Everything you need to know about the Englund Gambit
The Englund Gambit is an exciting way to counter 1. d4 by sacrificing a pawn to confuse the opponent and give us a chance to make tactics that can win material or even the game.
The opening starts with White playing 1. d4, Black, instead of playing d5 or f5, plays the surprising move e5, this looks like a mistake at first but it has a brilliant purpose, if White takes the pawn thinking it was simply free we will play Nc6, if White protects the pawn with Nf3 we will continue the attack with the very important move Qe7.
White has 2 paths here, if it doesn't protect the pawn and plays a developing move like Nc3 or e4 we will simply capture the pawn and probably exchange the knights leaving an equal position, but if White tried to protect the pawn with Bf4 we're going to play Qb4+ checking White's king, if they just block with a knight we will take the bishop, but then if they block with the bishop saving it from the queen we are going to take the pawn with Qxb2.
White's position seems really bad but they can make a move that either keeps them safe or completely loses for White, if they play Nc3 they will protect the rook with the queen leaving the position decent for White, but if instead they play Bc3 thinking that they are saving the rook and attacking the queen they would be completely lost all because of the move Bb4, pinning the bishop to the king and keeping the threat on the rook.
At this point, White could makes the very common mistake Qd2, thinking that they protected the bishop and unpinned it from the king, in that case we will take the bishop with Bxc3 and if they recapture the bishop with the queen we can simply checkmate the king with Qd1# putting an end to the game.
Now, if white isn't naive and makes a move like Nc3 as we mentioned, in that case we will continue with Bb4, if White plays Nd5 for example, we're going to take the bishop with Bxc2 and they can't recapture with the queen because we will take the rook, if they recapture with the knight we will play Kd1, even if it looks bad we're still defending Nxc7 and we have a lot of pressure on White's queenside.
A more natural response for White instead of Nd5 would be Rb1, attacking the queen and mantaining everything protected, in that case we will play Qa3, if White now plays Nd5 threatening a fork the best move would be Ba5 protecting the c7 square and keeping the tension on the king's diagonal, at that point Black's position is strong and the position enters to the middlegame.
And finally, what if White doesn't takes the pawn of e4? If White declines the gambit by either pushing d4 or defending it, Black will also be able to hold a good position and would need to prioritize developing pieces and play normally after the gambit was declined.
If White defends the pawn we are simply going to take and develop our pieces, and if White pushes the pawn we will play Nf6 or Bc5 to then try to capture the pawn.
