---

This game is a cautionary tale. Bringing out the queen early is often seen as a mistake out of defined lines of theory; certainly it is risky. However, when given the opportunity, it can be difficult to resist gobbling material with the queen like a hungry-hungry hippo, especially when your opponent is seemingly hanging material! The risk, however, is by allowing your opponent to develop while chasing your queen, and by not developing pieces, the greedy queen is at risk of being trapped!

I had the white pieces in this game, and I played the Vienna, while my opponent responded with the unusual c6 (1. e4 e5 2. Nc5 c6). I opted to play a somewhat more conservative approach in this game, and Black surprised me again with the early (5… Qc7) against my Vienna Gambit-ish (5. f4). Interesting!

The opening then becomes very interesting as Black doubles down and keeps their queen in play on the board! In this situation, I decided to simply develop my pieces, and then when the opportunity arose, chased Black’s queen with tempo. Black eventually threatened to capture my b-pawn, and this is a salutary lesson for everybody… it is typically a mistake for the queen to capture an ostensibly “hanging” b-pawn (outside of theory like in the Englund Complex) as the queen is at high risk of being trapped!

Now, I blunder the position hanging my knight (14. Rb1?? Qxc3+) but the curious thing is that it didn’t matter in this game! A few moves later, Black inadvertently hangs their queen, which I sprung on move 20 with a royal fork (20. Bb5+)! Unfortunately for Black, at move 20, they had invested TEN of their opening moves, yes HALF of their moves, on the queen. This means that at the point they lost their queen – their most active piece – White had multiple attacking lines.

What is fascinating is that White and Black had material equality after Black lost their queen! The evaluation was at [-6]! With the queen lost, Black’s position completely collapsed in the following moves. I rotated my rook to infiltrate onto the seventh rank, forcing a trade of Black’s remaining knight pair, their remaining good asset – (31. Rxd7 Nxd7 32. Qxd7 Rb8?? 33. Rxf7) – and the game is over. With my queen and rook forming a battery on the seventh rank, with Black’s king stuck on the back rank, Black recognised the pattern and opted to resign. GG!

The big takeaway from this game is to avoid speculative early queen adventurism. Unless you KNOW there is a checkmate, lone queen attacks will typically fail!

