Englund Gambit · A40

Hartlaub-Charlick Gambit

1. d4 e5 2. dxe5 d6

White is up material out of the opening - Black is banking on activity to show for it.

The first 4 moves, explained

• 1. d4 Stakes a claim in the centre, controlling e5, and frees the bishop and queen.
• 1... e5 Stakes a claim in the centre, controlling d4, and frees the bishop and queen. The pawn is genuinely on offer - this is the Englund Gambit. Fair warning: engines rate this gambit as objectively dubious; it is a practical weapon, not a promise of equality.
• 2. dxe5 Takes the pawn on e5, toward the centre and opens the d-file for the queen.
• 2... d6 Challenges the pawn on e5 - the central tension has to resolve. Theory calls this the Hartlaub-Charlick Gambit.

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