The Rat Defense, English Rat is an irregular Queen's Pawn Game chess opening characterised by the initial moves: The position can also arise from an English Opening move order 1.c4 d6 2.d4 e5. Another possible move order can be reached via the Englund Gambit: 1. d4 e5 2. c4 d6. The "English Rat" has been played by top players such as Aronian, Anand, Svidler, Rapport, and Smirin. While 3.dxe5 dxe5 4. Qxd8, transposing into an endgame, may initially appear to be favorable for white as black's king won't be able to castle, the pawn on c4 will restrict the mobility of the white-squared bishop, so the endgame is comfortable for black to maintain equality.

Gambit lines