Game: https://www.chess.com/game/live/102902460453

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2024.02.28"]
[Round "-"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "Remy62"]
[Result "1-0"]
[CurrentPosition "1r4k1/3Q1Rp1/7p/1p6/3P4/2p4P/2P3P1/6K1 b - -"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "C25"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Vienna-Game"]
[UTCDate "2024.02.28"]
[UTCTime "23:39:47"]
[WhiteElo "1342"]
[BlackElo "1295"]
[TimeControl "900+10"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]
[StartTime "23:39:47"]
[EndDate "2024.02.29"]
[EndTime "00:05:40"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/102902460453"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.f52a0759.50x50o.ab18600a8723@2x.png"]
[WhiteCountry "17"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://www.chess.com/bundles/web/images/noavatar_l.84a92436@2x.gif"]
[BlackCountry "3"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e4 {[%clk 0:15:09.9]} 1... e5 {[%clk 0:15:07.8]} 2. Nc3 {[%clk 0:15:17.9]
Vienna Game} 2... c6 {[%clk 0:15:15.5] No exactly a mistake, but suboptimal
against the Vienna [+0.6]} 3. Bc4 {[%clk 0:14:59.1]} 3... Nf6 {[%clk 0:15:07.9]}
4. d3 $6 {[%clk 0:14:57][%c_arrow
d2d4;keyPressed;none;from;d2;opacity;0.8;to;d4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d4;persistent;false][%c_effect
d3;square;d3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] I considered the immediate d4, and
thought that this was possibly best. However, in this game I decided to play a
less confrontational approach with d3, which was curiously inaccurate [+0.6 $37
-0.2].} 4... h6 {[%clk 0:15:13.9][%c_arrow
d7d5;keyPressed;none;from;d7;opacity;0.8;to;d5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d5;persistent;false]} 5. f4 {[%clk
0:14:44.2]} 5... Qc7 $2 {[%clk 0:14:36.5][%c_effect
c7;square;c7;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e5f4;keyPressed;none;from;e5;opacity;0.8;to;f4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f4;persistent;false] Black opted to play
in a defensive manner, by having an extra attacker on f4 with the Qc7. This is a
mistake as the queen has been developed too early, and White will gain tempo
[+2.1].} 6. fxe5 {[%clk 0:14:20.6]} 6... Qxe5 {[%clk 0:14:42.7]} 7. Nf3 {[%clk
0:14:29.6]} 7... Qh5 {[%clk 0:14:10.6][%c_arrow
e5c7;keyPressed;none;from;e5;opacity;0.8;to;c7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c7;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;c7;persistent;false] Interesting $1 Black
owns their early queen development $1 [+2.4]} 8. Bf4 $6 {[%clk 0:13:36.8][%c_effect
f4;square;f4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e1g1;keyPressed;none;from;e1;opacity;0.8;to;g1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g1;persistent;false] Stockfish prefers
short castling, and I considered this. However, I wasn't convinced that castling
to the side of Black's planned queen and knight attack was wise. I opted make
use of my tempo gain to gain an advantage in development [+1.6].} 8... d6 {[%clk
0:13:38]} 9. Qe2 {[%clk 0:11:59] Fully developed, and now the choice of
developing both short and long $1} 9... Bg4 {[%clk 0:13:23.3]} 10. h3 $2 {[%clk
0:11:23.8][%c_arrow
e1c1;keyPressed;none;from;e1;opacity;0.8;to;c1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c1;persistent;false][%c_effect
h3;square;h3;type;Mistake;persistent;true] KISS principle. I was fairly sure I
was better after a queen trade even if it wasn't the most accurate move.
Stockfish doesn't agree that this is accurate, but White is still comfortably
ahead [+0.8].} 10... Bxf3 {[%clk 0:13:28.3]} 11. Qxf3 {[%clk 0:11:16.7]} 11...
Qc5 $2 {[%clk 0:13:13][%c_effect
c5;square;c5;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
h5f3;keyPressed;none;from;h5;opacity;0.8;to;f3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f3;persistent;false] Interesting $1 I was
fairly sure that Black should have traded queens (Stockfish agrees) and that I
now had an opportunity of trapping Black's queen $1 [+3]} 12. Be3 {[%clk
0:10:49.9]} 12... Qb4 $6 {[%clk 0:12:52.6][%c_arrow
c5h5;keyPressed;none;from;c5;opacity;0.8;to;h5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h5;persistent;false][%c_effect
b4;square;b4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true]} 13. a3 {[%clk 0:10:47.9] Baiting
Black to capture the b-pawn, which my gut feeling was bad for them...} 13...
Qxb2 {[%clk 0:12:55.6]} 14. Rb1 $4 {[%clk 0:10:37.7][%c_effect
b1;square;b1;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
b1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b1;persistent;false,d2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d2;persistent;false][%c_arrow
e1d2;keyPressed;none;from;e1;opacity;0.8;to;d2;persistent;false] Whoops, a
blunder $1 I under calculated the attack and lost sight of continuity that the
b-pawn defended the c3-knight $1 😅 [-3]} 14... Qxc3+ {[%clk 0:12:52.9]} 15. Bd2
{[%clk 0:10:36.4]} 15... Qxa3 $6 {[%clk 0:12:45.7][%c_effect
a3;square;a3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c3c2;keyPressed;none;from;c3;opacity;0.8;to;c2;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c2;persistent;false] However, I thought
that I was still \"fine\" and that I would probably be able to punish the black
queen's \"adventurism\" $1} 16. Bb4 {[%clk 0:10:20]} 16... Qa4 {[%clk 0:12:35.6]}
17. O-O {[%clk 0:09:59.7]} 17... c5 $4 {[%clk 0:12:24.7][%c_effect
