Susan Polgar:
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9rsnl+-trk+0
Watch the Queen!
9+p+-zppvlp0
9-+pzp-snp+0
Koblentz said  No price is too great for the
scalp of the enemy King . Well, the next
9zp-+P+-+-0
most important thing is the Queen.
9-wqP+-+-+0
It is essential in practical play to have a
sense when the Queen is in danger. If it is
9+-sN-+-zP-0
the enemy Queen, see if you can trap her.
9PzP-sNPzPLzP0
On the other hand, if it is your own Queen,
make sure she is out of trouble. When you
9tR-vLQ+RmK-0
see a Queen being in enemy s territory, it
is clearly a red flag.
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The answer is: 1.Na4! (taking away the b6
Let s see a few simple examples on this
and c5 squares from the Queen). Now the
topic.
threat is a2-a3. 1& b5 2.a3! Qxa4 3.b3 and
the Queen is lost.
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9-+-+-vlk+0
Here is an example from a recent game:
9zp-+-+-zp-0
Boruchovsky : Stefansson
9-+-zp-+nzp0 Plovdiv 2012
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9+-zpP+-+-0
9r+-+rvlk+0
9-+PwqNzP-+0
9+l+-+pzp-0
9zP-+-+-zPl0
9p+n+-+-zp0
9-+-vL-sN-zP0
9+pzpL+-+-0
9+-+Q+-mK-0
9-+-+N+-+0
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In this example, the Black Queen seems to 9zP-+P+N+P0
be centralized right in the middle of the
9-wqP+-+P+0
board. Moreover, it is pinning the White
Knight on f2, and attacks White s Pawn on
9tR-+QtR-mK-0
c4. Yet, if White finds the correct move,
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the Queen on d4 gets in to major trouble.
After the natural defensive move 1.Qc1! Black played 21...Na5. The idea is to offer
White not only protects the Pawn, but also an exchange of Bishops.
takes away the last escape window from However, after 22.Ra2 the Black Queen is
the Black Queen. Black cannot stop the trapped. Black should have been
decisive threat of 2.Be3. suspicious of White's threat, and either
prevent it by 21...c4, or create an escape
Similarly, in the next position, White with route for the Queen to go back to g7 with
a quiet move prevents the retreat of 21...g6.
Black s Queen.
FIDE Surveys  Susan Polgar 1
A student of mine had the following Susan Polgar  F. Gheorghiu
position with Black: Baden-Baden, 1985
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9r+l+-trk+0 9r+l+k+-tr0
9+p+nzppvl-0 9+-+n+p+-0
9p+-zp-snpzp0 9pzp-zp-snp+0
9wq-zpP+-+-0 9+-zpPzp-+p0
9P+P+-+-vL0 9-zPP+P+-zP0
9+-sN-zPN+-0 9zP-sNLwqP+-0
9-zP-+LzPPzP0 9-+Q+N+P+0
9tR-+Q+RmK-0 9+R+-mK-+R0
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He over-ambitiously played We just traded Bishops on e3 with the last
11...Qb4 12.Qc2 Re8 13.Nd2 Ne5 pair of moves. That is how the Black
and now White continued with Queen ended up on its unnatural position.
14.a5. I immediately noticed that the only retreat
The threat now is to simply trap the Queen the Queen has is back to h6.
with 15.Ra4. Black planned to defend Therefore, my next move was very logical:
against it by 19.f4!
14...Bd7 If now 19& exf4, then simply 20.Nd1
14...b5 was relatively better, but it would trapping the Queen.
lose a Pawn too. It is true that Black now My opponent tried to rescue the Queen
controls the a4 square, but White with a from the other side:
couple of forceful moves can reignite that 19& cxb4 20.axb4 b5
same Ra1-a4 idea. And here comes another pawn push to
15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.f4 close the retreat on the a7-g1 diagonal as
Black s Knight is practically trapped now, well.
as if 16...Ng4, White continues with 21.c5!
