One of the most eye-catching games from the recently concluded Fide Grand Swiss in Riga saw an early sacrifice of queen for knight, bishop and pawn. This exotic balance of material usually favours the queen, based on the rule of thumb that pawn = 1, knight = 3, bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9. But when the minor pieces coordinate well, particularly with rooks alongside, they can be more than a match for the queen.
A queen’s greatest strength is her ability to attack, and perhaps fork, any pieces that are not nailed down. So when you jettison your queen for a miscellany of pieces, they had better resemble a florentine more than a fruit salad. It helps when the minor pieces have a clear target of their own.
That is the situation that occurred after 14 Be2 (see diagram 1). Black’s problem was that he had nothing to attack, and 14…Qg5 15 Be3 would only make things worse. 14…f5 was a bid to open up lines for the queen, but after Predke’s accurate response, it was Black’s king that came under fire.
Alexandr Predke–Nodirbek Yakubboev
Fide Grand Swiss, October 2021
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 h3 O-O 6 Bg5 Nc6 7 Nf3 h6 8 Be3 e5 9 d5 Nd4 10 Nxd4 exd4 11 Qxd4! 11 Bxd4 allows a powerful riposte: Nxe4! Then 12 Nxe4 (or 12 Bxg7 Re8!) Qh4! wins back the piece. One pretty idea is 13 g4 Re8 14 Bg2 Bf5! 15 gxf5 Rxe4+ Ng4 12 hxg4! 12 Qd2 Nxe3 13 Qxe3 grants Black good compensation on the dark squares. Bxd4 13 Bxd4 Kh7 14 Be2 (see diagram 1 ) f5 15 exf5 gxf5 16 Rh5 Kg6 16…fxg4 17 Bd3+ is devastating 17 Kd2 fxg4 18 Rah1 Bf5 19 Rxh6+ Kf7 20 R1h5 Ke7 21 Nd1 After this elegant regrouping, the knight will be nicely anchored on e3, and the Bf5 is unmoored.
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