Week 108: how to avoid getting your queen trapped (and why I got lucky)
One game this week, on Sunday, March 8, 2026, after eleven days without playing — and a win. My rating went from 1204 to 1212 (+8). It was a long game, 62 moves, against Ebrahim-1112 (1193), and I finished it with two new queens on the board. But the engine review starts much earlier, and it isn't kind: in moves 9 and 10 my queen could have been trapped, twice in a row. So this is my diary entry on how to avoid getting your queen trapped, written by someone who escaped only because his opponent didn't see it.
The week in numbers
| Games | 1 |
| Wins / losses / draws | 1 / 0 / 0 |
| Rating | 1204 → 1212 (+8) |
| Average accuracy | 84.7 % |
| Blunders | 2 |
| Opening | Modern Defense with 1 e4 |
The phase summary tells the story well: 62.1 % accuracy in my first twelve moves, 92.1 % in the middlegame and 96.6 % in the endgame. Both of my blunders came in the opening, one move after the other. White made three blunders of their own, and two of them were not punishing mine.
Move 9: recapturing with the wrong piece
I had Black in a Modern Defense (1.e4 g6 2.d3 d6). On move 9 White's knight took my knight on f6 with check, and I had two ways to take back.
9...Bxf6 keeps the game about equal (+0.15). 9...Qxf6 looks just as natural, and the engine itself lists it among its candidate moves — rated +6.86, "white is completely winning". The reason is one move: 10.Bg5, a bishop that attacks the queen. Look at her squares. The bishop on g5 also covers e7 and d8 on the same diagonal, and f4 on the other one. My own bishop sits on e6 and my pawn on e5. The engine's lines after 10.Bg5 are brutal: if the queen takes the knight on f3, the bishop on e2 takes her back; if she takes the bishop on g5, the knight takes her; quiet moves like 10...d5 lose her to 11.Bxf6. That's a trapped queen (+7.31 after 10.Bg5).
White didn't play it. They played 10.Rb1, which the engine marks as a blunder too, and the evaluation went back to equal (−0.10).
Move 10: making the same mistake again
Now it was my move again, with the queen still on f6 and White's rook just moved to b1.
10...Bxa2 grabs a pawn and attacks the rook. The engine's reply is 11.Ra1, attacking the bishop, which has no defender (+6.77). And if the bishop goes home with 11...Be6, the engine shows the same trap as before: 12.Bg5 attacks the queen and she has nowhere to go (+7.20). Moving the queen first, 10...Qe7, kept everything about equal (−0.19). In the game White played 11.Ra1, I played 11...Be6, and White played 12.c4 instead of 12.Bg5. Two chances to win my queen, two misses.
The rest of the game
From there I played my best chess of the game. I traded pieces, won pawns in the middlegame, and in the endgame my king and pawns outran White's: 57...b1=Q, 60...d1=Q+ and, on move 62, mate with 62...Qdd7#. I had 38 seconds left by then, in a 10-minute game (game). It was my only game of the week and a win, but the review makes it clear which part of it I should remember.
The lesson of the week
A queen can be trapped in the middle of the board, not only in a corner. The test is simple and I skipped it twice: before my queen lands on a square, I count her exits. On f6 she had my own bishop and pawn in the way, and one enemy bishop move (Bg5) covered the rest. When I have two ways to recapture, I now prefer the piece that is easier to replace — here the bishop — unless the queen move has a clear purpose.
All games this week
| Game # | Date | Colour | Opponent (rating) | Result | Opening | Accuracy | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 2026-03-08 | Black | Ebrahim-1112 (1193) | Win | Modern Defense with 1 e4 | 84.7 | game |
Previous: week 107 · Next: week 109 · The journey hub · Review your own games like this
Frequently asked questions
How do you avoid getting your queen trapped?
Before a queen move, count her escape squares. In game 1989 my queen recaptured on f6 with 9...Qxf6, and the engine's reply 10.Bg5 attacks her with no safe square left (+7.31). Recapturing with the bishop, 9...Bxf6, kept the game equal.
Why was the queen on f6 trapped?
White's bishop on g5 covers e7, d8 and f4 along its diagonals, my own bishop and pawn stood on e6 and e5, and the remaining squares were covered by White's pawns and pieces, so the queen had no safe square.
How did I still win the game?
My opponent didn't play Bg5. The game went to move 62, I won a pawn race in the endgame, made two new queens and mated with 62...Qdd7#.