Like Paul Morphy, 16th century Italian chess master Gioachino Greco is considered one of the forefathers of modern chess, particularly when it comes to the opening principles. One of Greco’s strongest traits as a player was his insistence on developing his knights and bishops before he moved his queen, as premature development of a queen can expose her to numerous attacks that waste precious time and will often result in her capture.
In this game, Greco’s opponent chooses to develop his queen too quickly, and Greco makes him pay a heavy price.
Greco and the Runaway Queen
Greco played White, and his unnamed opponent played Black.
By the fourth move, Greco has already gained a lead in development (a knight and a bishop) over his opponent, who has used three turns in a row to make moves with their queen. The white bishop’s check on f7 forces the black king to move, revoking Black’s right to castle and placing them even further behind White.
Once the black king has moved towards the center – the worst place for a king to be in the opening phase of a game – Greco bombards his opponent with attack after attack, leaving them nothing to do but attempt to escape until he delivers checkmate on move 11.
Conclusion
While early queen moves may look tempting to newer players, they often end in disaster. Instead, players should focus on fulfilling all three opening principles – controlling the center, developing both knights and both bishops, and castling – before involving their queen unless absolutely necessary. Repetitive moves of the same piece should also be avoided in the opening, as they often cause a player to fall behind on development and allow the opponent to gain an upper hand in territorial control.
