FIDE SURVEYS – Jeroen Bosch

1

Jeroen Bosch:

Queen Power or Power of the

Masses?

Vladimir Potkin was the deserving winner
of the 2011 European Individual
Championship in Aix-les-Bains. To gain
such a victory all games are important, but
perhaps some are more important than
others. In the penultimate round Potkin
won a nice game against the strong
Georgian grandmaster Baadur Jobava. This
win may possibly be explained by the
reverence that we all (and even such a
strong GM as Jobava) hold for the game's
most powerful piece.

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Jobava B. : Potkin V.
Aix-les-Bains 2011

16.Td6
Setting up the threat of Sd5, but as Potkin
explains in his notes for NIC Magazine
3/2011 Black can afford to ignore the
threat:
16...0–0 17.Sd5
as he can profitably sacrifice his strongest
piece!
17...cxd5! 18.Txb6 axb6
Black only has a rook and a knight for the
queen, but to compensate for the material
imbalance he has the open a- and c-file as
well as strong central pressure. The white
king clearly isn't all that safe on the
queenside. Potkin poses that White's

biggest problem is actually his dark-
squared bishop which is totally offside.
This is spot on, and the engines now want
to play 19.Le7, although they are quite
clear about Black's advantage.
19.a3 dxe4! 20.axb4 exf3 21.bxc5
21.Lxf3? Lxf3 22.gxf3 (22.bxc5 Lh5 and
the bishop moves to g6 with deadly effect.)
22...Sd4 23.Dc3 Scb3 is a relevant line that
were it not for the immediate threat of
mate would demonstrate Black's
compensation in full (white's king is
vulnerable, the queen is powerless, the
bishop is offside, Black's knights hold
good squares and the rooks have open
files).
21...fxe2
Now Black has a dangerous passed pawn
to boot.

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22.c6 Sd4 23.Dd3
23.cxb7 Ta1+ 24.Kxa1 Sxc2+ 25.Kb1
e1D+ 26.Txe1 Sxe1 27.Lg3! Sxg2 28.Kc2
f5 29.b8D Txb8 30.Lxb8 Kf7 is a long line
by Potkin; Black wins the ending his king
will reach d5 when his activity combined
with his material advantage will suffice.
23...Sxc6 24.f3
Black wins in a direct attack on the king
after 24.Dxe2 Ta4! gaining a tempo
25.Lg3 Tfa8 26.Td1 Sb4. Or 24.Lg3 Tfe8
25.Te1 Sb4–+.
24...Ta4 25.Dd7
25.Dxe2 Txh4 26.Dxb5 Tb4 and rook,
bishop and knight will outwit the queen.
25...Txh4 26.Dxb7 Td4! and now the
passed pawn decides, there is no good
defence to ... Td1 on the next move.
0:1.

FIDE SURVEYS – Jeroen Bosch

2

If it was already difficult for Jobava in the
above example to perceive that winning
the queen was in fact a Pyrrhus victory,
then we an certainly understand that White
missed the ‘unpinning’ manoeuvre in the
next game:

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Bologan V, : Piket Je.
Biel 1999

If it was already difficult for Jobava in the
above example to perceive that winning
the queen was in fact a Pyrrhus victory,
than we can certainly understand that
White missed the unpinning manoeuvre in
the next game:
1...Sd5!
Black would actually be in trouble if it
were not for this sacrifice. Piket has made
the brilliant assessment that Rook and
Piece are ample compensation for the
Queen here. 1...De7 2.Tae1 would favour
White, and the same holds for; 1...Dd7
2.Lf6.
2.Ld8
No better is 2.Th3 Sb4.
2...Se3 3.Db1 Tbd8
All of black's pieces are well-placed,
whereas white's heavy pieces are lost in the
corner. White's king is vulnerable as well.
Bologan now prevents the knight from
escaping by means of
4.h3
After 4.Kf2 Sg4 5.Kg3 Black gains good
chances with (or 5.Kg1 Sf6 (rather than
repeat moves with 5...Se3 ) ) 5...Sf6.
4...f5!

Brute force! Black is opening the long
diagonal. If Black thinks he can play more
quietly with the mysterious 4...Tb8 with
the concrete threat of taking on d4
followed by ...c3, then he is mistaken:
5.f5!? and now following 5...Ld4 6.cd4 c3.
White has 7.Dd3 cd2 8.De3 Tb2 9.Td1 Te4
10.Dc3 Te1 11.Te1 de1D 12.De1 Tg2
13.Kf1 Lc6 14.Da5± and suddenly we are
in a situation where the queen is at its best.
There are pawns on both wings. Her
majesty can move back and forth very
quickly, while the pieces have no
strongholds at present.
5.Da2
What else? Bologan is trying to get his
queen into play. 5.ef5 Sg2 6.Sc4 Ld4 7.cd4
Sf4 with excellent attacking chances for
Black.
5...Le4 6.Sc4
Nor can White solve his problems with
6.Se4 for after 6...Te4 7.Te1 Tde8 (7...d5)
8.Te3! Te3 9.Dc4 Kh8 Black is still better
with already two rooks for the
queen.(9...Kf8 is perhaps even stronger.)
6...Ld5 7.b3
Piket now decides the game in a direct
attack on the king.