17.Bxg4 Bxg4 and 18.Ra4 Bxc3 19.bxc3. Now Black must give up material to save
The actual game ended quickly after the Queen.
16& Nc6 17.dxc6 21& Nxc5 22.bxc5 Ng4 23.Nd1 Qxc5
with White s victory. 24.Rc1
Interestingly, White also had another way
to win with the quiet 15.Ra3, followed by In the next position, it is again obvious to
the unstoppable Nc3-a2 Queen trapping the experienced eye that the White Queen
move next! is in a suspicious position, and should
worry about how to rescue the situation
The next example is from my teenage before it gets too late.
years, a pleasant memory: One of my first
wins against a grandmaster!
FIDE Surveys  Susan Polgar 2
M. Cebalo : E. Bukic Susan Polgar : E. Geller
Banjaluka 1981 Aruba 1992
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9r+-+k+-tr0 9r+r+-+k+0
9zpp+qzppvl-0 9+l+nvlpzpp0
9-+n+l+pzp0 9p+q+p+-+0
9+-zp-+-+-0 9zP-+-+-+n0
9-sn-+-+-wQ0 9Nzp-+P+-+0
9+-sNP+NzP-0 9+-+L+NvL-0
9PzP-vLPzPLzP0 9-zP-+QzPPzP0
9+-tR-+RmK-0 9tR-+R+-mK-0
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Here White played 14.a3? After a quick look at this position, we can
Sadly for White, there was no time for this see that the Black Queen has no places to
(a2-a3) intermediate move. Black can go to. All we need to do is to attack it. But
immediately force to gain material how?
advantage. My opponent's last move was 18...Nf6-h5,
14...g5. with the idea of preventing the trapping of
If 15.Qh5, Bg4 traps the Queen. It is true, the Queen: if 19.Nd4, then 19...Nxg3
that White can get three Pawns for the 20.hxg3 Qc7 and the Queen is safe.
Knight with 15.Nxg5 hxg5 16.Qxg5 Bf6 I found a strong idea combining various
17.Qxc5, but Black develops a winning tactical elements, but ultimately focusing
attack with 17& Bh3! 18.axb4 Bxg2 around the trapping of the Black Queen.
19.Kxg2 Qh3+ 20.Kf3 Rh5. 19.Be5!
15.Qe4 Now, the Nf3-d4 threat is renewed. If
The only square where the Queen is safe 19...Nxe5 20.Nxe5 Qc7 then 21.Qxh5 g6
for another moment. 22.Qe2 Qxe5 and fork with 23.Nb6.
15...f5 16.Qe3 Bd4! Moving the Knight from d7 on move 19,
The Queen has nowhere else to run. would also fail for the same reason, as it
Perhaps, what White missed in his would similarly allow the Na4-b6 jump.
calculation was that after 17.Nxd4 cxd4 The game continued with.
18.Qf3 dxc3 19.Bxc3 Black has 19...Nd5!! 19...Bf6
20.Bxh8 g4 trapping the Queen. Which did not help prevent my threat, and
Black later won without much trouble after after
17.Qxe6 Qxe6 18.axb4 cxb4. 20.Nd4 Nxe5 21.Nxc6 Nf4 22.Qe3
I won soon  1:0.
In the initial position, White had to
continue with either 14.h3 g5 15.Qh5, as Most positions with equal number of
now Be6-g4 is prevented or with 14.Nb5 to pawns, all on one side of the board - have
keep the fight going. drawish tendencies. It would also be in the
following example, unless White can find
The next example is one of my own. something concrete immediately.
FIDE Surveys  Susan Polgar 3
Z. Ribli : J. Lauber 28.Ne7 is even worse.) 27.Ba3! A very
Germany 2012 nice move to deflect the Bishop on d6 from
protecting the Queen on c7. 27...Be5 (of
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course if 27...Bxa3 then 28.Ne7 Bxe7
9-+-+-trk+0
29.Qxc7) 28.Rc4 and Black will either
have to allow the Bxf8 capture or give up
9+-+n+pzpp0
the Queen.
