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From 1400 to 1500 : The temptation of chasing the queen

achja
| 1

I've written before about the "weakness" of blindly attacking the opponent queen, whenever possible.

Especially beginning chess players have this fascination for the queen (yes, the most powerful chess piece, in theory, and often in practice). Even when sleepwalking, they would blindly chase the opponent chess queen Smile

My advise is :

  1. Check if chasing the opponent queen is really improving your own position. Is the opponent queen going to a worse or to a better square ?
  2. Check, if applicable, if trapping the opponent queen is a realistic goal. Is the opponent queen lost, or has the opponent chances to play fighting chess and go for a draw or a win ?
  3. Is there a better move available ?

Here an example in a game I just played, where my opponent was simply too busy with chasing my queen :