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7...Ld4! 8.cd4 Sg2 9.Df2 Te6!–+
Preparing a switch to g6, as well as
doubling rooks on the e-file. Bologan now
takes a worthless pawn, but his position
was hopeless anyway.
10.Sa5 Tde8!
Piket is playing with all his pieces.
11.Sc4 Tg6 12.Kh2 Sf4! 13.Tg1
13.Df4 Te2.
13...Tg1 and White resigned. 0:1.

FIDE SURVEYS – Jeroen Bosch

3

As should be obvious by now we are
studying complex examples where one side
has positional compensation for the loss of
the queen (or in some cases insufficient
compensation). We are not concerned with
combinations where the sacrifice of the
queen leads to, say, direct material gain, or
a mating attack.
Before we continue we have to establish
what would roughly be the material
equivalent of a queen. Normally speaking
Rook and Piece cannot withstand a Queen
(note that this was the material parity in
Bologan-Piket). When the weaker side has
an additional pawn he should often be able
to draw; another extra pawn should give
winning chances.
I will not concern myself with Queen
versus Two Rooks. As is well-known two
rooks are normally stronger (but it depends
on the number of open files and whether
the rooks are coordinated or nor).
When it comes to Queen versus Light
Pieces, then generally one requires three
light pieces to fully compensate a queen (in
such cases well-coordinated pieces offer
good winning chances).
Having more pieces generally means that
one can attack a target more often than a
sole queen can defend it. The pieces do
require coordination and strongholds,
while a queen may be very agile, and can
quickly switch between attacking one
weakness and another.
All these observations are rules of thumb
only. Clearly, strategical considerations or
compensating factors may tilt the balance
towards one side or the other.

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Schut L. : David A.
Bethune 2010

22...Db2
The strongest continuation. David
sacrifices his queen for sufficient material.
Another useful feature of queen sacrifices
is that they always unbalance the game.
Quite playable for Black is 22...Da5
23.Tb3!?; Wrong is 22...Sc5 23.Td4 Db2
24.Lc1 Dc2 25.Td2+-.
23.Tb3 Db3 24.cb3 Tc3 25.Ld4
25.Tb2.
25...Tb3
Rook, knight and two pawns are more than
enough. Black has excellent winning
chances.
26.Da1?! e5! 27.Da2?!
Black is also better after 27.Le5!? Se5
28.fe5 Lg5 (28...de5? 29.Td7) 29.Td6;
27.fe5?! Lg5!
27...Tb4 28.Lc3 Tc8!
David is demonstrating an excellent
command of positions with unbalanced
material.
29.Lb4 Tc1 30.Lf1 Tf1 31.Kg2 Tf4
Black now has two light pieces and three
pawns for the queen. He will win another
pawn soon. Important is the excellent
coordination of Black's forces and the
vulnerable position of Black's king.
32.Ld6?!
32.Kg1 a5 (32...Le4?! 33.Dc4 and
suddenly the queen becomes active.)
33.Ld6 Lg5.
32...Le4 33.Kg1 Tg4 34.Kf1 Lg5 35.h3
Th4 36.Le7?
Black has to play more accurately after
36.Tf2 Ld3 37.Kg2 and now 37...Tc4!
(37...Lc4? 38.Tc2) 38.Db3 e4.
36...Tf4 37.Kg1 Le7 38.Td7 Lc5
A pair of bishops and 4 pawns now
guarantee the win:
39.Kh2 h5 40.Td8 Kh7 41.Td2 Tf1
42.Dc4 Th1 43.Kg3 Tg1 44.Kh2 f5
45.Df7 Tg6 46.h4 Lg1 47.Kh3 f4 48.Df8
Tg3# 0:1.

