Queen vs Queen and Pawn: The Only Move That Draws

Watch the method: press play to see the winning idea run, or step through it move by move.

With a queen against a queen and an advanced pawn, the defender relies on checks. The single queen is such an active harasser that the attacker usually cannot shelter his king in time. But the defence is exact.

The only move. Here only Ka3 holds. Kb3 drops the queen to Qf7+, a check that forks the king and the queen on e8. Ka5 and Kb5 hand White the tempo-gaining checks of Botvinnik's method.

Distance checking. Keep the queen far from the enemy king. From long range it cannot be captured or blocked cheaply, and it keeps returning check after check.

Refuse the swap. The attacker's main try is to interpose his queen on the checking line and offer a trade. Taking loses: the pawn ending is hopeless with the defending king far from the pawn. Step aside and keep the chain going.

Why a3 is the square. It is worth knowing before you are on the clock. Against a knight pawn or a rook pawn, the defending king wants the corner diagonally across the board from where the pawn will queen. Sitting there, the attacker's blocking check almost never comes with a counter-check, so your own checks keep flowing. Keep your queen near the center too, since a central queen is harder to attack and checks along more lines. This drawing zone exists only for the knight and rook pawn. Against a bishop pawn or a center pawn, a far-off king simply loses.

In this drill you hold with the queen alone. Miss one check or take the wrong queen and the passed pawn decides the game.