How To Know When It Is Time For A Queen Sacrifice
The queen is the most valuable piece in chess (other than the king, of course).
Employing the commonly-used method of assigning “points” to the different chessmen as a rough way of understanding their relative value:
- Pawns are said to be worth 1 point.
- Knights and bishops are worth 3 points.
- Rooks are worth 5 points.
- The queen is worth 9 points.
This scale is not exact because the true value of each piece always depends on the position. But the point still stands: the queen is, by far, the most potent warrior in the chess player’s arsenal. Losing your queen usually means losing the game.
And yet, there are rare occasions where a player’s best move is to willingly sacrifice their queen!
A queen sacrifice often comes as a shock to your opponent. In the midst of considering all the other moves you might play, a queen sacrifice is not usually at the top of their list.
This article will help you know the right circumstances in which to use the queen sacrifice to devastating effect.
In it, you will learn:
- How to think about the queen sacrifice.
- The four different circumstances where a queen sacrifice may be correct.
- Examples from real games, so that you can see queen sacrifices in action.
The Mindset Behind A Queen Sacrifice
Because the queen is so valuable, a higher degree of concrete calculation is necessary when considering sacrificing it.
You may be able to recover from an incorrect pawn sacrifice, but queen sacrifices are different. An incorrect queen sacrifice is almost certainly going to result in losing the game if you are playing against a strong opponent. Therefore, make sure to invest more time, and calculate with greater care and precision before carrying out a queen sacrifice.
It is very unusual to see a “positional” queen sacrifice. Attacking chess can often call for the sacrifice of a pawn or even a minor piece in order to open lines towards the enemy king. You may be justified in making such pawn / minor piece sacrifices even if you cannot see all the way to the end of the combination.
However, this course of action is inadvisable with queen sacrifices. You should not make a queen sacrifice unless you can calculate, with certainty, all the way to a favorable outcome, such as checkmate.
Let us now move on to specific examples of queen sacrifices in action. All of the positions you are about to see are real, although in some cases the player who was on the receiving end of the queen sacrifice resigned rather than allow the critical continuation to be played out on the board.
Study them, and try to commit the patterns to memory so that you can notice them if and when they occur in your own games!
Related: Improve your tactical vision with The Ultimate Guide To Chess Tactics.
The Queen Sacrifice For Checkmate
Checkmate ends the game, so we should not mind how much material is lost in its pursuit. If the queen must be sacrificed in order to trap the enemy king, then so be it!
Tukmakov vs. Kasparov, 1981
Exploiting a weak back rank is a common motif in many chess tactics, and the queen sacrifice is no different. See if you can find how - with Black to move - Kasparov forced either checkmate or a decisive gain of material.
To find this queen sacrifice, you should notice how important White’s rook is. White is relying on his ability to meet Ra1+ from Black with the blocking reply Rc1.
Armed with this knowledge, it becomes easier to find the queen sacrifice: Qxc5!!
Now White has an impossible choice: accepting the queen sacrifice with Bxc5 will soon lead to a back-rank checkmate after Black plays Ra1+ next, whereas failing to capture the queen just leaves White a whole rook down for zero compensation.
In the game, Tukmakov chose neither of these options - he resigned instead.
Peresipkin vs. Karpov, 1971
Sometimes, the mating pattern that justifies the queen sacrifice can be obfuscated due to other complexities within the position that draws our attention away. The next example is a case in point. If there were fewer pieces on the board, even most beginners would be familiar with the mating pattern that Karpov (with the Black pieces) used to force resignation. Can you see it too? Black to move.
Black’s queen sacrifice Qxh2+!! takes advantage of the so-called “ladder checkmate” - which is one of the first checkmating methods taught to those new to chess - trapping the enemy king on the edge of the board using two rooks.
After White plays the forced Kxh2, Black can play Rh5#. With both the h-file and the g-file controlled by the pair of Black rooks, the White king has no safe refuge.
This example came from the highly-recommended tactics training book The Woodpecker Method - available from the USCF store.
Carlsen vs. Ding, 2024
In one of the most shocking games of recent years, the reigning world champion Ding Liren allowed a mate-in-two tactic that even most club-level players would spot rather effortlessly. It is worth noting that this occurred in classical over-the-board chess with slow time controls - not a chaotic blitz game where blunders such as this may be more forgivable.