FIDE SURVEYS – Jeroen Bosch

4

This game may remind us of the classical
example Iljin Genevski-Lasker, Moscow
1925, where Lasker sacrificed his queen in
a typical Sicilian middlegame to unbalance
the game (he won easily even though
objectively White could have obtained
some advantage). Interestingly, Kasparov
(in My Great Predecessors Volume I)
observes that properly speaking this is not
really a sacrifice but merely a form of
exchange.
Although I do not want to give too many
classical examples (they may be found in
many books) another game from the
second World Champion surely deserves to
be mentioned here. In Zurich 1934 the 65-
year old Lasker defeated Max Euwe one
year before he would become World
Champion. He did so in excellent style:

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Euwe M. : Lasker Em.
Zurich 1934

White threatens Se4 or so it seems, Lasker
now played:
1...Sc2!
when after
2.Se4
he gave his queen with
2...De5! 3.Sf6 Df6 4.Tf6 Sf6
4...Se1 5.Tf4 Td1 was also good, when
Black will regain the queen and remain a
pawn up in the ending.
5.Tc1

Better for Black is 5.Te2 Td1 6.Tc2 Tf1
7.Kf1 - similar to the previous comment.
5...Se4 6.Le2 Sd4
Such powerful knights. Euwe's queen is
clearly too passive, he now tries to activate
his strongest piece, but it is already too
late.
7.Lf3 Sf2 8.Dc4 Sd3! 9.Tf1 Se5 10.Db4
Sef3 11.gf3 Se2
11...Td5!
12.Kh2 Sf4 13.Kh1
13.Kg3 g5–+.
13...T2d4! 14.De7? Kg7!
Black now wins in a direct mating attack.
15.Dc7 T8d5 16.Te1 Tg5 17.Dc6 Td8 0:1

So far we have seen examples where the
pieces were well-coordinated even though
play was ‘all over the board’. In general, it
is more favourable for the pieces when the
position is more compact (in such cases the
long distance power of the queen is less
relevant).

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Larsen B. : Chandler M.
Hastings 1987

18.Ld5
The simple 18.Db3 can be met by 18...Ta1
19.Ta1 e4.
18...Kh8
18...Sd5 19.Da8 Sc3 20.Tb7! Se2 21.Kf1
Lb7 22.Db7 Sc3 23.Ta7 Df6 24.c5 was
indicated by Larsen. White is much better
due to his strong passed pawn (and control
of the seventh rank).
19.Da8! Sa8 20.Ta8 Lh6?!

FIDE SURVEYS – Jeroen Bosch

5

20...De7 21.Lb7! Le6 (21...Lb7 22.Tb7!
Df8 23.Taa7) 22.Te8 De8 23.Ta1 Lf8
24.Ta8 De7 25.Ld5 and White is better,
because the position is compact.
21.Sdf3 De7 22.Lb7! Ld7
22...Lb7? 23.Tb7.
23.Te8 Le8 24.Ld5 Dd6 25.Tb7
The immediate 25.h4 is also good, but
Larsen presumably just wanted Black to
play 25...g5.
25...g5 26.h4! gh4
26...g4 27.Sg5 Lg5 28.hg5 h6 29.gh6 Dh6
30.Tb8 Dg6 31.Sg2 Kg7 32.Sh4 Dh5
33.Sf5+- Larsen.
27.Sh4 Ld7 28.Sef3 f4
28...Le6 29.Le6 De6 30.Tb8 Kg7 31.Tb5
wins easily.
29.Le4
White is attacking with all his pieces,
while Black has no real targets. Note that
the queen is merely a defender, not the role
that you would like this powerful piece to
play.

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29...fg3 30.fg3 Le3 31.Kg2 Lg4 32.Th7
Kg8 33.Tb7
The rest is agony for Black:
33...Da6? 34.Se5 Le6 35.Te7 Kf8 36.Shg6
Kg8 37.Te6 Da2
Mate is now forced. 38.Te8 Kg7 39.Te7
Kh6 40.Sg4 Kh5 41.Te5 Lg5 42.Sf4 Kg4
43.Lf3# 1:0.

It is surely no coincidence that we may
find many more suitable examples of our
subject in Larsen’s practice. His combative
attitude induced him to look for
opportunities to unbalance the game. I
refer the eager student to such games as

Neikirch : Larsen, Portoroz 1958 and Van
den Berg : Larsen, Beverwijk 1959.
In compact positions the side opposing the
queen will often be able to draw (despite
his material deficit) by means of a fortress.
Aiming for this can be a conscious
defensive strategy.

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Khalifman A. : Karpov A.
Dos Hermanas 1993

1...Tad8 2.e5!? Ld5! 3.Lh7
The classical bishop sacrifice on h7 was
the point of Khalifman's set-up.
3...Kh7 4.Td5
White has nothing to gain by changing the
move order. 4.Sg5 Kg8 5.Dh4? (5.Td5 Td5
6.Dh4 Dg5) 5...Le4!–+.
4...Td5 5.Sg5 Kg8 6.Dh4 Dg5
The only move, both players must have
seen the sacrifice coming. Karpov has
accurately seen that Black is completely
OK.
7.Dg5 Sc6

