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...00 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 darksquared 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

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

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.

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.

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FIDE SURVEYS Jeroen Bosch

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 65year old Lasker defeated Max Euwe one year before he would become World Champion. He did so in excellent style:

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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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

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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

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.

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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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 Larsens practice. His combative attitude induced him to look for opportunities to unbalance the game. I refer the eager student to such games as

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8.f4

FIDE SURVEYS Jeroen Bosch

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 opponents attacking potential is in order. In the next game White effectively aims for a fortress.

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.

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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+-).

FIDE SURVEYS Jeroen Bosch

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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.

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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Euwe M. : Grnfeld 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

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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.

FIDE SURVEYS Jeroen Bosch