Minor Pieces vs Queen

If you look at points, all four minor pieces are better than the queen, but if you had all the minor pieces in the endgame versus your opponent with a queen, would you win?

Thank you, beebejoe

3 minors in almost any position are better than the queen. 4 minors is overkill.

It depends on the position, of course, but in most cases the minors would win.

4 minors always win unless one can be captured

by the way which pieces u meant ?, I see queen is better than the four pieces because, as I mentioned the queen combines the powers of the rook and the bishop So it can move as far as it is unblocked horizontally vertically, or diagonally. maybe everybody know that , it have four weapons pin skewer , discovery and fork, it's worth about 9 pawns  really really it's very powerful piece so I prefer de ( queen )

Hmm, you think a queen can beat 3 and even 4 minor pieces?  Then these two drawn positions should blow your mind

Yes, orangehonda!  The first one is a draw because the king can hide behind the two knights.  The knights defend each other, and there's no way to chase them away.  The second one is a draw for the same reason.

Although, actually two knights guarding each other like that isn't generally the best defensive setup. It may be drawn in this particular case, but there are multiple cases where Black can force his way in between the knights with his queen and king and then zugzwang White.

A more reliable defensive setup is the knights side by side with the king nearby - then it's hard for White's king to approach.

I wasn't sure of the best set up -- I'll store this useful bit away to use if it ever comes up, thanks.

 i dont really see how having two minor pieces against the queen helps you win

3 minors against a queen is a draw in most positions, but 4 minors is usually a win.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawnless_chess_endgame#Queens_and_minor_pieces

Of course, I can draw against 4 bishops with a Queen. As long as all the bishops are on the same colour then there is no way to check let alone mate

4 minors vs queen no pawns should be a draw. If there are winning positions they would likely take more than 50 moves

The OP was last online:

Last Online Feb 23, 2012

I posted #8 here all those years ago. Had been reading Dvoretsky's endgame book.

Always dependent on the specific position, but as a rule the three minor pieces (or the two rooks, a rook and two minor pieces) are able to overload the queen. Quite simply, unless they are completely uncoordinated, they are able to create more threats than the queen is able to cover (and typically also defend against the queen's threats).

Three minor pieces are better then a Queen

it depends on the number tho

Doesn't match up with the figures here unless "generally" is taken to mean nearly 50% of the time. 

Of course, the colours of the squares multiple bishops occupy would probably affect the figures.