The Winning Academy 38: Queens just wanna have fun

by Jan Markos
10/22/2024 – Queens are very peculiar pieces. They love to attack and hate to defend. The difference in the value of this piece when attacking and defending is striking. An attacking queen is perhaps twice as valuable than a defending one. In a way, it makes a lot of sense. A queen is a very mobile and precious piece. Being mobile, it can attack very well, creating double attacks, forks, moving from one side to the other with ease. Being precious, it is barely able to cover anything. (For the same reason we don’t use golden locks to protect our bicycles. Thieves would gladly steal both the bike and the lock.) The qualities of a queen are very visible in situations when it must fight less valuable pieces. Let's have a look at some examples! | Photo: Ecolinho (Pixabay)
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The first example is relatively simple:

Vachier Lagrave-Nakamura, Paris Rapid, 2017, White to move:

Is White better, equal or worse? Materially, Black is not doing badly. After all, two rooks should fully compensate a queen and a pawn. However, Vachier Lagrave has all the chances to use his queen in an attack. Black's king is weak. Also, Black's forces are disorganised, and his uncovered pieces are potential targets. In addition, Q+N are well-known soulmates, a very efficient assassination squad.

In fact, White is clearly winning. My engine screams +4! Vachier Lagrave played 32.Nd4! and went on to win a nice game. (The knight is taboo because of Qf7+).

Here's the complete game:

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The second example is much more complex, but the main idea remains the same. The queen needs to be active!

Aronian-Van Wely, Tata Steel 2017, White to move:

What are we looking at right now? The board is full of chaos. Let us check the material first. White has got a queen for two minor pieces and a pawn. However, several pieces are hanging. The d2-rook, potentially the e1-rook, the black c4-bishop.

In such a tense situation, many players would instinctively look for a “safe” decision, preferring defensive and stabilizing moves. However, Aronian is better than that. He understands that his queen would be useless in defence, and therefore he actively looks for attacking possibilities for his strongest piece.

30.f5!

Covering the d2-rook, opening the scope for his queen and getting his forces closer to the black monarch. In fact, this is the only winning move.

30…Bxd2 31.Bxd2 Bxd5 32.Rxe4!

A great sacrifice! Now the white queen gets to the dark squares around the enemy king.

32…Bxe4 33.Qf6 Bxg2!+

Black's last trick. The bishop is taboo because of …Re2+ and …Rxd2.

34.Kg1

Van Wely resigned.

The final position is beautiful. White has returned some material but activated his queen in a decisive manner. The mating threat Bh6+Qg7 is deadly.

Please note that not only Q+N, but also Q+B might be a very effective attacking duo, provided that opposite-coloured bishops are present on the board.

Here's the complete game:

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Let us now have a look at two games in which the queen was driven into a passive defence. Again, let us start with a simpler example.

Adams-Rodhstein, Fide World Cup Tbilisi 2017, Black to move:

White seems to hold somehow. Black's passed pawn is blocked on a light square, and White's monarch does not seem to be in an imminent danger. However, Black can sacrifice his queen and abruptly change the situation!

49…Bxg5! 50.Rxf2

After 50.hxg5?? Black mates in three: 50…Rf3+ 51.Kg4 Rf4+ 52.Kh3 Rh4 and mate.

50…exf2 51.Qf1 Be3 - +

Now the white queen is passive and immobile. The worst dreams of this piece have become true. All Black needs to do is to get his rook to g1 while avoiding the threat of a perpetual check.

Rodhstein won slowly but easily.

Here's the complete game:

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In the following example, Anand is going to be a full queen down!

Skvortsov-Anand, Zurich Chess Challenge 2017, Black to move:

Black only has a pawn for a piece. However, his pawn centre is very strong and restricts White's forces. The position is roughly balanced. But how to continue?

Anand got a brilliant idea. Perhaps he should open the White's king and try to mate it while the white queen rests idle on the other flank?

He played 16…Qxg3+!? 17.hxg3 Rxg3+ 18.Kh2 Rxf3

At this moment Black only has three pawns for a queen. And no direct mating sequence is in sight. And yet, with his passive queen and bare king White is in a big trouble and needs to find the very best moves to maintain equality.

Skovron was unable to do so. (Please, check the full game below.) After Black's 25th move, the following beautiful position arose on the board.

White gave up. And we shall congratulate Anand to his brilliant fireworks of creativity.

Here's the complete game:

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Queens hate dirty work. They down want to defend, to serve other pieces. They are superstars of the chessboard, they want to shine, attack, they want to be in the spotlight.

Therefore, always look for a way to activate your queen!

Let us learn together how to find the best spot for the queen in the early middlegame, how to navigate this piece around the board, how to time the queen attack, how to decide whether to exchange it or not, and much more!

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Jan Markos is a Slovakian chess author, trainer, and grandmaster. His book Under the Surface was the English Chess Federation´s 2018 Book of the Year. His last book, The Secret Ingredient, co-authored with David Navara, focuses on the practical aspects of play, e.g. time-management over the board, how to prepare against a specific opponent, or how to use chess engines during the training process. Markos was the U16 European Champion twenty years ago. At present he helps his pupils from several countries to achieve similar successes. Apart from focusing on the royal game, he is also the author of several non-chess books, focused on critical thinking, moral dilemmas, and phenomenology.