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8.f4

FIDE SURVEYS – Jeroen Bosch

6

8.Dc1 Se5 9.Dc7 is given as equal by Van
der Sterren.
8...Sd4 9.h4
White needs another attacker on the
kingside.
9...Tc8 10.Dg4
10.h5 Sf5 11.g4 Sh6 and the fortress seems
to hold. White's king has become very
vulnerable.
10...Sf5 11.Te1 Tc4
Black already has the better chances.
12.h5 Tdd4 13.Df3!
Activating the queen.
13...Tf4 14.Da8 Kh7 15.Da7 Tg4 16.Df7
Tc2 17.Db7 Sh4 18.Kf1 Sg2?
Black wins after 18...Tf4 19.Kg1 Ta2.
19.Te4! Tg5 20.De7 Tf5 21.Kg1 Sf4
22.Tf4!
Now White is able to draw by perpetual:
22...Tf4 23.De6 Tcc4 24.Dg6 Kh8 25.De8
Kh7 26.Dg6 Kh8 27.De8 draw.

One more example of the defensive
technique to sacrifice your queen in order
to defuse the opponent’s attacking
potential is in order. In the next game
White effectively aims for a fortress.

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Huebner R. : Petrosian T.
Sevilla 1971

1...e5
This pawn sacrifice looks very strong, but
Huebner finds an adequate defence. Black
could keep an edge with 1...Ld7! 2.Dh3 g6
3.Thf1 Tac8 4.Kb1 Le8! (but not 4...Lc6?
5.Tf7+-).

2.De5 Le6 3.Kb1 Td5 4.De4 g6
Black now appears to hold a strong attack
against white's king. Huebner effectively
pulls the emergency break:
5.Lc4! Lf5 6.Ld5 Le4 7.Le4 Td8

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8.h4!
Not 8.d5 De3.
8...Td4 9.Td4 Dd4 10.Lb7 Kf8 11.Lf3
Df2 12.Ka1
and White holds an impenetrable fortress.
Draw.

In this article I have mainly stressed the
strength of the force opposing the queen.
In the examples mentioned so far the
pieces were always able to coordinate,
thereby overcoming the sheer force of the
queen by means of their number.
In conclusion, I want to redress the balance
somewhat; after all otherwise we would all
be sacrificing our queen continuously!
In Rethinking the Chess Pieces Andrew
Soltis makes the following succinct
observation: ‘When a player gives up …
his queen for enemy pieces, it sets up a
battle between two principles: cooperation
versus double attack’ (Batsford 2004,
p.135).
Indeed, a queen is at its best when she can
check, check and attack. The following
study by Rinck neatly illustrates this. I will
only give the main line.

FIDE SURVEYS – Jeroen Bosch

7

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Rinck
Tijdschrift 1948

1.Dd4 Sb4 2.De3 Ka4 3.Da7 Kb3 4.Df7
Ka4 5.Dd7 Ka5 6.Dd8 Kb5 7.Db8 Kc4
8.Df4 Kc5 9.Df8 Kc4 10.Df1 1:0.

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Euwe M. : Grünfeld E.
Zandvoort 1936

Here the queen is a powerful attacking
piece, while Black has yet to coordinate his
pieces.
1.Sg5 Lg5
1...g6 2.Dh3 h5 3.Le3 Sd3 4.Dd7 Lc8
5.Dd5 is a line that illustrates the strength
of the queen.
2.Lg5 Tfe8
White keeps an edge against other moves
too: 2...Le4 3.Dg4 Tfe8 4.Le3 Te5 5.Ld4
f5 6.Dg3 f4 7.Dg4 Lf5 8.Df3 Le4 9.Da3

Tg5 10.f3 Se6 11.fe4 Sd4 12.Dd6+-;
2...Sd3 3.Dd7 Lc8 (3...Tab8 4.Le7 Tfe8
5.Ld6 Ted8 (5...Se5 6.Le5 Te5 7.f3±)
6.Dg4) 4.Dd4 Te8 5.f4.
3.Te1
Or 3.Dg4!?, when 3...Te5?? is not possible,
due to 4.Lf6.
3...Te6 4.Te3 Tae8?
This is a clear mistake according to Euwe
who indicated as stronger: 4...h6 5.Lf6
Sd7! and White cannot play Tg3 because
of the back rank mate.; 4...Tg6 5.f3±.
5.h4 h6
5...Tg6 6.e6 (6.h5+-) 6...Se6 7.h5+-;
5...Sd3 6.Lf6!+-.

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6.Lf6 g6
6...Sd7 7.Tg3 Sf6 8.ef6 Te1 9.Kh2+-
illustrates why Black had to play ...h6 one
move earlier than he did; 6...gf6 7.ef6+-.
7.Df4 Kh7 8.Lg5!
8.h5.
8...f5
8...hg5 9.Df7 Kh8 (9...Kh6 10.hg5 Kg5
11.Tg3 Kh6 12.f4) 10.hg5 and mate
follows.
9.ef6
and Black resigned 1:0.