Week 4: why do I keep blundering my queen? Three moments from 28 games

Week 4 (January 29 to February 4, 2024) ended almost where it started: 28 games, 12 wins, 15 losses, 1 draw, and 872 → 884 (+12). All of them were 20-minute games. With Black I did well (8 wins, 4 losses, 1 draw); with White I won only 4 of 15. In between there was a five-game win streak and a lot of queen trouble, which is why this week answers a question I typed into Google more than once back then: why do I keep blundering my queen?

The week in numbers

The streak came on Friday, February 2: games #127 to #131, five wins in a row, taking me to 907. Then I lost five of the last six games and gave most of it back. Seven of my 15 losses came after Stockfish had given me at least an 80% winning chance, so the losses were rarely about being outplayed from the start. My accuracy (74.6%) was the lowest of my first four weeks, and most of the 58 blunders (36) came in the middlegame.

One oddity in the list: game #116 has no moves at all. My opponent resigned before playing, so there's no accuracy for it.

Three queen moments

The engine flagged three positions this week, and all three have a queen at the center of them: once I could have won my opponent's, once mine was exposed, and once I simply lost it. Evaluations are from White's side.

Game #110: the move that wins their queen

Against Seb3721 (889) I had White and was completely winning (+7.56). Black's queen had come all the way to d2, next to my position. I took on e6 with my bishop, which threatened checkmate next move. It felt like the killer move. But Black had a check first: the engine's answer is queen to d3, and the evaluation of my move is -1.61. The quick engine check calls it about equal after that check.

. . . . . k . r
p . . . . p b .
. . . . p . . p
. . . . P . p .
. . B . . . . .
. . P . P Q . .
P r . q . P P P
R . . . . K . R

The winning move was much simpler: rook to d1, attacking the queen. In the engine's line Black's bishop takes on e5, my rook takes the queen, Black's rook takes back, and I'm a queen for a rook up (+6.93). My opponent didn't find the queen check on d3; they chose a check on e2 that lost even more material, and I won by checkmate many moves later. The mate threat should have thrown it away.

Game #111: my queen out on a7

In a London System against Diddli (959) I was a bit better (+1.41). My queen was on a7, deep on Black's side. I took the bishop on b7 with my knight. The engine's reply is rook takes back on b7, and that rook would attack two things at once: my queen on a7 and my pawn on b2, neither of them defended. A double attack, and the evaluation of my capture is -0.70.

. r . q . . k .
Q b . . r p p p
. . p . p n . .
. . N p . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . P . P N . .
P P . . . P P P
R . . . R . K .

The full analysis preferred the pawn move b2–b4; a quick engine check gives a couple of queen moves (to a4 or a3) about the same score. Any of them kept my edge around +1.3. What mattered was not opening lines toward my stranded queen. In the game Black attacked the queen with the other rook instead, I answered with another mistake, and I eventually lost by checkmate.

Game #112: the mate threat, then the queen

With Black against Jamel1961 (934) the position was level (-0.45). My queen was on g6. I played my bishop to h3, attacking the pawn on g2 with the rook on f1 behind it, and threatening mate on g2. White's knight went to h4, attacking my queen. I didn't see it. I played my other knight to e7, and the knight took my queen on g6 (+8.75). I resigned on the spot.

r . b . k . n r
p p p . . p p p
. . n . . . q .
. . p . p . . .
. . . . . . . .
P . . P . N . .
. P P . B P P P
R . B Q . R K .

The engine already marks Bh3 as a blunder (from -0.45 to +1.24), because the knight can kick the bishop. But the game was lost one move later, when I answered an attack on my queen with a developing move.

The lesson of the week

When I'm excited about my own threat, I stop looking at my opponent's. Game #110 and game #112 are the same mistake from two angles: I was busy with a mate threat and didn't ask what checks the other side had, or what their last move attacked.

My fix is a two-step habit before every move. First: what does their last move attack? Start with the queen, because that's the piece you can't afford to lose. Second: what are their checks? Only after both answers am I allowed to look at my own attack, and if one of my candidate moves attacks their queen (like Rd1 in game #110), it goes to the top of the list.

All games this week

Before this: week 3 and the London System. After this: week 5. The whole series lives on the journey page, and the same "what did their last move attack?" check is what Chess Coach's game review points out for your own games.