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I love the Englund Gambit. In my new book “50+2 Chess Quick Wins: Tactical ideas for exciting chess for beginner players“, the infamous Englund Gambit trap line is Quick Win #1, and I have had good success with the Englund. Indeed, at the time of this article, I win over 60% of games where White accepts the Englund Gambit, which evaluation-wise, is their only good move!

The tactical idea of the Englund Gambit is the equivalent of immediately throwing a grenade in the centre of the field. Effectively, we’re ruining White’s attempt to play a solid and civilised game of the Queen’s Pawn Opening! I don’t generally like the positional and closed lines that often comes out (1. d4 d5) so this suits me well!

As we can see in this game, after White accepts the gambit, it immediately gets tactical and complicated. I don’t play the most accurately, but nonetheless, by move 10, the dust has settled, and I’ve achieved my goal. The game moving into the middlegame is a bit weird, White’s preparation and experience with Queen’s Pawn Opening theory is of no help to them, and we even have equality with an evaluation of [0.00]!

Moreover, the middlegame is tactical and dynamic rather than position! As I don’t play many games, and don’t really play chess for rating, I want my games to be fun rather than stressful!

Now, this was a match in the daily format, in fact, as a part of an under-1200 tournament between Team Australia and the France-Deutschland Group clubs. One of my bad habits is playing moves while on the go, and this often results in egregiously bad moves by me! My first bad mistake was (21. Nxb2), which just hangs the knight. In my undercalculation, I had assumed that White could only capture with one of their rooks, which would then expose them to a fork. But this was simply wrong, and annoyingly, I saw it only AFTER I had confirmed the move!

However, I decided to play on. White was better even though we technically were equal in material. A bishop pair (6 points) is almost always better than a rook and pawn (also 6 points). However, I did have some compensation in that the captures resulted in me gaining a passed c-pawn that was only three steps from promotion. This potentially could result in one of White’s pieces being stuck in a passive position, to guard against this powerful pawn.

Moreover, the capture sequence resulted in White moving their remaining rook off their back rank – potentially, there was a tactical possibility of back rank mate, if I could teleport my rook to their back rank…

On move 27, I found a clever tactic that made use of some potential psychological biases held by White. White had seen their potential back rank mate risk, so created an escape with an h-pawn advance. However, by taking away the risk of back rank mate, White is more likely to miss OTHER back rank threats as they’ve turned their attention away from the back rank. With (27… d4) I seemingly have hung my d-pawn and indeed, White captured with (28. exd4). This was a blunder! Their e-pawn was pinned to the back rank as by opening the e-file, I now had (28… Re1+), and absolute fork on the back rank of White’s king and bishop on d1! White suffers emotional damage and resigns the next turn. GG!

The big takeaway from this game is that although the Englund Gambit is unsound, it often leads to fun chess! Consider giving it a go against (1. d4), especially at the beginner-intermediate level!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/daily/572311965

