# Week 70: a Pirc Defense main line checkmate and an Englund game I should have won

> Week 70: two rapid games, 1252 → 1252. A Pirc Defense main line win by checkmate, and an Englund Gambit loss after missing a winning check.

- URL: https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/week-2025-w21/
- Updated: 2026-10-22
- Author: Ignacio Soler

Week 70 had only two games, May 19 and May 24, 2025, and they ended **1–1**, so my rating went **1252 → 1252**. The win was a Pirc Defense main line where my king was safe and White's wasn't, finished by checkmate on move 24. The loss was another Englund Gambit with White, a game where the engine had me clearly winning more than once and I still got mated with 18 seconds on my clock. Together they made one of my least accurate weeks: 64.5% on average, and 10 blunders in two games.

## The week in numbers

| What | Number |
|---|---|
| Games | 2 (1 White, 1 Black) |
| W / L / D | 1 / 1 / 0 |
| Rating | 1252 → 1252; 1260 after the win |
| Average accuracy | 64.5% (my opponents: 64.3%) |
| Blunders | 10 (my opponents: 12) |
| Openings | Pirc Defense Main Line (1), Englund Gambit (1) |

## The Pirc Defense main line: opposite castling and a pawn race

Game 1496 against Ati7705 (1260) started 1.e4 d6 2.Nc3 g6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Bd3 Bg7 5.Be3 Ng4 6.h3 Nxe3 7.fxe3 O-O 8.Qe2 Nc6 9.O-O-O. That last move set the theme: White's king went to the queenside, mine was on the kingside, and the game became a race. In that kind of position every tempo counts, and my next move wasted one.

> **Move 9: White has just castled queenside. How do I start the attack?**
> Position (FEN): `r1bq1rk1/ppp1ppbp/2np2p1/8/3PP3/2NBP2P/PPP1Q1P1/2KR2NR b - - 4 9`
> Played: Be6 — Bishop to e6, where White's d-pawn can hit it and the c6 knight at once with d5
> Better: Nb4 — Knight to b4 attacks the bishop on d3 (slightly better for Black)

**Nb4** goes straight toward White's king and attacks the bishop on d3. My Be6 put the bishop on a square where White's d4 pawn could step forward to d5 and attack two pieces at once, my knight on c6 and my bishop on e6. That's a pawn fork, and the engine gave White +3.21. Ati7705 didn't see it and played 10.h4, and the evaluation swung back to −0.63.

From there the race was mine. After 11.b3 my pawns went ...c5, ...cxd4 and ...dxc3, my a-pawn walked a5, a4, a3 and finally a2 with check, and my queen came to b6, a7, a3 and then **b2, checkmate**. I made blunders along the way, three in total, and so did my opponent, four. But the plan was simple and I kept following it: push the pawns toward the king that castled on the other side.

## The Englund Gambit, again

Game 1497 against Andrei1990kuz (1265). The opening was 1.d4 e5 and I played **2.c3**, declining the pawn, exactly the move the engine had called a mistake in game 1494, three weeks earlier. Then came a sequence where both of us missed the same tactic twice.

> **Move 6: Black's knight on g4 is looking at f2, next to my king**
> Position (FEN): `rnbqk2r/ppp2ppp/3b4/8/6n1/2P2N2/PP2PPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 6`
> Played: h3 — Pawn to h3 attacks the knight on g4, but the knight can jump into f2 instead
> Better: Nbd2 — Knight from b1 to d2 (slightly better for White)

6.h3 attacks the knight, but the knight doesn't have to retreat: it can take the f2 pawn next to my king and attack my queen and my rook at the same time. The engine's line shows that taking the knight with my king runs into a bishop check, and Black comes out winning (−5.89). My opponent retreated the knight instead. On the very next move I played 7.Ne5, another blunder (−6.07), and he missed that too.

## Moment 3: the check I didn't give

The game turned in my favour later. By move 36 I had the advantage, +11.66, and this position on the board ([game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/138803589502)).

> **Move 36: I'm winning. Is there a check?**
> Position (FEN): `6k1/p4pp1/Qb5p/1Pp5/2B5/P3P1PP/5P1K/q7 w - - 1 36`
> Played: Bd3 — Bishop from c4 to d3, a quiet move (still clearly better for White)
> Better: Qc8+ — Queen to c8 with check: White is completely winning

**Qc8+** gives check from the back rank, and in the engine's line White wins Black's bishop right after. I played 36.Bd3 with 76 seconds left. Still better for me, +1.80, but the win was gone, and my clock kept shrinking. With 23 seconds left on move 42 I took a pawn with my queen, 42.Qxc4, and Black answered 42...Qf2+ 43.Kh1 Qg1#. Checkmate.

## The lesson of the week

The Pirc game and the Englund game teach the same thing from opposite sides: **look at forcing moves first**. In the Pirc, a pawn push that attacked two of my pieces was available to my opponent, and I didn't check for it before playing Be6. In the Englund, a queen check that won material was available to me, and I didn't look for it. The order that helps me most is checks, then captures, then attacks, every move, and especially when the clock is low.

And a smaller, more personal lesson: I had now declined the Englund pawn with 2.c3 in two games in a row, and lost both.

## All games this week

| Game # | Date | Colour | Opponent (rating) | Result | Opening | Accuracy | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1496 | May 19 | Black | Ati7705 (1260) | Win | Pirc Defense Main Line | 69.4% | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/138629451318) |
| 1497 | May 24 | White | Andrei1990kuz (1265) | Loss | Englund Gambit | 59.5% | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/138803589502) |

Previous week: [week 69](/journey/week-2025-w20/) · Next week: [week 71](/journey/week-2025-w23/) · [Back to the journey](/journey/) · [See how Chess Coach finds missed checks in your games](/features/ai-chess-analysis/).

## FAQ

### What is the Pirc Defense main line?

In my game it went 1.e4 d6 2.Nc3 g6 3.d4 Nf6: Black lets White build a pawn center and puts the bishop on g7. Chess.com filed it as 'Pirc Defense: Main Line'.

### What happens when players castle on opposite sides?

Both sides race to attack the other king with pawns and pieces. In my game 1496 White castled queenside, my a-pawn ran all the way to a2 with check, and my queen gave checkmate on b2 on move 24.

### Why do I miss winning checks?

In game 1497 I had Qc8+ on move 36, which the engine rates as completely winning, and played a quiet bishop move instead with 76 seconds on my clock. Checks are the first thing worth looking at, especially when the clock is low.

## Related

- [From 631 to 1385: my chess journey in 2,117 games](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey.md)
- [Week 69 (May 2025): Pirc Classical, saved by stalemate](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/week-2025-w20.md)
- [Week 71 (Jun 2025): Pirc and Modern as Black, 3 wins, 4 losses](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/week-2025-w23.md)
- [Free AI chess analysis of your games, explained](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/features/ai-chess-analysis.md)