51
votes
Accepted
King or Queen-Which piece is which?
In general, a chess set has the king as the tallest piece, followed by queen, bishop, knight, rook and pawn in that order. Notice in the starting position how the piece height decreases smoothly from ...
- 5,030
49
votes
Must one say "queen check" before capturing a queen?
The official FIDE laws of chess do not know about a queen check. Announcing a "queen check“ might even be considered a case of "to distract or annoy the opponent“ (11.5). Even announcing a &...
- 1,745
42
votes
Accepted
How to deal with your opponent's queen if your opponent rejects any trades?
There is no need for an early queen trade. Just develop your pieces, if possible by attacking the queen. Here is an example from the Wayward Queen Attack also known as Patzer Opening.
[fen ""]
1. e4 ...
- 1,310
33
votes
How to deal with your opponent's queen if your opponent rejects any trades?
Trying to encourage a queen trade in this sort of situation is usually the wrong strategy.
The exaggerated version of the answer is this. Your opponent has just proved that they don't know how to ...
- 2,847
33
votes
Accepted
Does a KQQ vs KQ endgame position with perpetual check exist?
The position given by Akavall is indeed a draw by perpetual, but it's a bit difficult to see because White has many different options at some moves. They can even choose to sacrifice the h2 queen, ...
- 25k
31
votes
Must one say "queen check" before capturing a queen?
No.
Some people think it is polite to say 'gardez' to alert a player that the Q can be taken.
But no rule says you have to say check nor gardez and in serious games with good players it is not done.
...
- 311
27
votes
Accepted
How many queens can check a king without it being checkmate (with no other pieces on the board)?
The question asks for "no other pieces on the board" apart from white queens and a black king. So the other answers looking for legal positions seem to be missing the point.
If we're looking ...
- 1,603
25
votes
Accepted
Has there ever been a grandmaster-level win where a queen did not move nor get taken throughout the game?
As noted in the first comment to your question, there are certainly a lot of draws. To narrow it down to reasonable games that were wins, I searched the Mega 2019 Database for games with both players ...
- 32.7k
25
votes
Accepted
Trading queens in the opening
There is not opening that usually paves the way for a queen trade. There are plenty of specific lines that allow for it, but it takes cooperation from your opponent.
The first line that comes to mind ...
- 32.7k
24
votes
Accepted
Why does a knight combine better with the queen than a bishop does?
It is a fairly short and simple explanation:
They can combine to attack any square, not just squares on one color. As part of that they can also shift the attack better from one square to another.
- 32.7k
21
votes
King or Queen-Which piece is which?
At first glance, the taller piece with skinnier top would appear to be the King while the shorter, rounder piece would appear to be the Queen.
There are a few reasons why this would appear to be the ...
- 219
20
votes
Losing the queen and then winning the game
Losing a queen early on without any compensation or counterplay means almost certain defeat against anybody except for absolute beginners.
There is a certain "point system" which can be used to ...
- 20.9k
19
votes
Accepted
Countering The Wayward Queen Attack
First of all, despite the stigma attached to early queen moves Nakamura has played the white side of 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 several times in top level play, so it is a move you should treat with respect.
The ...
- 100k
18
votes
What is the earliest queen move in any strong, modern opening?
The definition is still a bit ambiguous, but here's what I found.
The absolute soonest to move the queen is probably the French Defense: Chigorin Variation which begins with 1.e4 e6 2.Qe2.
The ...
- 20.3k
16
votes
Has there ever been a grandmaster-level win where a queen did not move nor get taken throughout the game?
Here is another decisive game where neither queen moved:
[FEN ""]
[Event "36th Olympiad"]
[Site "Calvia ESP"]
[Date "2004.10.17"]
[EventDate "2004.10.15"]
[Round "2"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Alexander ...
- 6,536
16
votes
Why does a knight combine better with the queen than a bishop does?
One of the ways I teach kids how knights move is to put the queen and the knight on the same square. The knight can go to the nearest squares that the queen can't go to.
It is this unique ...
- 100k
15
votes
Why is exposing my queen for capture better in this position (According to computer analysis)?
Your description of the computer's suggestions doesn't quite match the position, but if you mean the computer suggests Nxe5, that is correct, as Bxd1 leads to a variation of Legal's Mate.
Nxe5 Bxd1
...
- 4,291
15
votes
Accepted
Chesscademy Tactic: Is my alternative as good as the right answer?
The problem is that 5. Qxh5 isn't check, so Black has time for some back rank tricks (instead of capturing the rook on f6):
[FEN "r1r4k/1p5R/3b4/4q3/B3P1Q1/1n1P3P/6P1/5R1K b - - 0 1"]
1... Kxh7 2. ...
- 25k
15
votes
Has there ever been a grandmaster-level win where a queen did not move nor get taken throughout the game?
I just happened to be reviewing the 2013 World Championship match a few days ago and asked myself a similar question because in round 9 Carlsen won without moving his queen or bishop.
Anand vs Carlsen ...
- 151
15
votes
Why does a knight combine better with the queen than a bishop does?
John Watson's "Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy" contains a section titled "Folklore or Reality? Queens and Knights" John lists some folks that say Queen and Knight are better
Capablanca
Shirov
...
- 5,206
14
votes
Forced mate: 2 queens vs king
The longest KQQ-K mate whilst maintaining optimality is a mate in 4.
[FEN "8/8/8/3k4/8/5K2/8/4Q2Q w - - 0 1"]
- 1,286
14
votes
Two Rooks vs Queen endgame
Generally speaking, it's a draw. Most pawnless endgames are drawn, unless one side has a material advantage of more than a minor piece. Either side can win if there are short-term tactics. To check ...
- 25k
14
votes
Must one say "queen check" before capturing a queen?
The important part is that you and your friend agree on what to say and when. If you both agree that queen check (or gardez) is a nice thing to say, then go ahead and say it.
I suggest taking the time ...
- 451
13
votes
Does a KQQ vs KQ endgame position with perpetual check exist?
Yes, it is possible. Here is an example:
[Variant "From Position"]
[FEN "5k2/1Q6/8/8/7q/8/8/6QK w - - 0 1"]
1. Qh2 Qe1+ 2. Kg2 Qe2+ 3. Kg3 Qe5+ 4. Kh3 Qh5+
5. Kg2 Qe2+
- 6,536
12
votes
Accepted
Why do players resign after accidentally giving their opponent a free queen?
Material (i.e. basically who has more and better pieces) is a very important factor in the objective evaluation of a chess position. The queen is the strongest piece on the board, roughly equal to two ...
- 20.9k
12
votes
King or Queen-Which piece is which?
It doesn't matter.
As long as you and your opponent are in agreement about which one is the king and which one is the queen, it doesn't really matter what they were "supposed" to be.
That said, if ...
- 281
11
votes
Can a King and Queen mate a King and Knight or is this a drawn game?
Without any pawns Queen vs Knight endgame is a theoretical win for the Queen.
Actually, most chess sites that have checkmates practice offer this very problem as one of them, along side many other ...
- 713
11
votes
Has there ever been a grandmaster-level win where a queen did not move nor get taken throughout the game?
This is a relatively long one (37 moves) with the white queen keeping on d1 during the whole game.
[FEN ""]
[Event "Belgrade Invest"]
[Site "Belgrade"]
[Date "1991.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "...
- 3,429
11
votes
Accepted
Scandinavian Defence queen e5
This is a bit trivial as an answer, but too long as a comment. You claim that you can develop "as good as White" but that is simply not true. White begins by interposing the Bishop 4.Be2. You play 4.....
- 8,696
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible