I posted this here since playing an early queen is generally a beginner thing to do. Here is a game that I played recently:

[Event "Challenge"]
[Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"]
[Date "2008.07.30"]
[EndDate "2008.07.30"]
[Round "?"]
[White "lmcfarland"]
[Black "Eladar"]
[WhiteRating "1090"]
[BlackRating "1496"]
[WhiteELO "1090"]
[BlackELO "1496"]
[Result "0-1"]
[GameId "5270055"]

1. e4 e5 2. c4 Bf8c5 3. a3 d6 4. f3 Qd8h4 5. g3 Qh4h5 6. Bf1e2 Bc5xg1
7. Rh1xg1 Qh5xh2 8. Rg1f1 Qh2xg3 9. Rf1f2 h5 10. d4 h4 11. dxe5 h3
12. exd6 cxd6 13. Qd1a4 Bc8d7 14. Qa4b4 b6 15. Bc1e3 h2 16. Ke1d2 h1=Q
17. Rf2f1 Qh1xf1 18. Be2xf1 Rh8h2 19. Kd2d3 Nb8c6 20. Qb4c3 Nc6e5
21. Kd3d4 Ne5xf3 22. Kd4d3 Nf3e1 23. Kd3d4 Qg3e5 0-1




I opened e4 e5, but then I was completely out of book with 2.c4. I figured Bc5 looked good, but when I saw f3, I brought out the Queen looking for a possible cheap win, and at least messing with his king side's pawns.

Was that a good idea or not?

I then retreated to h5 looking to bait the rook. After taking the Knight on g1 I figured two things would happen. Best case scenerio he'd take my bishop leading to what happened or he'd give me f4, then I'd follow it up with Bf2 trapping taking away all possibilities of castling queenside.

I feel pretty good about everything after that. I'm just wondering if bringing the queen out so early is such a good thing to do in this situation. Generally I don't like doing this. I think it is "crap chess".


Btw, I have no idea where the 1496 is coming from. I haven't played enough games to get a rating. Right now my rating says 1200 in my info.

Hi Eladar,

Very good question. First of all, after c4, Bc5, A3 (White is preparing to play b4 to attack the Bishop), though after you played d6, white plays f3?

Here is the important question, "Why did white play f3?" this weakens the Kingside significantly... allowing Black to prevent white from castling Kingside.

Never forget: "Every pawn move is a weakening move."

and "Flat pawns, are strong pawns" (EG. pawns at f2, g2, and h2.)

Your idea of baiting white's move is a nice strategy, GMs call it "Inducing their opponent to play a weakening move."

The main question you ask is whether an early Queen move is sound, and the answer is, "Depends on the position". For example, in the French Advanced pawn variation: 1. e4 .. e6 2. d4 .. d5 3. e5 .. c5 4. Nf3 .. Qb6! The Queen's move to b6 is perfectly sound, and she is perfectly safe there for the time being. She is placing pressure on d4. 5. Be3 .. Nc6 ....

Hope this answers your question,

Cheers!
-Thomas

Thanks for the reply Thomas!

Why f3? It isn't sound, but I'd say he is trying to create a huge pawn triangle and complete it with d4 and d5. The problem is that with d4 hangs the pawn.

Perhaps he was hoping for a Ne2 to support the d pawn push. But I took advantage of his slow development and got him all tied up. I know the feeling, it happens to me from time to time. I guess that's called getting punished for not developing your pieces properly.

But if I didn't go on the offensive, and simply tried to develop my pieces normally (knights before bishops and pieces before the queen), he might have gotten away with it.

Edit:

My question was about playing the early queen in this situation and the way that I did. I left her hanging, but I thought she wasn't in any danger.

This opening (it has no name but looks like it could transpose into something resembling an English maybe.) was played in a game Cochrane-Staunton, London 1842 which continued 3.Nc3 Ne7 4.Bd3 Nbc6 5.Nf3 d6

Instead of 4.f3 I think he should have continued developing with 4.Nf3 and if 4…Nf6 5.b4 Bb6 6.Nc3 and now I’m not sure Black would want to continue with 6…Ng4?! 7.d4 exd4 8.Nd5 when White looks OK

4...Qh4+ looks as good as anything but I think White should have tried 6.Nc3 because after 6...Bxg1 7.Rxg1 Qxh2 8.Rg2 Qh5 9.Nd5 the position looks about equal. Black’s Q is offside and the attack on his c7 is annoying. On the other hand White is down a P and his K-side is ruined. All in all probably equal chances for both sides.

Why not 4...Bxg1 right away, when 5...Qh4+ will pick up the h-pawn.

Abba,

That sounds like a great idea if the opportunity ever presents itself again. Perhaps I might actually see this position again perhaps when someone plays the English, or another crazy player who doesn't try to learn orthodox openings.

Jackson,

I'm glad you thought the early queen was as good a move as any other. I guess when people throw unorthodox things at me, I've just got to start looking for reasons why its unorthodox.