In the below position, it is White to move. Do you see the queen sacrifice that caused Ding to extend his hand to Carlsen in resignation?
The correct move, played without hesitation by Carlsen, is Qxh7+!!
Black has no choice but to capture the White queen with Kxh7, whereupon Rh4# finishes the game in favor of White.
Note the vital role that White’s light squared bishop performs in controlling the g8 square, which Black’s king would otherwise be able to run away to. Details like these are very important when calculating queen sacrifices!
The Queen Sacrifice For Material Gain
A queen sacrifice can also be the best move even if it doesn’t result in checkmate. Another scenario to sacrifice the queen is when it leads to the player gaining even more material later.
Let’s take a look at a couple of illustrative examples.
Petrosian vs. Spassky, 1966
This famous combination occurred in the 1966 World Chess Championship match. White to move. Once Petrosian played it, Spassky immediately resigned.
Petrosian’s tactical thunderbolt was Qh8+!!
After this, Black’s only legal move is to capture the White queen via Kxh8 - at which point, White’s intended follow-up was Nxf7+ (scooping up Black’s rook), followed by Nxg5 (winning back the queen, due to the royal fork). At the end of it all, White gets an extra knight and a totally won game.
Zanfir vs. Rose, 2023
Now for an example from one of my own games.
Black is already doing very well, being two pawns up. But now can Black win a whole piece by force. Can you see how? Black to move.
The move is Qxd2!! The reason that Black is willing to sacrifice their queen for the White knight is that White has only one way of recapturing: Qxd2.
White’s problem is that after this, Black can play Nf3+, taking advantage of the weakened light squares around the White king. This forks the White king and queen, allowing Black to win back the queen sacrificed earlier. Once the combination is over, Black has an extra knight.
The Queen Sacrifice To Promote A Pawn
Sacrificing your queen is not such a big deal if you have a pawn positioned at the ready to promote into a new one.
Rose vs. NN, 2024
This position came about in one of my online games. Both players have equal material, but White’s h-pawn is just one square away from queening. However, at first glance, Black seems to have it covered. Black’s rook and king both cover the promotion square on h8. Additionally, White’s queen is under attack. With White to move, how should White proceed?
The most direct way for White to win decisive material is with Qxf8+!! White sacrifices their queen for Black’s rook, because after Black recaptures Kxf8, White can get a new queen next move with h8=Q+. Once the dust settles, White has an extra rook.
Spotting a tactic like this requires noticing that, in the starting position, Black’s king was overloaded. It could not successfully defend both the rook on f8 and the critical h8 promotion square at the same time.
The Queen Sacrifice For Stalemate
Although much rarer than the other types of queen sacrifices, sacrificing the queen to achieve a draw by stalemate in an otherwise lost position is perhaps even more satisfying.
Related: Everything You Need To Know About Stalemate In Chess.
Pilnick vs. Reshevsky, 1942
This position looks completely hopeless for White. Not only is he down three pawns, but Black’s connected passed pawns on g4 and h4 are advancing menacingly down the board. If Black could trade queens, then the pawn ending would be easily won for Black. On the other hand, if the queens remain on the board, the White king may very well soon face the threat of getting checkmated.
However, with White to move, there is one last trick. Can you see it?
In the game, White found the stunning queen sacrifice Qf2!!
The point is, Black is really forced to take the White queen. The Black queen cannot move away, because it is pinned in front of the Black king along the diagonal. But once Black plays Qxf2, White’s king is stalemated and the game is a draw!
This amazing example of a queen sacrifice appeared in David Smerdon’s excellent book: The Complete Chess Swindler, available from the USCF store.
How To Get Better At Spotting Sacrifices (And Other Chess Tactics)
If you want to find brilliant queen sacrifices like these in your own games, it would be useful to repeat the following mantra to yourself whenever you find yourself in a critical position: always look at all forcing moves - no matter how crazy they might seem! After all, the only way to find a queen sacrifice is if you are looking for it.
The other thing you should do is make tactics a regular part of your chess training routine. There are many wonderful tactics training books out there. A great choice for intermediate / advanced players is Chess Tactics For The Tournament Player.
If you can commit to doing just 20 - 30 minutes of tactics training per day, pretty soon you will find the opportunity to make a beautiful queen sacrifice of your own!