1.Qc1
The queen can move in any direction, just like the king...
1...Kg8
2.Qc2
...forward...
2...Kh8
3.Qd2
...sideways...
3...Kg8
4.Qe3
...diagonally...
4...Kh8
5.Qe2
...and backwards...
5...Kg8
...unlike the king though, which is limited to one square at a time...
6.Qe8+
The queen can go screaming across the board as far as it can go until it either runs into something or hits the edge of the board!
6...Kh7
...Black's king was in check and had to move out of the way.
7.Qa8
The queen isn't limited to one square at a time like the king or pawn...
7...Kg7
8.Qh1
It can sweep across the board end to end in one move!
8...Kh8
9.Qa1+
The black king is in check again.
9...Kg8
And the queen isn't limited to capturing something that's right next to it...
10.Qxa6
It can grab up anything in its path!
10...Kf8
11.Qxd6+
This makes the queen easily the most powerful piece on the board! and the most valuable...
11...Kg8
12.Qxb4
Kh8
13.Qh4+
Check, again!
13...Kg8
14.Qxg3+
You'll almost never want to trade your powerful queen for an opponent's lowly pawn (or a lot of other things, either)..
14...Kh8
15.Qxh2+
Munch!
15...Kg8
16.Qc7
Kf8
17.Qd7
Think black's king want to get anywhere near THIS powerful piece?
17...Kg8
No Way! You'll never see a king approach within one square of the opponent's queen. He can't. He'd be in check, if he did.
18.Kg6
Kh8
19.Qg7#
But the queen on the otherhand, backed up by the king or some other supporting piece, has no such fears and will force the issue when it gets a chance. Black's king is in
check. It can't get away. That's called 'checkmate', and that's the end of the game! White wins, thanks to his mighty queen!
Now I ended that game with the white queen and king checkmating the black king. We'll take a long look at checkmate later on. But briefly, when you put your opponent's king into check and he can't do anything about it on his very next move (as in he can't move his king away, and he can't capture the attacking piece), that's called 'checkmate', and that's the end of the game. The player delivering 'checkmate' (hopefully, that'll be you) wins the game. Cool! 1-0