A Queen is one of the most powerful pieces a player should have in a chess game, and each player starts the game with one Queen. The King holds the endgame authority, but the Queen plays a significant role in attacking, defending and dominating the board.
Additional Queens come in later during the game as a result of promoted pawns. A Queen can move across any direction on the chessboard (horizontally, diagonally and vertically).
A player forcing a Queen exchange with an opponent in a chess game believed it is one of the most strategic tactics for a player to have a positioning advantage after the two Queens have been removed from he equation.
But can a Queen kill a queen in a chess game? Yes, a player’s Queen can kill the opponent’s Queen in chess. In a chess game, a Queen can move diagonally, horizontally, or vertically, and as it moves, it can kill any opponent it meets as long as the queen can move to its place.
If the Queen is killed, the player doesn’t have to worry because they can still win the game. Most players think losing their Queen in a chess match is like a death sentence, which isn’t necessarily the case.
In fact, many beginner players spend most of their time trying to take the opponent’s Queen. However, that is not always the best course of action.
In fact, they go ahead and convert Pawns into Queens to create multiple sources of havoc. A chess game is not about taking Queen pieces from the opponents, but it’s rather about controlling the territory around the opponent’s king.
In this article we are going to discuss Queens killing Queens in chess and what this could mean for your strategy. Answered below are frequently asked questions about killing Queens with Queens and what to do when that happens to you.
Can a Queen kill another Queen in Chess?
Absolutely! The Queen in chess has the powers to kill any of the opponent’s pieces as long as it can move to the position on the chessboard. A player’s Queen can only kill another opponent queen if the move doesn’t leave their king in check.
According to standard chess rules, a player should not make a move that exposes a King to checkmate, and any action that exposes the King is considered illegal in the game.
A Queen is a powerful, and as a queen moves it can attack any piece in its direct line of sight. Not only another queen, but also a powerful piece like a King.
Occasionally, the King kills the Queen, but this cannot happen in a situation where the opponent queen is guarded by another piece. In such position, a player cannot use a king to kill the queen, because it could be endangering that king to a checkmate.
Player’s can use their Queen to get rid of the opponent’s Queen as long as it can move to its position and not cause the King to be exposed to Check.
Can a Queen capture a Queen?
Certainly yes! A player’s Queen can capture the opponent’s Queen when it is in direct line of sight. Whether their queen is protected or not, that won’t matter.
If a player tries to capture a Queen from a protected opponent, they risk losing their queen too. When such a situation occurs in a chess game, the players are considered to have exchanged their queens in a basic swap.
The queen movement resemble that of a rook and bishop combined. A player can use their Queen to capture another queen by moving them to the occupied squared spaced where the enemy queen sits.
If a player manages to capture another player’s Queen, it implies the player has a tactical advantage to win the game. Once a Queen has been captured, a player can promote one of their Pawns by reaching the final rank on the opposite side of the board to replace the captured Queen.
Despite a queen being captured, the player can still win the game, but it places the opponent who captured the queen at high chances of winning the game. Therefore, a player should not sacrifice their queen without protection.
How to beat a Queen with a Queen in Chess?
A player should centralize their Queen position so that they are in control of as many squares as possible, which limits chances available for the opponent’s queen. The player should ensure their queen is protected by other chess pieces, such that even when the opponent attacks, the Queen is not captured without an exchange.
A player can move their Queenin a straight line to any number of unoccupied spaces either vertically, diagonally, and horizontally using combined moves of both a rook and a bishop. The Queen then occupies the square space where the enemy queen sits.
If any chess piece does not protect the opponent Queen, then when the Queen is captured it places that player with 80 to 85% chance of winning that game.
Can I get a second Queen in chess?
Yes, it is 100% legal to have two Queens in a chess game. Therefore, a player can get a second Queen to add to the one they had at the start.
A player can take their Pawn to the last rank on the opposite side. When they do, their Pawn is converted to any special piece in chess. The player, therefore, can decide to convert the Pawn into a Queen, which will become the second queen in the game.
The process is not limited only to one Queen. A player can convert as many Pawns as possible into a Queens (as long as they reach the final rank on the opposite side).
The newly converted Queen must have the same color as the parent Pawn it came from. When this is done, the clock is stopped to give the player a chance to look for the second queen, and the player should ask for an arbiter for the second queen, who takes it from an extra set.
Furthermore, you can turn a Rook into a second Queen by placing it in an upside-down position. However, this method cannot be applied to organized competitions such as a tournament.
The color of the queen must be the same as that of the rook that a player converted if using this method.
Queens killing Queens in Chess: Conclusion
So yes, a Queen can be captured by another Queen, especially if any chess piece does not protect that Queen. If the Queen is protected, then the attacking Queen gets captured as well, and the two Queens are said to have been exchanged.
For a Queen to kill another Queen, the situation should not leave the player’s King endangered to any possibility of a check. Any action that exposes the King to check is not implemented because it’s considered illegal.
The Queen attacks another Queen by moving to the opponent Queen’s occupied space. When that happens, the Queen captures the Queen.
When a Queen is captured, that doesn’t necessarily mean the game is over, but it places the opponent in a better strategic position to win the game.
It’s perfectly allowed to have a second Queen in chess, which can be acquired using the promotion Pawns chess rule. This allows any Pawn that reaches the last rank on the opposite side of the player to be converted to a power piece.
If the match in which the chess game is played is not formally organized by a tournament, then converting a Rook into a second Queen is allowed, as long as they will have the same color.
Killing the Queen with your Queen is perfectly legal as long as your King is not exposed to check. Use this strategy to your advantage, however don’t chase after the opponents Queen the entire time because you ay leave yourself vulnerable to attack.