Trapping the queen

Trapping the queen is a tactical motif which occurs in both amateur and master games. The tactic is similar to a mating net, whose target is the defender's king, rather than his queen. When the opponent's queen is successfully trapped, it usually results in his immediate resignation.

Examples

Trapping the queen

a b c d e f g h 8                                                               8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Moves	1.Nxd5 cxd5 2. Bc7 Resigns (Idea Variation)
ECO	D60
Parent	Queen’s Gamit Declined, Orthodox Defense

The diagram on the right shows a position from the game Alekhine-Rubinstein, San Remo 1930. White plays for trapping the queen, as after the moves (1Nxd5 cxd5 2.bc7), Black's queen is lost.^[1] In the game, Black did not take the knight and after the sequence (1. Nxd5 Bd6 2.Bxd6 Nxd6 3.Nf4), simply lost a pawn without compensation.

Trapping the queen

a b c d e f g h 8                                                         8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Moves	1.Ne6 Bf8 2.b4 Nxb4 3.Bxd7+Kxd7 4.Qxa5
ECO	B44
Parent	Sicilian defense, Open Variation

A more complex position, shown in the second diagram originates from the game Liberman-Ioffe, URS, 1961. After the move 1.Ne6 Bf8 (forced, since 1...Bxe6 loses the queen to 2.Bxc6+ bxc6 3.Qxa5). After the moves (1.Ne6 Bf8 2.b4 Nxb4 (forced, otherwise the queen is trapped) 3.Bxd7+Kxd7 4.Qxa5 (and the Black queen is lost anyway)

Trapping the queen

a b c d e f g h 8                                                       8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Moves	1…Qxa1 2.Bb1 Resigns
ECO	CO2
Parent	French Defense, Advanced variation

The position shown in the third diagram on the right originates from the game Nezhmetdinov-Konstantinov, Rostov, 1936, after the moves (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.dxc5Bxc5 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.Qe2 Qc7 7.Nf3 Nd4 8.Nxd4 Bxd4 9.f4 Ne7 10.Na3 a6 11.c3 Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 Qxc3+ 13.Qd2). When one of the strongest tactical geniuses of all time, Rashid Nezhmetdinov leaves a rook hanging, it may be advisable to proceed with caution. However, in the game Black took the rook and after 2.Bb1 he resigned, since the Black queen is trapped and will be lost after 3.Bb2^[2][3]

References

1. Murray Chandleer (2003). Chess Tactics for Kids. Gambit Publications. pp. 1–128. ISBN 1-901983-99-4.
2. George Huczek (2017). A to Z Chess Tactics. Batsford. pp. 001–349. ISBN 978-1-8499-4446-5.
3. chessgames.com. "'Rashid Nezhmetdinov vs Alexander Ivanovich Konstantinov'". chessgames.com. Retrieved 2021-01-18.