c5;square;c5;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
c5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c5;persistent;false,d7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d7;persistent;false][%c_arrow
b8d7;keyPressed;none;from;b8;opacity;0.8;to;d7;persistent;false] Black needs to
develop, but it isn't a simple position to play. Here, they potentially blunder
their queen, and certainly, they gift a powerful tactical attack for White
[+0.2] $1} 18. Bc3 {[%clk 0:09:50.2]} 18... Be7 $4 {[%clk 0:12:23.2][%c_arrow
a4d7;keyPressed;none;from;a4;opacity;0.8;to;d7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d7;persistent;false,e7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e7;persistent;false][%c_effect
e7;square;e7;type;Blunder;persistent;true] And here, Black DOES blunder their
queen $1 (Note: Bb5+ royal fork $1)} 19. e5 $5 {[%clk 0:09:22.5][%c_effect
e5;square;e5;type;Interesting;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c4b5;keyPressed;none;from;c4;opacity;0.8;to;b5;persistent;false,b5e8;keyPressed;none;from;b5;opacity;0.8;to;e8;persistent;false,b5a4;keyPressed;none;from;b5;opacity;0.8;to;a4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
b5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b5;persistent;false] Surprisingly, I don't
even need to do the Royal Fork immediately $1} 19... dxe5 {[%clk 0:12:13.4]} 20.
Bb5+ $1 {[%clk 0:09:17.3][%c_effect
b5;square;b5;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_highlight
b5;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;b5;persistent;false,e8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e8;persistent;false,a4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a4;persistent;false][%c_arrow
b5e8;keyPressed;none;from;b5;opacity;0.8;to;e8;persistent;false,b5a4;keyPressed;none;from;b5;opacity;0.8;to;a4;persistent;false]
Royal fork $1} 20... Qxb5 {[%clk 0:11:51.8][%c_arrow
d8c7;keyPressed;none;from;d8;opacity;0.8;to;c7;persistent;false,c7e5;keyPressed;none;from;c7;opacity;0.8;to;e5;persistent;false,e5h5;keyPressed;none;from;e5;opacity;0.8;to;h5;persistent;false,h5c5;keyPressed;none;from;h5;opacity;0.8;to;c5;persistent;false,c5b4;keyPressed;none;from;c5;opacity;0.8;to;b4;persistent;false,b4b2;keyPressed;none;from;b4;opacity;0.8;to;b2;persistent;false,b2c3;keyPressed;none;from;b2;opacity;0.8;to;c3;persistent;false,c3a3;keyPressed;none;from;c3;opacity;0.8;to;a3;persistent;false,a3a4;keyPressed;none;from;a3;opacity;0.8;to;a4;persistent;false,a4b5;keyPressed;none;from;a4;opacity;0.8;to;b5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c7;persistent;false,e5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e5;persistent;false,h5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h5;persistent;false,c5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c5;persistent;false,b4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b4;persistent;false,b2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b2;persistent;false,c3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c3;persistent;false,a3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a3;persistent;false,a4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a4;persistent;false,b5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b5;persistent;false]
Black's queen took 10 of the first 20 moves $1} 21. Rxb5 {[%clk
0:09:25.3][%c_arrow
f3b7;keyPressed;none;from;f3;opacity;0.8;to;b7;persistent;false,b5b7;keyPressed;none;from;b5;opacity;0.8;to;b7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
b7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b7;persistent;false] So many attacks $1}
21... b6 $6 {[%clk 0:11:57.2][%c_arrow
b8d7;keyPressed;none;from;b8;opacity;0.8;to;d7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d7;persistent;false][%c_effect
b6;square;b6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] This hangs the the rook, but Black
has few good options [+6]} 22. Qxa8 {[%clk 0:09:24.2]} 22... O-O {[%clk
0:12:01.4]} 23. Qxa7 {[%clk 0:08:33.1]} 23... Nbd7 {[%clk 0:11:55.7]} 24. Bxe5
{[%clk 0:07:58.8] Trade down $1} 24... Nxe5 {[%clk 0:11:31.4]} 25. Qxe7 {[%clk
0:08:05.7]} 25... Re8 {[%clk 0:11:23.1]} 26. Qd6 {[%clk 0:07:30.3]} 26... Ned7
{[%clk 0:11:21.2]} 27. Rbb1 {[%clk 0:06:44.3][%c_arrow
b1e1;keyPressed;none;from;b1;opacity;0.8;to;e1;persistent;false,e1e7;keyPressed;none;from;e1;opacity;0.8;to;e7;persistent;false,b5b1;keyPressed;none;from;b5;opacity;0.8;to;b1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e7;persistent;false] I had a long think
about how to approach this position, and eventually found a simple and sound
idea after a minute $1} 27... Rc8 {[%clk 0:11:05.4]} 28. Rbe1 {[%clk 0:05:03]}
28... c4 {[%clk 0:11:06.9]} 29. d4 {[%clk 0:04:52.8]} 29... c3 {[%clk
0:10:52.6]} 30. Re7 {[%clk 0:05:00.1] Rook on the second and seventh ranks are
powerful $1 Effectively, I can now force a trade of Black's powerful knight pair
for my rook $1} 30... b5 {[%clk 0:10:37.5]} 31. Rxd7 {[%clk 0:05:09]} 31... Nxd7
{[%clk 0:10:39.9]} 32. Qxd7 {[%clk 0:05:16.5]} 32... Rb8 $4 {[%clk
0:10:26.6][%c_arrow
b8f8;keyPressed;none;from;b8;opacity;0.8;to;f8;persistent;false][%c_effect
b8;square;b8;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
b8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b8;persistent;false] Black is lost, but
this hangs forced checkmate [+M5]} 33. Rxf7 {[%clk 0:05:24.2][%c_effect
g1;square;g1;type;Winner,g8;square;g8;type;ResignBlack] Black now sees it and
resigns. GG $1} 1-0