# Pirc Bc4 line, pawn-grabbing queen: game 1412

> In a Pirc Bc4 line my pawn-grabbing queen took three pawns in game 1412 and missed the simple trade on h3. Four verified boards from a loss I was winning.

- URL: https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/opening-lesson-game-1412/
- Updated: 2026-11-02
- Author: Ignacio Soler

My Pirc Bc4 line with a pawn-grabbing queen is the short version of **game 1412**, a loss with Black against **Medjdoub86 (1323)** on March 29, 2025. The opening went fine. Then, from move 13 on, my queen went hunting for pawns: d4, c2, c3. Each capture looked like free material. Stockfish shows that at least two of them gave away a big advantage, and the last one put my queen where White's queen could take it.

## The recorded game

I played it on my Chess.com account **nacsol3**, as Black, in a ten-minute rapid game without increment. It belongs to the sequence behind the [From 631 to 1385 journey](/journey/).

| Detail | Saved record |
|---|---|
| Game | 1412 |
| Opening | Pirc Defense, Classical Variation (B08) |
| Opponent | Medjdoub86, 1323 |
| Result | Loss (1-0), the record says "Medjdoub86 won - game abandoned" |
| Recorded rating | 1298 → 1290 |
| My accuracy | 65.6% (White 70.8%) |
| My blunders / mistakes / inaccuracies | 8 / 0 / 5 |
| Accuracy by phase | Opening 93.8%, middlegame 52.9%, endgame 97.7% |
| My best winning chance in the game | 85.4% |
| Original score | [Chess.com game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/136820113544) |

The game came after a win in game 1411, which had taken me back to 1298. It started a run of three losses in a row (1412, 1413 and 1414) that left me at 1274. The [week 13 diary](/journey/week-2025-w13/) has all the games of those days.

## How the opening went

The moves were 1.e4 g6 2.Bc4 d6 3.d4 Bg7 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.O-O c6. Chess.com files it as a Pirc Classical, but White's bishop went to c4 on move two, before the knights, so the position felt different from the usual ones. White then played 7.Ng5, an inaccuracy according to the engine, and I answered 7...e6, which was also marked as an inaccuracy: Stockfish preferred the central push d5 straight away.

After 8.f4 (a mistake by White; the engine wanted e5) I did play 8...d5, and after 9.exd5 exd5 10.Bd3 Bg4 11.Qe1 Re8 12.Qh4 h6 the position was roughly level. White's queen had come to h4 and the knight on g5 had been chased. Up to here, my opening accuracy was 93.8%. Whatever went wrong, it wasn't the first twelve moves.

## Position 1: move 13, the trade on h3

White's knight retreated to h3, an inaccuracy that gave me a small edge: **-1.18**, better for Black. My bishop on g4 was right next to that knight.

> **Game 1412, Black to move on move 13**
> Position (FEN): `rn1qr1k1/pp3pb1/2p2npp/3p4/3P1PbQ/2NB3N/PPP3PP/R1B2RK1 b - - 1 13`
> Played: Qb6 — Queen from d8 to b6, attacking the pawn on d4 and, behind it, the king
> Better: Bxh3 — Bishop takes the knight on h3; White can take back

The checker's description of my move is flattering: the queen attacks the pawn on d4, which has no defender, and behind it the king on g1, so the pawn is pinned. A double attack. I remember liking it. The analysis marks it as a blunder anyway: **-1.18 to +0.57**.

Stockfish's choice was much plainer: bishop takes knight, a trade, and its line continues with White's queen taking back on h3. The checker calls the result slightly better for Black. A trade doesn't look like much, but my queen move let White keep the knight and the attack.

## Position 2: move 15, the bishop under attack

White didn't use the chance. 14.Kh1 was marked as a blunder, back to **-1.71** for me, and the engine again wanted the trade on h3. I took the pawn on d4 with my queen instead (a blunder again, to **+1.22**). The checker says my queen then attacked White's knight on c3 and bishop on d3. Then White's 15.Nf2 was another blunder, and the evaluation was **-2.52**, clearly better for me.

> **Game 1412, Black to move on move 15**
> Position (FEN): `rn2r1k1/pp3pb1/2p2npp/3p4/3q1PbQ/2NB4/PPP2NPP/R1B2R1K b - - 1 15`
> Played: h5 — Pawn from h6 to h5
> Better: Bd7 — Bishop from g4 back to d7

White's knight on f2 was now attacking my bishop on g4. Stockfish's answer was to pull the bishop back to d7. I pushed my h-pawn to h5 to hold the bishop where it was, and the evaluation went to **+2.31**. Three moves in a row, my own bishop on g4 was the piece the engine wanted me to deal with, and three times I did something else. White took it on move 16 anyway, and the game swung around a few more times: 17.Be2 was a blunder by White (-3.35), 22.Bd2 another (-4.79). My queen kept collecting pawns, first on c2 on move 24, and each time the engine had a stronger move.

