Matthew Lunn: Dealing with the Englund

by ChessBase
8/9/2016 – The author writes: "The Englund Gambit, 1.d4 e5, is in my opinion the second worst opening in the whole of chess (top position belongs to 1.e4 f5, the glorious Fred). This is not something that is likely to crop up in too many standard play games, although it is a common enough customer in blitz chess – its awfulness is mediated by a the presence of a few funny ideas (and one big trap) that White may struggle to get to grips with in the course of a few minutes." In CHESS Magazine Matthew provides extensive analysis that will serve you well.
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Dealing with the Englund

Matthew Lunn analyses and explains how to counter a dubious gambit

I have chosen the Englund Gambit, 1.d4 e5, as the subject of this month’s article for three reasons: (i) It would be advisable knowing how to avoid the ‘one big trap’, which sees White either lose a lot of material, or get mated; (ii) when White avoids the trap, the subsequent lines are an absolute joy to play; and (iii) White has a counter trap, which, while less strong than the main line, leads to a quirky position which would be very instructive to play over the board, thus making it suitable for blitz or study.

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1.d4 e5 The Englund Gambit. 2.dxe5 Any other move is nonsense. Nc6 The main line. Otherwise: -- a) 2...d6 3.Nf3 3.exd6 Bxd6 is still good for White, but proponents of the Englund Gambit are likely to appreciate the small lead in development 3...Nc6 and now White can irritate Black with or 3...Bg4 and White can continue with the thematic 4.Bg5 , though he is not short of options; 4.Qd4 , for instance, is a funny alternative, threatening Qxg4 and exd6, whereby ...Bxd6 is impossible due to the hanging pawn on g7, and meeting Bxf3 5.exf3 Nc6 with 6.Bb5 4.Bg5 , after which Black must make a concession: Be7 if 4...f6 5.exf6 Nxf6 and Black really doesn't want a pawn on d6 5.Bxe7 Ngxe7 6.exd6 cxd6 and Black has minimal compensation. b) 2...f6 is a valiant idea, as after 3.exf6 3.e4!? Nc6 4.Nf3 fxe5 5.Bc4 when White has easy development, and Black can't castle kingside 3...Nxf6 , Black can claim a bit of compensation for the pawn, as he is ahead in development and may have future prospects on the half-open f-file. However, as ...f6 only makes sense if White captures the pawn, I would advocate 3 e4. c) 2...Qe7 is likely to transpose to the main line after 3.Nf3 . d) 2...Bc5 isn't very threatening, given that ...Nf6 is impossible and as a consequence, the f2-pawn is unlikely to be attacked in a hurry: 3.Nf3 Nc6 or 3...f6 and again, White's best option is to decline the extra pawn and play something like 4.e4 4.Nc3 Nge7 and there are numerous ways for White to secure his advantage, including the intriguing 5.Ne4 Bb6 6.h4 . After a future h5, Black will struggle to win back the pawn, and White can play Bf4 without the possibility of ...Ng6. 3.Nf3 Qe7 3...Nge7 is a 'playable' alternative, but it's very slow - White can consolidate his advantage with 4.e4 4.Bg5 looks very sensible, but I think the forcing h6 5.Bh4 g5 6.Bg3 Nf5 is more appealing for Black than a lot of lines; after the natural 7.e4 Nxg3 8.hxg3 Bg7 , Black's position is a little ropey, but he has a strong dark-squared bishop, which compensates a little for his kingside weaknesses 4...Ng6 5.Nc3 Ngxe5 6.Nxe5 Nxe5 7.Be3 , with Be2 and f4 to follow. 4.Bf4
And now, we enter murky waters - with many a trap for the unwary player. 4...Qb4+ 4...d6 is favoured by the computer (possibly due to the objective flaws of the main line); 5.Bg5 the idea being that 5.exd6 is met by Qf6 . Nevertheless, White seems to be doing pretty well after 6.e3 Qxb2 7.Nbd2 Bxd6 8.Rb1 ; 8.-- 5...Qe6 , however, isn't as bad for Black as it looks: 6.exd6 and 6.Nc3 dxe5 leaves Black with a reasonably playable position 6...Bxd6 offers him a fair bit of developmental compensation. 5.Bd2 For reasons that I fail to recall, I found myself analysing this gambit with Scottish player Hugh Brechin at the 2011 Pardubice tournament. It was he who first brought the counterintuitive 5.Nc3!?
to my attention. --- Indeed, this move has two possible psychological benefits: -- i. Black realises that you're not going to fall for the 'one big trap'. -- ii. Black may think that you've simply blundered the f4-bishop. --- Either way, if Black captures the piece, you may be entering a line that you've analysed, but he hasn't - thus giving it credibility as a 'counter trap'. --- After 5...Qxf4 5...Qxb2 6.Bd2 transposes to the main line 6.Nd5 (the point, as Black can't prevent Nxc7+, forking the king and rook; Black is likely to regain the knight, and the subsequent positions are delightfully unbalanced), Black has: Qe4 , preparing to pick up the e5-pawn, is the most logical. After 6...Qf5 looks a reasonable alternative to 6...Qe4, but after 7.Nxc7+ Kd8 8.Nxa8 Nxe5 , White has an additional plan: 9.Qd4 , threatening the knight on e5 and the a7-pawn. Then Nc6 after 9...Nxf3+ 10.gxf3 Qxc2 11.Bh3 , the d7-pawn begins to look a little uneasy; as White is also threatening Qxa7, Black may be advised to swap queens with Qc5 12.Qd2 Qb4 10.Qh4+ Nf6 after 10...Qf6 , the computer recommends 11.g3! , meeting Qxh4 with 12.gxh4 , after which White can enjoy play on the half-open g-file or 10...Be7 11.Qg3 , threatening Qxg7 and Qc7+ 11.0-0-0 , I think White is clearly better, though there are a lot of double-edged lines that require further analysis: for instance, Be7 12.Qc4 Ne4 13.Rd5 Qe6 14.Nd4 Qf6 . 7.Nxc7+ Kd8 8.Nxa8 Nxe5
