About gambit

@kindaspongey said in #19:
> "... Englund Gambit 1 d4 e5?! This gambit is entirely unsound, ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2010)
I play the Englund Gambit

@WRPeter said in #21:
> ... I play the Englund Gambit
Do you avoid this line?
1 d4 e5 2 dxe5 Nc6 3 Nf3 Qe7 4 Bg5 Qb4+ 5 Bd2 Qxb2 6 Nc3

The Queen's Gambit is one of the most played chess openings in the history of chess, and is an amazing opening for all levels

@kindaspongey said in #22:
> Do you avoid this line?
> 1 d4 e5 2 dxe5 Nc6 3 Nf3 Qe7 4 Bg5 Qb4+ 5 Bd2 Qxb2 6 Nc3
I've actually never played it.

Each move we do is a choice. To avoid a line, don't chose the move that will lead to it.

So you copy paste an opening in the analyses. Remove the last move and see if that move was in the top five candidate moves. If it was, than I considered it unavoidable. You than remove another move until the move you removed is not in the top five candidate moves.

So you end up in this position 1. d4 e5 2. dxe5 Nc6 3. Nf3 and the next most likely move will be either a "popular move" for your rating or a possibility of an engine top 5 candidate move. Which would be: SF 16 · 7MBNNUE Depth 42CLOUD

A40 Englund Gambit Complex: Soller Gambit Deferred (+1.63) ... f6 4.e4 fxe5 5.Bc4 Nf6 6.Ng5 d5 7.exd5 Na5 8.Bd3
A40 Englund Gambit (+1.73) ... d5 4.Bf4 f6 5.e3 g5 6.Bg3 g4 7.Nd4 Nxe5 8.h3
A40 Englund Gambit (+1.73) ... d6 4.Bg5 f6 5.exf6 Nxf6 6.e3h6 7.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.Nc3
A40 Englund Gambit (+1.93) ... h6 4.e4 Bc5 5.Nc3 Nge7 6.Qe2 O-O7.a3 d6 8.exd6
A40 Englund Gambit (+2.03)... a6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qd3 d5 6.exd6 Nf67.Bg5 h6 8.Bxf6

Obviously that gambit is possible as soon as move 1. d4 ... is played. In the initial setup we both have the same amount of choices. Ideally we want to have more choices than our opponent. We end up getting that when we gain a material advantage, if we have useful mobility. An active piece is worth more than a passive one.

@kindaspongey said in #19:
> "... Englund Gambit 1 d4 e5?! This gambit is entirely unsound, ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2010)
@WRPeter said in #21:
> ... I play the Englund Gambit
@kindaspongey said in #22:
> ... Do you avoid this line?
> 1 d4 e5 2 dxe5 Nc6 3 Nf3 Qe7 4 Bg5 Qb4+ 5 Bd2 Qxb2 6 Nc3
@WRPeter said in #25:
> ... I've actually never played it.
At what point do you deviate?
@Toscani said in #26:
> ... A40 Englund Gambit Complex: Soller Gambit Deferred (+1.63) ... f6 4.e4 fxe5 5.Bc4 Nf6 6.Ng5 d5 7.exd5 Na5 8.Bd3
> A40 Englund Gambit (+1.73) ... d5 4.Bf4 f6 5.e3 g5 6.Bg3 g4 7.Nd4 Nxe5 8.h3
> A40 Englund Gambit (+1.73) ... d6 4.Bg5 f6 5.exf6 Nxf6 6.e3h6 7.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.Nc3
> A40 Englund Gambit (+1.93) ... h6 4.e4 Bc5 5.Nc3 Nge7 6.Qe2 O-O7.a3 d6 8.exd6
> A40 Englund Gambit (+2.03)... a6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qd3 d5 6.exd6 Nf67.Bg5 h6 8.Bxf6 ...
As Black, it seems to me that it would be desirable to avoid a choice between +1.63, +1.73, +1.93, and +2.03.

I usually play: 1. d4 e5 2. dxe5 Bc5 3. Nf3 d6 4. exd6 Ne7 5. dxe7 Bxf2+ 6. Kxf2 Qxd1

Ever faced 1 d4 e5 2 dxe5 Bc5 3 Nf3 d6 4 Nc3 ?

The Benko Gambit works even against strong players!