Chess opening · ECO A40
Englund Gambit
1...e5 answers 1.d4 in the Englund Gambit, putting a pawn straight in front of White's d-pawn. If White takes, Black usually follows with ...Nc6 and ...Qe7, piling up on the e5 pawn and hoping White grabs at the wrong moment. The opening lives on traps and quick piece play rather than on long-term structure.
- Rank by weighted share
- #82 of 159
Key moves
1. d4 e5
- 1... e5The pawn on e5 can be captured at once by the d4 pawn. Black gives it up to lure the d-pawn off d4 and to free the f8 bishop and the queen, which can now leave d8 along the e7 and h4 routes.
Ganging up on the e5 pawn
After 2.dxe5 Nc6 3.Nf3, the knight on c6 and a queen on e7 both hit e5, while only the f3 knight guards it. White can keep the pawn, but every defending move has to be checked for a queen check on b4.
Black can also skip ...Nc6 and play 2...d6 or 2...f6. After 3.exd6 Bxd6 or 3.exf6 Nxf6, Black is still a pawn down but has a piece out and an open file or diagonal toward White's king.
Calm ways to keep the pawn
The trap only works if White blocks the check on b4 with the bishop. After 4.Bf4 Qb4+, White can block with 5.Qd2 or 5.Nbd2 instead. The queen on b4 can still take on b2, but no white bishop lands on c3 to be pinned, so the mate never appears.
The mate on c1
2. dxe5 Nc6 3. Nf3 Qe7 4. Bf4 Qb4+ 5. Bd2 Qxb2 6. Bc3 Bb4 7. Qd2 Bxc3 8. Qxc3 Qc1#
White blocks the check with the bishop and lets the queen take b2. After Bc3 looks to trap her, the pin with ...Bb4 turns everything around, and the final queen landing on c1 is mate because d1 and d2 are covered and the king has no escape square.
Top replies by rating
dxe5 leads in every band, and its share keeps climbing with rating until it dwarfs the other replies at 2000 and up.
| Rating | Top | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1200 | dxe5 51% | e3 18% | Nf3 10% |
| 1200–1399 | dxe5 59% | d5 11% | e3 9% |
| 1400–1599 | dxe5 60% | d5 15% | e3 7% |
| 1600–1799 | dxe5 66% | d5 14% | c4 6% |
| 1800–1999 | dxe5 70% | d5 12% | c4 6% |
| 2000 and up | dxe5 84% | c4 7% | d5 4% |
Related openings
Try it on the board. The first coached game and three analyses are free.