9-+Nvlpsn-+0 26.Ra5
Again, there is only one safe place to run
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to...
26...Qb6
9-+R+-vL-+0
26...Qb7 would be a blunder due to
9wq-+-+-zP-0
27.Ne7.
27.Be3 Qc7 28.Ra7
9-+Q+PzPLzP0
The fifth "chasing move" in a row!
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28...Qc8
Now that the Black Queen has been chased
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to a "fork pattern" with a potential Nc6-e7,
The first idea that comes to mind is to
the last task is to get rid of the Bishop on
attack the Black Queen with the Rook,
d6, which defends the e7 square.
trying to chase it away from guarding the
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Bishop on d6. However, it is not hard to be
convinced that neither 24.Ra4 nor 24.Rc3
9-+q+-trk+0
bring anything to the table. At a closer
9tR-+n+pzpp0
look, we can discover that Black's Queen is
rather limited in escapes squares.
9-+Nvlpsn-+0
Therefore, it is time to start the chase!
9+-+-+-+-0
24.Bc1! Qa6
Only move to avoid the immediate loss of
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the Queen. If 24...Qa1, White traps the
"lady" in the corner with 25.Ra4. Also
9+-+-vL-zP-0
24...Qa8 fails to the discovery with
9-+Q+PzPLzP0
25.Ne7.
25.Ra4
9+-+-+-mK-0
And the chase continues! It is crucial not to
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waste time and let Black get "off the hook"
by activating his Knight with either Nd7- 29.Qd2!
b6 or Nd7-e5. And Black cannot avoid material loss.
25...Qb5 After 29...Ne8 30.Qxd6! Nxd6 31.Ne7
If 25...Qb6 26.Be3 Bc5 (or 26...Qc7 Kh8 32.Nxc8 Rxc8 33.Rxd7 is decisive or
27.Ra7 transposing to the game if 29...Bc5 30.Bxc5 Nxc5 31.Ne7 is even
continuation.) 27.Rb4! elegantly using the worse. Black actually resigned after
pin, with material gain. 29.Qd2, probably not noticing a hidden
After 25...Qc8, White proceeds with defensive resource with 29...Nd5 30.Bxd5
26.Rd4 and Black is in trouble again. exd5 31.Qxd5 and now the surprising
Black needs to make sure to prevent the 31...Nb8! Black could have certainly
fork with Nc6-e7. Therefore, the Bishop prolonged the game this way, but White
must remain on the a3-f8 diagonal. For still has a big advantage after gaining a
example, if 26...Qc7 (If 26...Bc5 27.Rc4 Pawn with 32.Nxb8 Qxb8 33.Bd4 and the
and Black must allow the upcoming Rxc5, outcome of the game with be in no doubt
as otherwise for example if 27...Bd6 then in any case. 1:0.
FIDE Surveys  Susan Polgar 4
Finally, let us look at a famous opening
trap.
After the starting moves
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Bc4
It is a major mistake to continue with the
natural looking 4& Nd7?
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9r+lwqk+ntr0
9zppzpnzppvlp0
9-+-zp-+p+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+LzPP+-+0
9+-+-+N+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tRNvLQmK-+R0
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Surprisingly, White is ready for action!
5.Bxf7! Kxf7 6.Ng5 Ke8 7.Ne6
and traps the Black Queen. 1:0.
Conclusion:
The Queen is the most powerful attacking
piece in chess. It is also the most valuable
piece overall. Therefore, it is extremely
important to make sure our own Queen
stays out of trouble. Normally, avoid
situations where your Queen is surrounded
by all (or mostly) enemy pieces and has no
squares to move to. Obviously, if it is the
other way around, and your opponent s
Queen is in a delicate position, it is a red
flag, and you need to look for opportunities
to try to trap it. As we have seen in a
number of the above examples, it is not
uncommon that the only way to save the
Queen is by giving up a less valuable
piece.
FIDE Surveys  Susan Polgar 5