White has a couple of options: 9.Ng5!? 9.c3 is very solid, overprotecting the d4-square, and preventing a black piece from landing on b4. Then b6 10.Nxe5 Qxe5 11.Qa4 compels Black to play the funny-looking Qb8 , after which 12.0-0-0 leads to the sort of unbalanced position that White can study to his heart's content. However, 12.Nxb6 is a mistake, as Black is doing pretty well after Qxb6 - although White has won a pawn, his development is stifled by the fact he can't castle queenside, as Black's queen is now eyeing the f2-pawn. 9...Qf4 9...Qb4+ makes things a lot less complicated, although White can mix things up with 10.c3! Qxb2 11.Rc1 Qxa2 12.e3 , after which it is unclear how well placed the black queen is on a2 10.Qd5 leads to very complicated play: Qxg5 10...Qb4+ 11.Kd1 Bd6 12.c3 12.e3 is sensible and good 12...Qxb2 13.Rc1 and things are going to get very complicated after a move like Ke7 or even 13...Qa3 14.f4 Qa4+ 15.Rc2 Nc4 16.Qe4 Nh6 17.e3 and goodness knows what's going on. 11.Qa5+ b6 12.Qxa7 Bd6 13.h4 (forcing the queen to commit to a position, and preparing for a future rook lift) Qf4 14.Qxb6+ Ke7 and whilst the position is extremely difficult to assess, Black probably has the better practical chances. --- 5 Nc3 looks like good fun, as well as a decent surprise weapon, but we should now return to the main move in practice, 5 Bd2. 5...Qxb2
6.Nc3 White is now significantly better. 6.Bc3?? is what Black has been hoping for since move one - after Bb4 , White loses material, since 7.Qd2 7.Bxb4 is probably best, but Black is simply winning after Nxb4 , threatening ... Qxa1 and ...Nxc2+ 7...Bxc3 8.Qxc3 runs into Qc1# . 6...Bb4 This gives Black the largest chance of survival. Instead, if 6...Nb4 7.Nd4 a6 is a less effective way of protecting the b5-square: and now 7...c6 looks best, as it's essential to stop a white knight landing on b5. Nevertheless, White is doing very well after 8.Rb1 Qa3 9.e3 , where there is a stark contrast between the potential of White's and Black's pieces: for instance, Nh6 10.Bc4 Qa5 11.a3 Na6 12.f4 . Otherwise, 7...c5 8.Rb1 Qa3 9.Ndb5 Qa5 10.a3 Na6 11.Nd5 leaves Black with an unplayable position; 11.-- 8.a3 Bc5 or 8...Nc6 9.Nb3 with Ra2, trapping the queen, to follow 9.Rb1 Qxa3 10.Nb3 , with Bc1 to follow, wins the knight, as the only way to save the queen will be to play ...Nxc2+. 7.Rb1 Qa3 If 7...Qxc3 8.Bxc3 Bxc3+ 9.Nd2 Bxe5 10.g3 and Black is struggling to prove any compensation for his material disadvantage. 8.Nd5 Bxd2+ After 8...Ba5 , White gets 9.Rb5 in for free, as the threats to a5 and c7 mean that Black has nothing better than Bxd2+ , except after 10.Qxd2 , Qxa2 no longer makes sense, as White's rook isn't hanging. 9.Qxd2 Kd8 White has numerous ways to continue, but I particularly like: 9...Qxa2 10.Rd1 makes defending c7 problematic, as Kd8 is well met by 11.Ng5 Nh6 12.e6! . However, even after the text White has an excellent position, which offers Black minimal aggressive options. 10.Ng5 (giving up the e5-pawn for an attack on the black king) 10.Qg5+ Nge7 11.Nxe7 Nxe7 12.Qxg7 is also very promising. 10...Nxe5 If 10...Nh6 11.f4 and White is happy to give up the a-pawn: Qxa2 12.Nc3 with e3 to follow. 11.Rb3 Qf8 11...Qxa2 12.Qc3 hits the knight on e5 and the c7-pawn. 12.Nxc7! Kxc7 13.Qa5+
13...Kb8 13...Kd6 14.Qb4+ 14.Qxe5+ d6 15.Qf4 Nf6 16.g3 preparing Bg2, and Black's position is highly dubious, whilst White has yet another attack on the black king to look forward to.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Englund Gambit-- A40

The above article appeared in the August 2016 of the British magazine CHESS

CHESS Magazine was established in 1935 by B.H. Wood who ran it for over fifty years. It is published each month by the London Chess Centre and is edited by IM Richard Palliser and Matt Read. The Executive Editor is Malcolm Pein, who organises the London Chess Classic.

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Interested in unorthodox openings and traps? There are a number of interesting ChessBase DVDs that include the Englund. The best way to find them: go to the Position Search page and enter the moves on the board (it is useful to remember this function!).

We particularly recommend the DVD Unorthodox Chess Openings by Valeri Lilov, who devotes 24 lectures to various unorthodox openings - some more popular with super GMs like Alexander Morozevich and others less known - yet all aiming at one and the same goal: to strengthen your opening repertoire and provide you with more weapons for the opening stage. The Chigorin Defence, the Chicago Gambit, and Grob’s Attack are among the systems included for White, with the Hippopotamus Defence and the Elephant Gambit are intended for Black. Lilov effectively teaches the best plans and ideas in each of these unique openings and guarantees success with each and every one of them. Video running time: 5 hrs 16 min.

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