Should you resign after losing your queen?

 The queen is undoubtedly the most powerful and important piece on board. It has the greatest mobility and has a value of 9 points — the highest amongst all pieces.

 

Losing your queen on board can be quite frustrating. Nobody likes letting go of their MVP, right? So what should you do in such a situation?

 

Should you continue playing the game or resign immediately?

 

Read on to find out the various possibilities at hand after losing your queen.

 

1.   Assess the position. Check whether you have enough resources to keep going and build a strong defence.

 

Doing this is crucial as you’ll get a holistic idea of the position. You can weigh your odds by checking if the remainder of your pieces have enough activity to hold the position. This way, you’ll know whether you will be able to put up a strong defence.

 

In the above position, though White has lost their queen. They can still put up a strong defence and secure a draw.

 

Theoretically speaking, this is a well-known fortress.

 

The point is that the Black queen cannot attack the White king as there’s only the last rank left. The White rook cuts off the Black king with the support of f2 pawn.

2.   If your opponent is low on time, it is wise to continue playing. The chances of them making errors increases when there is time pressure.

 

Time pressure is like a nerve-wracking test. Only the most seasoned players can play calmly during it. And even they sometimes make mistakes. Hence, if you think logically, there is a 50-50 percent chance (on every move) that your opponent might make a mistake.

 

In such situations, you can play relatively fast, making decent moves on your end. This will put additional pressure on your opponent which has a high probability to work in your favour. In our opinion, it’s worth it to keep playing in these positions.

 

3.   In a blitz game, you should mostly not resign. Unless you lost your queen pretty early in the game, you must continue to play.

 

We suggest this based on the same principles of the previous point. Time is one of the most unpredictable factors in chess. Sometimes it works wonders in your favour whereas sometimes it's your worst enemy.

 

Especially in the current scenario where online chess is a big thing due to the pandemic, this is one of the biggest pieces of advice our coaches give. There is a great chance your opponent will miss something, and you’ll be back in the game!

 

4.   If you see a fighting chance for yourself, then consider it in depth before resigning.

 

In many cases, there are ways to complicate or even fight back against the queen.

 

For example, if you have 3 pieces against the queen or sometimes even 2 bishops, you can try to create some problems for your opponents.

 

Even if it might not lead you to a win, you will most likely have a comfortable draw at hand.

 

The above position is from the game Ivanchuk- Jakovenko, 2010.

 

Here, White has 3 pieces — Rook, Bishop and Knight against Black’s queen. Not only did White complicate the position and play actively, he went on to actually win the game!

When is it okay to resign and save energy?

 

Objectively though, it is crucial to consider that such possibilities might not always arise. You may lose the queen with absolutely no compensation. When there is no chance to draw or even complicate the game, it can be quite heartbreaking.

 

When you evaluate with certainty that there is no way you can fight back, the wise decision is to resign. The reason behind this is that you save your energy for the next games. Instead of continuing the ongoing game and eventually losing, you might as well have a good nap or catch up on some Netflix series. This way, you can recharge your batteries and fight it out in the next game.