Englund Gambit Trap
White's bishop attacks your queen. You pin it, and three moves later your queen gives checkmate on White's back row.
26%of players rated around 800 attack your queen with the bishop here
Your opponent's Chess.com rating
Playing White against it? Defend against it
Good to know
- Opening
- Englund Gambit
- You play
- Black
- The trap is set on
- Move 5
- What you win
- Checkmate, or a rook
- If they do not bite
- White is better
- Games counted
- 2.6 million on Lichess
How to defend against the Englund Gambit Trap
Bring your knight out instead. 73% of players rated around 800 find it. The knight guards the rook, and the queen on b2 is in danger.
A pawn up with the better pieces.
The way out, move by move, as WhiteEnglund Gambit Trap moves
1.d4 e5 2.dxe5 Nc6 3.Nf3 Qe7 4.Bf4 Qb4+ 5.Bd2 Qxb2 6.Bc3 Bb4 7.Qd2 Bxc3 8.Qxc3 Qc1#
- 1.d4White pushes the queen's pawn
The other common first move.
- 1…e5Push your king's pawn two squares
This is the Englund Gambit. You give up a pawn to set the trap.
- 2.dxe5White takes the pawn
White is a pawn up for now.
- 2…Nc6Bring your knight out
The knight attacks the pawn on e5.
- 3.Nf3White's knight defends the pawn
A natural move.
- 3…Qe7Slide your queen to e7
The queen attacks the pawn too. She has a second job in a moment.
- 4.Bf4White's bishop defends the pawn
This is the move the trap needs.
- 4…Qb4+Check with your queen
The queen checks the king and attacks the bishop and the pawn on b2.
- 5.Bd2The bishop blocks the check
The bishop comes back, and the pawn on b2 is left alone.
- 5…Qxb2Take the pawn on b2
Your queen attacks the rook. You want the bishop to attack her from c3.
- 6.Bc3The bishop attacks your queen
26% of players rated around 800 play this. It looks like it wins the queen.
- 6…Bb4Pin the bishop with yours
White's bishop cannot leave the line to its king, so your queen is safe.
- 7.Qd2The queen defends the bishop
28% of them defend like this. It walks into mate.
- 7…Bxc3Take the bishop with yours
The queen has to take back, and that pulls her away from guarding c1.
- 8.Qxc3The queen takes back
Now nothing guards c1.
- 8…Qc1#Slide your queen to c1
Checkmate. The king is boxed in by its own pieces.
Checkmate.
See it one move at a timeEnglund Gambit Trap questions
What if they do not fall for the Englund Gambit Trap?
74% of players rated around 800 play something else. Then White is better.
How do you defend against the Englund Gambit Trap?
As White, bring your knight out instead. 73% of players rated around 800 find it. The knight guards the rook, and the queen on b2 is in danger. A pawn up with the better pieces.
What do you win with the Englund Gambit Trap?
Checkmate, or a rook. In the main line, checkmate.
At what rating does the Englund Gambit Trap work?
It works best against players around 1100, where 27% attack your queen with the bishop. Against players at 2100 and up, 8% do.
More traps
All opening trapsCounted from the rated blitz, rapid and classical games on Lichess that reached this position. Ratings are shown as Chess.com ratings: the games are grouped by Lichess rating, which runs higher, and each group is named by the Chess.com rating it comes to in ChessGoals' comparison of players with an account on both. A rating with fewer than 300 such games shows no number.