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Englund Gambit

Gambit35 linesYou play Black

1.d4 e5. Black gives the e-pawn for quick queen activity and tricks, such as ...Qe7 and ...Qb4+. It is risky against good defence, but the traps catch many players.

Englund Gambit after 1.d4 e5

The idea

1.d4 e5 offers the e-pawn at once to get the queen out and set traps. After 2.dxe5 Nc6 3.Nf3 Qe7 Black attacks e5 and aims for …Qb4+ with a fork of b2 and the bishop. The notorious trap is 4.Bf4 Qb4+ 5.Bd2 Qxb2 6.Bc3?? Bb4! and White loses the queen.

What happens next

Black regains the pawn with …Qxe5 or …Nxe5 and develops quickly, often with …Bb4 or …d6. The resulting positions are a little loose for Black, so active piece play is essential; slow moves leave Black simply a pawn down.

How to play against it

White should know the one line: 4.Bf4 Qb4+ 5.Bd2 Qxb2 6.Nc3! Bb4 7.Rb1 Qa3 8.Rb3 and the queen is in trouble. The quieter 4.Nc3 or 4.Qd5 also keeps the pawn with a good position. Don't play 6.Bc3??

A key line

1.d4 e5 2.dxe5 Nc6 3.Bf4 Qe7 4.Nf3 Qb4+ 5.Bd2 Qe7 6.Bc3 f6 7.exf6 Nxf6 8.e3 b6 9.Be2 Bb7 10.O-O O-O-O 11.a4 a5 12.Bb5 g5 13.Nxg5 Rg8 14.Nf3 Kb8

More lines

5...Qe7 6.Bf4 Qb4+ 7.Bd2 …
1.d4 e5 2.dxe5 Nc6 3.Bf4 Qe7 4.Nf3 Qb4+ 5.Bd2 Qe7 6.Bf4 Qb4+ 7.Bd2 Qxb2 8.Nc3 Bb4 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.Rb3 Qa5 11.a3 Bxc3 12.Bxc3 Qc5 13.e3 b6 14.Bd3 Nge7 15.O-O Ng6 16.e6 fxe6 17.Bxg7 Rg8 18.Bd4 Qe7 19.Be4 Ba6 20.Re1 O-O-O
5...Qxb2 6.Nc3 Qxa1+
1.d4 e5 2.dxe5 Nc6 3.Bf4 Qe7 4.Nf3 Qb4+ 5.Qd2 Qxb2 6.Nc3 Qxa1+
5...Qxb2 6.e6 dxe6 7.Bxc7 …
1.d4 e5 2.dxe5 Nc6 3.Bf4 Qe7 4.Nf3 Qb4+ 5.Qd2 Qxb2 6.e6 dxe6 7.Bxc7 Qxa1
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All 35 lines in this gambit

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