[Event "U1200 Australia vs France-Deutschland - Board 2"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023.10.12"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Cedg62"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Match "https://www.chess.com/club/matches/1537569"]
[CurrentPosition "2r3k1/pp5p/6p1/1P3p2/2pP3P/P5B1/2R2PPK/3r4 w - - 0 30"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "A40"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Englund-Gambit-2.dxe5-Nc6"]
[UTCDate "2023.10.12"]
[UTCTime "10:04:02"]
[WhiteElo "1180"]
[BlackElo "1197"]
[TimeControl "1/259200"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]
[StartTime "10:04:02"]
[EndDate "2023.10.15"]
[EndTime "08:27:57"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/daily/572311965"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/50398736.44be4da2.50x50o.c96e4992db7b.jpeg"]
[WhiteCountry "52"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.f52a0759.50x50o.ab18600a8723.png"]
[BlackCountry "17"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. d4 {[%clk 68:54:50]} 1... e5 {[%clk 71:51:50]} 2. dxe5 {[%clk 70:52:20]
Englund Gambit Accepted} 2... Nc6 {[%clk 71:59:36]} 3. Bf4 {[%clk 71:59:30]}
3... Qe7 $6 {[%clk 71:59:35][%c_effect
e7;square;e7;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
g7g5;keyPressed;none;from;g7;opacity;0.8;to;g5;persistent;false,d7d6;keyPressed;none;from;d7;opacity;0.8;to;d6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g5;persistent;false,d6;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;d6;persistent;false]
This was a bit inaccurate, but I was baiting White to go back down the Main Line
so that I could play the trap $1 When White develops the bishop first, we can
immediately ask the question of why with g5 $1} 4. Nc3 {[%clk 70:48:16]} 4... Nxe5
{[%clk 67:32:42]} 5. Nd5 {[%clk 71:30:43]} 5... Qd6 {[%clk 71:56:56]} 6. Nf3
{[%clk 71:57:50]} 6... Nf6 $6 {[%clk 71:53:56][%c_effect
f6;square;f6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
f7f6;keyPressed;none;from;f7;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false] This was an
inaccuracy [+2] in a somewhat complicated position} 7. Bxe5 {[%clk 71:47:32]}
7... Qxd5 {[%clk 71:48:18]} 8. Qxd5 $2 {[%clk 65:37:18][%c_effect
d5;square;d5;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e5c7;keyPressed;none;from;e5;opacity;0.8;to;c7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c7;persistent;false] However, White wanted
to relieve the tension, and this is a sequencing mistake [+0.5]} 8... Nxd5
{[%clk 71:53:22]} 9. a3 {[%clk 69:55:21]} 9... d6 {[%clk 71:50:31]} 10. Bg3
{[%clk 71:41:12] And on move 10, we have equality [0.00] and move into a dynamic
middlegame, rather than a potentially closed and position Queen's Pawn Opening
game $1} 10... Bf5 {[%clk 71:57:56]} 11. c4 {[%clk 71:31:38]} 11... Nb6 {[%clk
71:54:24]} 12. e3 {[%clk 71:25:16]} 12... Be7 {[%clk 71:14:46]} 13. Nd4 {[%clk
71:40:33]} 13... Bd7 {[%clk 71:58:18]} 14. Bd3 {[%clk 71:51:05]} 14... c5 $6
{[%clk 71:55:08][%c_arrow
e7f6;keyPressed;none;from;e7;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false][%c_effect
c5;square;c5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] A bit inaccurate [0.00 $37 +0.4].
Bf6 is better.} 15. Nb5 {[%clk 71:30:01]} 15... O-O $6 {[%clk 71:57:27][%c_effect
g8;square;g8;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d7b5;keyPressed;none;from;d7;opacity;0.8;to;b5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
b5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b5;persistent;false] A bit inaccurate as
the d-pawn is hanging [+0.9]} 16. O-O $6 {[%clk 70:32:03][%c_effect
g1;square;g1;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
g3d6;keyPressed;none;from;g3;opacity;0.8;to;d6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d6;persistent;false] White should have
captured the pawn [-0.2]} 16... Bxb5 {[%clk 71:56:23]} 17. cxb5 {[%clk
67:52:02]} 17... d5 {[%clk 66:53:24]} 18. Rfd1 {[%clk 65:15:11]} 18... Bf6
{[%clk 71:43:41]} 19. Rab1 {[%clk 71:45:57]} 19... Na4 {[%clk 71:44:44]} 20. Rd2
{[%clk 71:13:42]} 20... c4 {[%clk 71:56:35]} 21. Bf5 {[%clk 70:16:09]} 21...
Nxb2 $2 {[%clk 71:57:16][%c_effect b2;square;b2;type;Mistake;persistent;true] A
mistake $1 I miscalculated on the go, assuming if Rbxb2, then c3 with a fork. Of
course, White could capture with Rdxb2 $1 [+3]} 22. Rdxb2 {[%clk 71:56:27]} 22...
Bxb2 {[%clk 71:40:46]} 23. Rxb2 {[%clk 52:47:27] I decided to not resign and
play on $1 Although there is material equality, White's bishop pair is better than
my rook and pawn. However, I do have some compensation with my passed c-pawn...}
23... Rfe8 {[%clk 71:08:02]} 24. Rc2 {[%clk 66:17:16]} 24... g6 {[%clk
71:59:04]} 25. Bg4 {[%clk 71:58:36]} 25... f5 {[%clk 71:59:26]} 26. Bd1 {[%clk
71:59:13]} 26... Rac8 {[%clk 71:59:19]} 27. h4 {[%clk 71:58:53] Psychological
analysis: White thinks that they have addressed the risk of back rank mate...}
27... d4 $1 {[%clk 71:59:55][%c_effect
d4;square;d4;type;GreatFind;keyPressed;undefined;persistent;true]} 28. exd4 $4
{[%clk 71:58:35][%c_arrow
g1f1;keyPressed;none;from;g1;opacity;0.8;to;f1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f1;persistent;false][%c_effect
d4;square;d4;type;Blunder;keyPressed;undefined;persistent;true] A blunder $1
[-5.4] White may have taken their eye off the back rank after h4. However, this
lapse in continuity meant that missed another threat on the back rank, a fork $1}
28... Re1+ $1 {[%clk 71:59:27][%c_effect
e1;square;e1;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e1d1;keyPressed;none;from;e1;opacity;0.8;to;d1;persistent;false,e1g1;keyPressed;none;from;e1;opacity;0.8;to;g1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d1;persistent;false,g1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g1;persistent;false]}
29. Kh2 {[%clk 71:58:36]} 29... Rxd1 {[%clk 71:59:59][%c_effect
g8;square;g8;type;Winner,h2;square;h2;type;ResignWhite] White suffers emotional
damage and resigns. GG $1} 0-1