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"The Queen" in Chess
The Queen
(or) "The Hawk swoops down!"
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Click HERE to go to another site where the basics of chess are covered.
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to go to another site where the basics
of how the pieces move are covered.
The Queen
The Queen is the terror of the chessboard. She comes out of nowhere, and rips an opponent to shreds. The Queen is the most valuable of all the pieces, usually the loss of one’s Queen without any compensation, can prompt even the most battle-hardened veteran to throw in the towel.
The Queen is easily the most powerful
piece on the Board,
moving suddenly to the Four Corners of the chessboard,
storming any bastion.
The Queen can move in a straight line as far as she wants to go.
(This makes her "The Star" of the chessboard. )
(A star "*" being a good way to remember the total movement power of the queen.)
The Queen was originally one of the weakest pieces on the Chess-Board. But when the game was imported to Europe from the Middle-East during the "Middle Ages," the Queen's power was increased. This was probably a reflection of the social value of the increased power of the Royal female leaders of many nations of that period. This sped up the game, and made it more exciting. This also probably contributed to the tremendous rise in popularity of the game during that time.
Having said all this, let's take a look at the Queen in action!
(Take a good, long look at the diagram above.)
In the picture/ diagram above, we can clearly see the extra-ordinary power that the Queen exerts in the game of chess. The arrows represent the movement powers of the Queen. The Queen, on the e5-square; can move to any of the squares along the path marked by the arrows.
The Queen, from the center of the board, can move to a grand
total
of 27 squares. This represents nearly 45% of the total chessboard!!
Now lets look at that power again.
(Look carefully at the diagram below.)
The red/orange lines & arrows represent the
vertical and
horizontal power of the Queen.
(The Rook moves vertically and horizontally, also.)
The dark green lines & arrows represent
the DIAGONAL power of
the Queen.
(The Bishop also moves ONLY on the diagonals.)
So the Queen is
actually the combination of the combined
movement powers of both The Rook AND the Bishop!!!
Study the above two pictures/diagrams for just a moment more.
Remember that the Queen moves in a STRAIGHT LINE
AS
FAR AS SHE WANTS TO GO!
(But she can’t "jump over" other pieces.
This
power - and honor – is reserved for the Knight only!)
(Look carefully at the diagram below.)
Take a moment and follow, with your eyes, the eight different lines of force of the Black Queen who is operating on the open board.
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Again, the dots and the lines represent
the grand total mobility potential of the Queen.
***
(Also
notice that I have assigned a different color dot
for the lateral and vertical powers of the Queen,
compared to the diagonal powers of the Queen.)
***
The Black Queen, from its home on the e5-square, could
move
to, or capture any White piece, on any of the squares
marked by the colored
dots.
Properties:
Having fixed firmly the movement power of the Queen in our minds, a few observations are now in order:
# 1.) The Queen can sit on one side of the board, and easily attack a piece or square on the opposite side of the board.
# 2.) The Queen is capable of hitting MULTIPLE targets at once.
# 3.) The Queen needs long, open lines to make her influence felt.
(Now look carefully at the diagram below.)
Notice the White Queen sitting on the d5-square.
The fire-lady is attacking 5 (FIVE!) pieces at once.
(The White Queen is attacking the following pieces: The
Black Rook in the corner on the a8-square; the Black Pawn on the d2-square; the
Black Bishop on the c6-square; the Black Rook on the h5-square; and her
counterpart …
à the Black Queen in the OTHER corner, on
the h1-square!)
I have high-lighted in yellow, all of these squares, AND given these squares a bold, green border; to make it more readily apparent to the eye the amazing effect of the Queen can have in the open field.
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This multiple attack and capture has beaten even the greatest chess players in the history of chess. EVERY SINGLE MASTER who ever lived, (at least if he were honest enough to admit it); would tell you that he had overlooked an unexpected Queen attack – which won the game for his opponent – at some point in his career.
**************************************
This is one of the reasons, when I play SLOW tournament chess, (and I still have enough time left on the clock!); that I will literally MAP my opponent’s Queen. What this means is that I will, after EVERY SINGLE MOVE, try to picture in my mind’s eye, my opponent’s Queen moving to every single square that is legally available to that most powerful of pieces. I have been doing this for nearly 15 years now, and it helps me to spot those tricky and unexpected Queen sorties.
**************************************
Let’s do that just one more time.
(Look very carefully at the diagram below.)
The White Queen on d5 is attacking
EIGHT
DIFFERENT TARGETS AT ONCE!!!
<< Need I say more? >>
That does it for your basic, beginning lesson on the Queen.
By
now, you should have the Queen’s movement fixed very
firmly in your mind. And
you should be ready to put this
very powerful piece to work in your own games!
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Page last updated: Sunday; February 22nd, 2004. (Last edit or save on: 02/12/2015 01:39 PM .)
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Copyright (c) LM A.J. Goldsby I
Copyright (c) A.J. Goldsby, 1975-2014.
Copyright © A.J. Goldsby, 2015. All rights reserved.
Click HERE
to go to the next page in my
"Beginner's Chess Course."
It is called, "THE ROOK in Chess."