## Position 3: move 25, the third pawn

After 24...Qxc2 the evaluation had fallen to about level, **-0.12**. White pushed 25.f5.

> **Game 1412, Black to move on move 25 (the turning point)**
> Position (FEN): `r3r1k1/pp3p2/2p3p1/3p1P2/8/2P3Q1/P1q3PP/R4R1K b - - 0 25`
> Played: Qxc3 — Queen takes the pawn on c3, attacking the rook on a1 and the queen on g3, but the queen can now be captured
> Better: Re2 — Rook from e8 to e2

This is the turning point in the saved analysis, and the checker's words are the clearest summary of my whole game: the queen takes the pawn and attacks two things, *but the queen can now be captured*. White's queen on g3 could take it along the third rank. The evaluation went from **-0.16 to +8.67**. The engine's move was a rook to e2, onto White's second rank, which the checker rates about equal.

White didn't take my queen. Medjdoub86 played 26.fxg6, I took back with 26...fxg6 (an inaccuracy; trading queens on g3 was better), and then 27.Qxg6+ was a blunder by White: **+9.38 to -0.23**. My 27...Qg7 was the engine's own choice and is marked as a good moment in the lessons. I had escaped.

## Position 4: move 30, the check that lost the queen

> **Game 1412, Black to move on move 30**
> Position (FEN): `4r1k1/pp2r1q1/2pQ1R2/3p4/8/7P/P5P1/R6K b - - 0 30`
> Played: Re1+ — Rook from e7 to e1, check, and it attacks the undefended rook on a1
> Better: Rd7 — Rook from e7 to d7, attacking the queen on d6

Once again my move came with a nice description: check, and a double attack on White's undefended rook on a1. But White simply took my rook with that rook. After 31.Rxe1 Rxe1+ 32.Kh2, the checker rates the position "white is completely winning", and its lines show why: White's rook goes to g6, attacking my queen with my king behind it. That is what happened. After 32...Re8 33.Rg6 I took the rook with my queen, and White's queen took mine with check. The saved analysis puts the check itself as the blunder: **-0.31 to +6.88**. The quiet rook move to d7, attacking White's queen, kept it about equal.

My clock had about three minutes at that point and under two minutes at the end. The game finished after 38.Qxe2, abandoned.

## The lesson of game 1412

Two ideas run through this game. The first is the bishop on g4. On moves 13, 14 and 15 the engine's first choice was always about that bishop: trade it for the knight on h3, or take it back to safety. I kept it there and did something "more active" with my queen.

The second is the queen itself. My queen took the pawns on d4, c2 and c3. The checker gave two of those captures double-attack descriptions, and that is exactly the trap: a move that attacks two things can still leave the attacking piece hanging. On move 25 it did. On move 30 my rook did the same thing with a check.

So the question I took from this game is: **before a capture with my queen, can the queen be taken back where it lands, and what does White's next move attack?** I had an extra piece in [game 1298](/journey/opening-lesson-game-1298/), another Pirc Classical, and lost that one too, so this is clearly a pattern; the [answer on losing winning positions](/answers/why-do-i-keep-losing-winning-positions-in-chess/) looks at it more generally.

## What came next

The recorded ratings go 1298 before this game, 1290 after it, and 1274 two games later. Those are just the numbers that followed; they don't show cause. To go through your own games the same way, [Chess Coach in Claude or ChatGPT](/connect/) shows these boards with plain-word descriptions, and the [journey hub](/journey/) has every other chapter.

## FAQ

### What did the engine want on moves 13 and 14 of game 1412?

Both times, its saved first choice was my bishop taking White's knight on h3. I played a queen move to b6 and then took the pawn on d4 with the queen.

### Which move lost game 1412?

The record has two: 25...Qxc3, a pawn capture that left my queen where White's queen could take it, and 30...Re1+, a rook check after which White's rook move to g6 cost me my queen for a rook.

### How did game 1412 end?

I lost. The record says Medjdoub86 won and the game was abandoned after White's 38th move, with the engine at +11 for White.

### Was the opening the problem?

Not really. My opening accuracy was 93.8%. The trouble started on move 13, in the middlegame, where my accuracy was 52.9%.

## Related

- [From 631 to 1385: my chess journey in 2,117 games](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey.md)
- [Week 63 (Mar 2025): 0–3 in the Pirc Geller System](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/week-2025-w13.md)
- [Pirc Classical knight sacrifice on b5: my game 1298](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/opening-lesson-game-1298.md)
- [Why do I keep losing winning positions in chess?](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/answers/why-do-i-keep-losing-winning-positions-in-chess.md)