Chess 101: The Queen Chess Piece

July 13, 2011
Tags: Chess 101, Learning Chess Articles, Teaching Chess Articles

Considered the most dangerous and versatile piece on the board, the Queen chess piece is also one of the most important. Unless you are an expert chess player, losing your queen piece can easily be the final blow before falling to your opponent. Most players are willing to sacrifice just about any other piece on the board in order to save their queen. So why is the queen so important?

How A Queen Chess Piece Moves

The queen chess piece is like a combination of the Rook and Bishop chess pieces. Each player starts out with one queen piece (although any pawn that makes it to the other side of the board can be traded in for another queen, which is why some chess sets come with extra queens).  The queen can move forward or diagonal in any direction. Here are a few notes:

• The queen can move in any direction on a straight or diagonal path.
• The queen cannot “jump” over any piece on the board, so it’s movements are restricted to any direction of unoccupied squares.
• The queen can be used to capture any of your opponent’s pieces on the board.

Basic Tactics

Most players try to keep their queen defended because of it’s ability to move. It is a very useful piece in any chess game and is often involved in endgame strategy. Experts try to get the queen piece toward the center of the board as soon as possible in order to help defend that space and gain an advantage over their opponent. The queen can be used in a variety of defensive strategies and works well to defend the King no matter where the King is on the board, so long as the queen is nearby. The most dangerous piece to a queen is the opponent’s knight pieces. The queen may not be able to attack a knight piece directly that is attacking the queen, so players try to be wary of their opponent’s knight pieces. Advanced players may be more likely to sacrifice their queen in an attempt to win a game, though this is quite rare.

Favorite Chess Sets

The queen piece is often a very beautiful chess piece and in more expensive sets, it may feature a very beautiful crown and piece shape.

St. Petersburg Sheesham Chess Pieces ($109.99)

Zagreb 3″ Ebonized Chess Pieces ($59.99)

Fianchetto Ebony Chess Pieces ($279.99)

Siogne Bud Rosewood Chess Pieces ($289.99)