The Queen Offered Five Times

The game, move by move

A Philidor, and the bishops come off

1. 1. e4 King’s pawn
2. 1… e5 The same claim
3. 2. Nf3 The knight out
4. 2… d6 d6 — the Philidor Solid, and it gives White the space. Everything in this game happens on the e-file the opening opens.
5. 3. d4 d4
6. 3… exd4 Taken
7. 4. Qxd4 The queen recaptures
8. 4… Nc6 The knight out
9. 5. Bb5 The bishop to b5
10. 5… Bd7 Bd7
11. 6. Bxc6 The bishops come off on c6
12. 6… Bxc6 Recaptured
13. 7. Nc3 The second knight
14. 7… Nf6 And Black’s
15. 8. O-O White castles
16. 8… Be7 Be7
17. 9. Nd5 The knight to d5
18. 9… Bxd5 Taken
19. 10. exd5 The pawn recaptures — and the file opens exd5 rather than the knight, so that the e-file has nothing on it. That file is the whole game.
20. 10… O-O Black castles Onto g8, behind three pawns that never move again. The back rank is defended by his queen and his rook on e8 and by nothing else.

Both rooks to the e-file

1. 11. Bg5 The bishop to g5
2. 11… c6 c6
3. 12. c4 c4
4. 12… cxd5 Taken
5. 13. cxd5 And recaptured
6. 13… Re8 The rook to e8 One of the two pieces holding the back rank. From here it never moves, and every offer of the white queen is aimed at whichever piece is defending it.
7. 14. Rfe1 The rook to e1
8. 14… a5 a5
9. 15. Re2 The rook lifts to e2 In FRONT of the other rook, so that the second one can come to e1 behind it. Two rooks on the file, one behind the other, and the front one is free to move.
10. 15… Rc8 The rook to c8
11. 16. Rae1 And the second rook to e1
12. 16… Qd7 The queen to d7 — the second defender
13. 17. Bxf6 The bishops come off on f6
14. 17… Bxf6 Recaptured Now count the defenders of e8: the queen on d7, and nothing else. Every white move from here attacks the queen.

The queen offered

1. 18. Qg4 Qg4 — the first offer The queen steps onto a square Black’s queen can take. Taking her leaves e8 defended by nothing, and Rxe8 is mate.
2. 18… Qb5 The queen steps aside to b5
3. 19. Qc4 Qc4 — the second Same idea, different square. She attacks the queen on b5 and offers herself to it at the same time.
4. 19… Qd7 Back to d7
5. 20. Qc7 Qc7 — the third Onto the seventh rank, and again on a square the black queen covers.
6. 20… Qb5 And back to b5
7. 21. a4 a4 — the pawn joins in Not the queen this time. The pawn attacks her and she cannot take it either, for the same reason.
8. 21… Qxa4 The queen takes the pawn

And offered again

1. 22. Re4 Re4 — the fourth offer The rook steps out of the way of nothing and attacks the queen a fourth time. It also keeps the second rook on e1, which is the piece that would give the mate.
2. 22… Qb5 Qb5 — the last square she has
3. 23. Qxb7 Qxb7 — and Black resigned The fifth offer, and this one also takes a pawn and threatens the queen once more. Torre has nothing that defends e8 and nothing that stops a rook arriving there. Five offers of a queen and not one of them taken.