.7]} 32. exd5
{[%clk 0:13:17.1]} 32... cxd5 {[%clk 0:08:23.7]} 33. Rd1 {[%clk 0:13:23.1]}
33... d4 {[%clk 0:08:25.6]} 34. Ke2 {[%clk 0:13:27.2]} 34... Rb2+ {[%clk
0:08:26.8]} 35. Rd2 {[%clk 0:13:31.9]} 35... Reb8 {[%clk 0:08:24.1]} 36. fxg6+
{[%clk 0:13:29.2]} 36... Kxg6 {[%clk 0:08:32.7]} 37. h4 {[%clk 0:13:28.8]} 37...
Rxd2+ {[%clk 0:08:25.7]} 38. Kxd2 {[%clk 0:13:31.5]} 38... Rb2+ {[%clk
0:08:34.1] And we're now in a rook and pawn endgame where I'm ahead on material.
My goal was to aim to remove White's a-pawn and trade away the rooks, which
would make the endgame unloseable} 39. Kd3 {[%clk 0:13:36.5]} 39... Rg2 {[%clk
0:08:30.1]} 40. a4 {[%clk 0:13:25.3]} 40... Rxg4 {[%clk 0:08:36.8]} 41. Rh1
{[%clk 0:13:15.6]} 41... h5 {[%clk 0:08:40.3]} 42. Kc4 {[%clk 0:13:19.2]} 42...
d3+ {[%clk 0:08:42.5]} 43. Kxd3 {[%clk 0:13:27.5]} 43... Rxa4 {[%clk 0:08:51.2]
a-pawn gone} 44. Rg1+ {[%clk 0:13:32.1]} 44... Rg4 {[%clk 0:08:57.7]} 45. Ra1
{[%clk 0:13:35.2]} 45... Rxh4 {[%clk 0:08:59.3] White has no pawns left. With
connected passed pawns, the win is easy} 46. Rxa7 {[%clk 0:13:42.2]} 46... Rd4+
{[%clk 0:09:08.4]} 47. Ke3 {[%clk 0:13:49.4]} 47... Kf5 {[%clk 0:09:06.2]} 48.
Rh7 {[%clk 0:13:51.6]} 48... h4 {[%clk 0:09:14.3]} 49. Kf3 {[%clk 0:13:57.4]}
49... Rd3+ {[%clk 0:09:12.8]} 50. Ke2 {[%clk 0:14:01.7]} 50... Rh3 {[%clk
0:09:13]} 51. Kf2 {[%clk 0:14:06.5]} 51... Kf4 {[%clk 0:08:44.3]} 52. Rf7 {[%clk
0:14:06.9]} 52... f5 {[%clk 0:08:52.7]} 53. Ra7 {[%clk 0:14:08.9]} 53... Rh2+
{[%clk 0:08:54.7]} 54. Kg1 {[%clk 0:14:14.9]} 54... Rb2 {[%clk 0:08:48.8]} 55.
Ra3 {[%clk 0:14:13.6]} 55... e4 {[%clk 0:08:53.7]} 56. Rh3 {[%clk 0:14:14.8]}
56... Kg4 {[%clk 0:08:54.8]} 57. Rc3 {[%clk 0:14:19.4]} 57... f4 {[%clk
0:09:00.2]} 58. Rc4 {[%clk 0:14:20.5]} 58... Kg3 {[%clk 0:08:41.9]} 59. Rc3+
{[%clk 0:14:17.4]} 59... e3 {[%clk 0:08:42.7]} 60. Rc1 {[%clk 0:14:21.9] A
necessary move to avoid immediate checkmate with Rb1+} 60... f3 {[%clk
0:08:44.5]} 61. Kh1 {[%clk 0:14:22.5]} 61... f2 {[%clk 0:08:33.2]} 62. Rf1
{[%clk 0:14:24][%c_effect
g3;square;g3;type;Winner,h1;square;h1;type;ResignWhite] White resigns. GG $1} (62.
Rf1 e2 63. Ra1 e1=R+ 64. Rxe1 fxe1=R#) 0-1