# Week 68: London System vs the Englund Gambit, one game and one hanging bishop > Week 68: one rapid game, 1260 → 1252. A London System player meets the Englund Gambit (1.d4 e5), declines the pawn and hangs a bishop on move 4. - URL: https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/week-2025-w18/ - Updated: 2026-10-22 - Author: Ignacio Soler Week 68 was a single game, and a short one. On May 2, 2025, I sat down for one rapid game, met the Englund Gambit with White, and lost **8 rating points: 1260 → 1252**. The game lasted four moves each. If you play the London System and are looking up London System Englund Gambit lines, this is a small, honest example of how not to handle it, plus what Stockfish recommends instead. ## The week in numbers | | | |---|---| | Games | 1 (White) | | Result | 0 W · 1 L · 0 D | | Rating | 1260 → 1252 (−8) | | Accuracy | 42.0% (my opponent: 44.2%) | | Blunders | 1 (my opponent: 1) | | Opening | Englund Gambit | My opponent was Manoj_2303 (1276). Both of us played badly: one blunder each in eight half-moves, and accuracies in the low forties. ## Forty Englund games before this one The Englund Gambit starts 1.d4 e5: Black offers the e-pawn on the very first move. As a London player I meet 1.d4 openings all the time, and this one had a habit of beating me. Before this game I had faced it **40 times with White and won only 18**, with 22 losses. This game made it 18 wins and 23 losses. Whatever its reputation, at my level it was working. ## Moment 1: declining the pawn > **Move 2: Black has offered the e5 pawn, the Englund Gambit** > Position (FEN): `rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/8/4p3/3P4/8/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 2` > Played: c3 — Pawn from c2 to c3, defending d4 instead of taking (about equal) > Better: dxe5 — Pawn takes the pawn on e5 (slightly better for White) I didn't take. I played 2.c3, a London-style move that supports the d4 pawn. The engine calls it a mistake: the evaluation went from +1.24 to +0.02, from an edge to nothing. In other words, refusing the pawn gave Black an equal game without having to give anything up. **dxe5** takes the pawn, and the engine's line shows Black's knight coming to c6 to attack it. Taking doesn't mean giving up the London either. I checked the position after 1.d4 e5 2.dxe5 Nc6 with the engine: the top move is 3.Nf3 (+1.46), and the London move 3.Bf4 is second (+1.00). Both are "slightly better for White". So the London player's answer to the Englund is simple: take the pawn first, then play your normal moves. ## Moment 2: the bishop on h6 Two moves later came the blunder that the analysis marks as the turning point ([game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/138029235072)). > **Move 4: Black's queen is on e7. Where does my dark-squared bishop belong?** > Position (FEN): `r1b1kbnr/ppppqppp/2n5/4p3/3P4/2P2N2/PP2PPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 3 4` > Played: Bh6 — Bishop from c1 to h6, where it can be captured by the knight or the g7 pawn > Better: e4 — Pawn from e2 to e4, into the center (slightly better for White) 4.Bh6 puts the bishop on a square where two Black pieces can take it: the knight on g8 and the pawn on g7. Nobody defends it. The evaluation dropped from **+0.84 to −7.76**, which the engine describes as "Black is completely winning". The right move was **e4**, taking more of the center while Black's queen sits on e7. For a beginner, this is the simplest kind of blunder there is: a piece moved to a square where it can be captured for free. There's no deep tactic to understand. It's a missing check before letting go of the piece. ## What the engine can't explain Then something odd happened. Manoj_2303 didn't take the bishop. He played 4...exd4, and the engine scored the position at −0.02, about equal again. And right there, after my opponent's fourth move, the record says I **abandoned the game**, with almost nine minutes still on my clock. The loss counted the same as any other. I can't add anything to that from the data, except the lesson it obviously contains: a blunder that isn't punished is not a lost game. My opponent had made his own blunder, and the position was level. ## The lesson of the week Two lessons, both small. Against the Englund Gambit, take the pawn: the engine prefers 2.dxe5, and you can still develop like a London player after it. And before any piece move, especially a bishop going deep into the opponent's half, check whether the target square is attacked and whether anything defends it. Bh6 failed both questions. ## All games this week | Game # | Date | Colour | Opponent (rating) | Result | Opening | Accuracy | Link | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1494 | May 2 | White | Manoj_2303 (1276) | Loss | Englund Gambit | 42.0% | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/138029235072) | Previous: [week 67](/journey/week-2025-w17/) · Next: [week 69](/journey/week-2025-w20/) · Hub: [all weeks from 631 to 1385](/journey/) · Want an engine plus plain-words explanation of your own short losses? See [can Claude analyze chess games](/answers/can-claude-analyze-chess-games/). ## FAQ ### How should a London System player meet the Englund Gambit? Take the pawn. After 1.d4 e5 the engine's top move is 2.dxe5 (+1.14), and after 2...Nc6 both 3.Nf3 and the London-style 3.Bf4 stay slightly better for White. My 2.c3 gave that edge away (+0.02). ### Is the Englund Gambit dangerous at club level? It was for me. Before this game I had faced it 40 times with White and scored 18 wins and 22 losses. This loss made it 18 and 23. ### What did the engine say about 4.Bh6? It's a blunder: the bishop can be taken by the knight or by the g7 pawn, and the evaluation fell from +0.84 to −7.76. My opponent missed it and played 4...exd4, which brought the position back to about equal (−0.02). ## Related - [From 631 to 1385: my chess journey in 2,117 games](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey.md) - [Week 67 (Apr 2025): Zukertort Chigorin, 0 wins in 3 games](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/week-2025-w17.md) - [Week 69 (May 2025): Pirc Classical, saved by stalemate](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/week-2025-w20.md) - [Can Claude analyze chess games? Yes, with Stockfish](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/answers/can-claude-analyze-chess-games.md)