The major pieces like the queen and rook are the most powerful pieces on the chess board and are supposed to be used for attack. The queen, however, because of its ability to move like the rook and the bishop, also can play an important role to thwart an attack.
In the game which follows, white enjoys an edge for most part. However black’s queen on more than a couple of occasions misses a chance to strengthen the defence and on the 36th turn, this results in an immediate loss for black.
White: Larry Melwyn Evans – Black: William James Lombardy New York, 1962 Queen’s Gambit Accepted 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 Accepting the gambitted pawn 3.Nf3 a6 An indication that black may be thinking about retaining the accepted pawn 4.e3 Bg4 Black can think of 4. ..c5 5.Bxc4 e6 6.Qb3 White can castle here 6. .. Bxf3. Black decides to rupture the king side and try and prevent white from castling there. 7.gxf3 b5. If 7...Ra7 8.Bd2 Nf6 9.Nc3 Nbd7 10.Be2 c5 11.d5 8.Be2 Nf6 If 8...Nd7 9.a4 b4 10.Nd2 Ngf6 11.Ne4 c5 12.Nxc5 Nxc5 13.dxc5 Bxc5 14.Bd2 0–0 15.0–0–0 was played in a previous game 9.a4 b4 10.Nd2 White can consider 10.Qc4! Be7 11.Nd2 0–0 12.Nb3 Nbd7 13.Qc6 10...Nbd7 11.0–0 White decides to castle on the kingside despite a broken pawn structure. He can also think about 11.Qc4 c5 11...c5 12.dxc5 Bxc5 13.Nc4 0–0 14.Kh1 Getting out of the open file. White can play 14.a5 14. ..a5 15.Bd2 Better appears 15.Qc2 or 15. Rg1 to take charge of the open file 15. ..Nd5 Black had a stronger move in 15. ..Rc8 or 15. ..Qc7 16.Rg1 White can also think about 16.Rac1 or 16.Rad1 16. ..Be7 If 16...Qh4 17.Rg3 g6 18.Rf1 17.e4 N5f6 If 17...N5b6 18.Bh6 Bf6 19.Rxg7+ Bxg7 20.Rg1 Qf6 21.Bxg7 Qxg7 22.Rxg7+ Kxg7 18.Bh6 g6 Black hardly has any choice and has to give up the exchange. If 18...Ne8 19.Rad1 Qc7 19.Bxf8 Qxf8 20.Rad1 Bc5 Here black could have considered 20. ..Nc5 or 20. ..Qb8 21.Rg2 Qb8 22.Ne3 Here 22.Qd3 is stronger 22. ..Qf4 Better appears 22. ..Be7 or 22. ..Bf8. If 22...Ne5 23.f4 23.Ng4 Ne5 24.Qc2 White can think of 24.Nxf6+ 24. ..Nexg4 25.Qxc5 Ne5 26.Qe3 An invitation to trade queens 26. ..Nh5 27.Rgg1 Kg7 Here 27. ..Qf6 looks better 28.Rc1 Qf6 29.Rgd1 Nf4 30.Bf1 h6 31.b3 Qg5 Here worth thinking is 31. ..g5 32.Rc5 Kh7 A big mistake! Black should have played 32.Qf6 even though white maintains an edge 33.Rd7 If 33.Qd4 Nxf3 34.Rxg5 Nxd4 35.Rc5 Nxb3 36.Rc7 33...Kg8 34.Rdc7 Kg7 35.Rc8 Forcing the exchange of rooks 35. ..Rxc8 If 35...Ra7 36.Rxe5 36.Rxc8 Diagram 1 36. ..Nd7 A big blunder! Black once again misses 36. ..Qf6 which gives a chance for Black to hang on1 37.Qd4+ Qe5 If 37...Nf6 38.Qd8 And if 37...Ne5 38.Rc5 38.Qxd7 Qa1 39.Qb5 g5 40.h3 Qe1 41.Rc2 Qd1 42.Qc4 Qxf3+ 43.Kh2 1–0 Diagram 2 White to play and checkmate 1.Qxh5+ gxh5 2.g6+ Kxg6 3.Rg1+ Kh7 4.Rfxg7 checkmate