Worth A Punt?

IMAGINE  a defence to 1.d4 that receives virtually no serious attention from anyone with the white pieces.
Further, imagine it is a defence played by the likes of Paul Keres, Rudolf Spielmann, Kurt Richter and Emil Diemer.
Add to this the fact that Alexander Alekhine was among those Whites who on occasion failed to beat the defence (he was once significantly worse against an amateur after just seven moves), and you might think it is indeed worth giving it an outing.
Because it is a gambit, it can be especially effective at relatively fast time limits, and as a surprise weapon (which it almost always will be).
The defence is the Englund Gambit, which arises when Black meets 1.d4 with 1...e5!?
Here is the game where a future world champion struggled to show his superior talent.
Alekhine - V Lifschitz
Bern (Switzerland) Simul 1922
1.d4 e5!? 2.dxe5 d5!?
Overwhelmingly most popular is 2...Nc6, which makes 2...d5!? a surprise move in what is already a surprise defence. But probably a better way of implementing this idea is 2...d6!?
3.exd6!?
This is White's usual response, at least in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database, but the analysis engines Stockfish10 and Komodo10 reckon White is much better off with a move such as 3.e4, which is less good after 2...d6!?
3...Bxd6
For his pawn, Black has opened diagonals for both bishops and has a developed piece, while White has merely opened a diagonal for one of his bishops.
4.Nc3 Nf6 5.e4 0-0 6.Bg5?!
This natural-looking move may be a mistake. The engines give 6.Bd3 with advantage to White.
6...Re8 7.Bd3?!
Better is the engines' 7.Qf3.

How should Black proceed?

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7...Nc6
Strong is 7...Nxe4!, one point being that 8.Bxd8?? loses to 8...Nxc3+, eg 9.Ne2 Nxd1 10.Bxc7 Nxf2 11.Bxd6 Nxd3+ 12.cxd3 Bg4 etc. Better is 8.Nxe4, but 8...Qxg5 9.Nge2 Nd7 is very good for Black.
8.Nge2 h6 9.Bh4 Bg4 10.h3 Bxe2 11.Nxe2 g5 12.Bg3 Nxe4 13.Bxe4 Rxe4 14.0-0
White gets his king to safety, but meanwhile Black has won back his pawn and has fully equalised (½–½, 27 moves).
(to be continued)

Speculative Gambit

Timothy Seymour (2100/199) - Spanton (1881/168)
'Paignton' Round 3
Chigorin Defence
1.Nf3 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.c4 e5?!
The main move is very much 3...Bg4, but the text has been played by Keres, Tartakower and several modern GMs.
4.Nxe5!?
The more popular 4.dxe5 d4 transposes to a main line of the Albin, but the text may be slightly better.
4...Nxe5 5.dxe5 d4 6.e3 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 dxe3 8.Qa4+
Not 8.Bxb4?? exf2+ 9.Ke2 Bg4+.
8...Bd7 9.Qxb4 exd2+ 10.Nxd2 Ne7 11.0-0-0!?
This may be new. 11.Be2 was played in the three games to reach this position in ChessBase's 2019 Mega database.
11...Nc6 12.Qa3 Qg5 13.g3!?
White threatens to hang on to the e pawn, and at the same time opens the long light-square diagonal for his bishop.

Can Black safely take the e pawn?

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13...0-0-0?!
Clearly Black cannot capture with the knight, and I rejected 13...Qxe5 because of 14.Nf3 followed by 15.Re1. But this is not to be feared, as Black can play, among other moves, 14...Qe7, meeting 15.Re1 with 15...Be6. After 16.Qxe7+ Kxe7 17.Ng5, White is slightly better, but the game is still well within the drawing margin.
14.f4 Qh5?
Better was 14...Qg6, which gives Black more of a chance of taking advantage of White's somewhat exposed king, eg Komodo10 gives the sharp line 15.Bd3 Bf5 16.Bxf5+ Qxf5 17.Nf3 g5!? 18.Nxg5 Nxe5 19.Qxa7 Nd3+ 20.Rxd3 Qxd3 21.Qa8+ Kd7 22.Qxb7 Qxc4+ 23.Kb1 Rb8 24.Qg2, with an unclear but roughly equal position.
15.Bg2 Kb8
White has caught up in development and remains a pawn to the good (1-0, 35 moves)

Book Knowledge

PLAYING in Gloucester at the 51st Cotswold congress - six rounds over the three-day bank-holiday weekend.
Spanton (171) - Alun Richards (140)
Veresov
1.Nc3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.Bg5 4.e3!?
More popular are 4.f3 and 4.Bxf6, but the text has also attracted the attention of strong players.
4...e6 5.Bd3 Be7?

