The Queen v 3 Pieces and Saint Drufuss (I hate Mondays)
By 15 May 11 on
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Hi
I think it was last week I was talking about Queen sacrifices,
or maybe it was the week before, I cannot quite recall as I find
keeping track of things date wise is all rather confusing.
You have Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday etc etc and 7 days after the
first Monday you have another set of Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays etc etc.
Seven day later another set and another and another.
Having 52 Mondays a year shows a sincere lack of imagination.
Each day should have it’s own name, each one ending in “……Day.”
Then we could ditch the 12 months and all their numbered 1 - 30 days.
And don’t talk to me about February….It has 28 days for three years and
for one year it has 29 days. What is that all about?
I think it is time we scraped the 7 days, weeks and months system….
It’s out of date!
(….leave that bit out Russ, I’ll start again.)
Hi
I think it was in the last blog I was talking about Queen sacrifices,
or maybe it was the blog before, I cannot quite recall as I find
keeping track of things I write all rather confusing.
You have blog 1, blog 2, blog 3, etc and….
(Get on with it…….Russ)
This week I’ll stay with Queens and say a word or two about:
I have 72 pure examples.
The lone Queen wins = 43
The Three Piece wins = 14
Draws = 15
But first a quick word about Saint Drufuss who is the patron saint
of the three minor pieces.
They have a statue of Saint Drufuss in the lobby of the Halifax Town Hall.
For the sake of this blog I went down to Halifax just to have my picture
taken next to it.
OK. 72 examples from a DB of over one million games
just shows you how rare this type of ending is.
What I am going to say is 99% common sense.
Really all you need is some advice and if covered in a chapter in
a primer it’s something that would only need a few examples.
Skipping through the 72 examples the biggest danger the three bits player
faces is when the ending starts.
If the three bits players has not had time to cover his pieces and some are loose
or not coordinated then the Queen will pick one of them off.
tk1991 - BluesyTune RHP 2007 White to play.
All the Black pieces all unprotected.
It is not surprising the Queen can fork a couple. 1.Qf5
A Bishop falls.
Remember with the Queen it’s all about tactics.
Pins, Forks, Skewers and every Queen check must be looked at very carefully.
Activity is the key, the Queen player must annoy and disturb the three bits.
It’s no use trying to block a passed pawn with a Queen as she will have to
cede ground on the first attack. The Queen player must be energetic and industrious.
sannevssr - afx RHP 2007 White to play.
petrovitch - khawarizmi RHP 2007
If the three piece player has a passed pawn then this is a big worry
for the Queen player. As I said even under normal circumstances the
Queen should not be used to block a passed pawn.
Dreuth - misterrigel RHP 2009
jose1234 - melix888 RHP 2008
Here is a nice combo from the three bits player.
It would not look out of place in a book of tactical puzzles.
Shelrock57 - bdog2222 RHP 2007
We end with this intriguing, interesting and instructive example.
(At one stage it is two Queens v two minor pieces.)
phil3000 - cptnunicum RHP 2008. Game 4897229
Before we go through the fun bit, look at this.
White to play.
The Black Bishops strafing the White King. A big pawn on d3.
ideas and combo’s all over the board.
It got all too much for both players. White played 23.Rxd3?
And Black missed 23…Qxe1 mate.
(Check all Checks) 😉
