Englund Gambit and How to Counter it

The Englund Gambit is an aggressive attack that can gain a positional and material advantage over the opponent if played correctly. The gambit starts with white playing Queen's Pawn Opening. Black can now move their king's pawn forward, allowing white to take the pawn. 

If white decides to take the pawn, black can try to regain the piece by moving their knight to c6. White can either move their knight to f3 or their bishop to f4. If one of those moves is played, black can move their queen to e7 targeting the e5 pawn. White may move their knight to f3 or their bishop to f4 depending on how they approached the situation last turn. However, if they do not play both moves, you should simply recapture the pawn on e5. 

Now, black can move the queen to b4 and check the king. This move also gains black a tempo and allows them to possibly gain the bishop on f4 or take the b2 pawn. If white decides to defend check with the bishop moving down to d2, black's queen should take the b2 pawn and threaten the rook. Two scenarios can occur, bishop to c3 or knight to c3. If the bishop moves to c3, black can move their bishop on f8 to b4 preventing the queen from being taken. If the knight decides to move to c3, black can move their bishop to f8, targeting the two pieces. However, if the rook moves to b1, black would be forced to play passively and move to a3, then possibly to a5. 

Although moving the knight to c3 may gain white an advantage, white can also completely prevent the Englund gambit on the second move. This may include not taking the pawn or playing the center game. 

The Englund Gambit can be an extremely powerful set of moves that pressure white and allows black to develop while playing it. But, if white recognizes the counters or preventions in this gambit, they can gain an advantage and devastate black's position. Hopefully, this lesson helped and will positively influence your future game.