Why does Black's last move deserve a question-mark?

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The problem with 5...Be7? is not that it allows White to give Black doubled pawns, but that it loses a pawn, viz:
6.Bxf5 exf5 7.Bxf6 gxf6 8.Qf3 c6 9.Qxf5
Black has minimal, if any, compensation for the pawn, but naturally there should be a long way to go before the game is over.
9...0-0 10.Nf3 Qb6
This is Black's best chance, in my opinion, because it forces White to make a critical decision.
11.0-0!?
The obvious move is 11.0-0-0, but I was reluctant to give Black counter-chances when he is a pawn down without compensation. A 2200 in 2003 played 11.Rb1!?, and, considering I play Rab1 next move anyway, that might be the best practical choice.
11...Na6?!
The whole point of playing …Qb6 is to follow up, if allowed, with ...Qxb2, so 11...Qxb2 was the consistent continuation. However, White would still be better.
12.Rab1 Nc7?
Blocking the queen's retreat makes matters worse.
13.Na4 Qb4 14.Nc5 Be7 15.c3 1-0
An early resignation, but I think AR was disgusted with his play (I know the feeling!). Afterwards he said 3.Bg5 was a new move to him.
I celebrated my early win by spending some of my projected prize money at the Constables' bookstall, buying The Later Years Of Paul Keres (£10) and Alekhine's My Best Games Of Chess 1924-1937 (£5).

Booking up

All I have to do now is win a prize ...

Fun Distraction

I COULD not help but be distracted by the game played on a board next to me during Battersea 2's 8-2 promotion-sealing win against Wanstead & Woodford 2 on Wednesday night.
Paul Stokes (158) - Paul Haddock (128)
Englund Gambit
1.d4 e5?!
This is the Englund Gambit or, as I like to think of it, a Blackmar-Diemer Gambit with colours reversed and a tempo less. Either way, it is just about as unsound a move as is possible on move one. The gambit is named after rich Swedish amateur Fritz Englund, who did not invent it but sponsored a tournament where the games had to start 1.d4 e5 2.dxe5 Nc6 3.Nf3 Qe7 4.Qd5.
But if the gambit really is unsound, why does anyone play it? Well, the lines can be a lot of fun, there is always the possibility of White falling for a diabolical trap, and anyway it takes precise play to bust Black.
For what it is worth, the analysis engine Stockfish10 reckons White is already winning after 1...e5?!, but Komodo9 gives White only a slight edge.
2.dxe5 Nc6 3.Nf3 Qe7 4.Bf4
If 4.Qd5, as in Englund's themed tournament, Black gets interesting play with 4...f6 or 4...d6.
4...Qb4+ 5.Bd2 Qxb2
Black now lives in hope that White will not see the trap that has been set for him.

White faces a critical choice at move six

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6.Nc3
Not 6.Bc3?? (the second-most popular move in ChessBase's 2019 Mega database) as 6...Bb4 wins for Black. The mainline from here in Mega19 runs 7.Qd2? Bxc3 8.Qxc3? Qc1# - no wonder some people think the Englund is worth a punt!
6...Nb4?!
The main move is 6...Bb4, as once played by Paul Keres (he lost in 34 moves). The text is inferior … if White finds the best reply.

White to make his seventh move

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7.Rc1?
This lets Black back into the game. Correct is 7.Nd4, eg 7...Bc5 8.Rb1 Qa3 9.Ndb5 Qa5 10.a3, with a massive advantage for White. But it is still possible to go wrong - one game in Mega19 went 10...Qb6 11.axb4?? Bxf2# (Pal Eros - Michael Keane, IBCA blind olympiad 1976).
7...Nxa2 8.Nxa2 Qxa2 9.e4 f6?
This seems to be a novelty, and not a very good one. An American player rated around 1500, Jerry Simpkins, has two games in Mega19 that reached the position after 9.e4. In the first he played 9...d6, and in the second he played the engines' choice, 9...Bc5.
10.Bd3
The engines believe 10.exf6 to be even stronger, but helping Black's development would give him practical chances.
10...fxe5 11.Nxe5 Nf6 12.Bc4 Qb2 13.c3 Resigns
White's huge lead in development more than compensates for his pawn-minus, but Black's resignation struck me as the most surprising 'move' of the whole game.