Typical Staunton wood Queen piece used in a game of Chess (Fig. 1).  The Queen is the most powerful major piece on the Chessboard after the King.

Staunton wood white Chess Queen piece

Fig. 1

The following graphic shows white and black Chess Queen figures (Fig. 2). These pieces are widely used in diagrams to illustrate games, positions, and Chess problems.

Chess Queen figures

Fig. 2

This diagram (Fig. 3) shows the position both Queens have at the beginning of the game. It is very important to place the two pieces in their proper square as shown in the below graphic.

Queens initial position

Fig. 3

The Queen can move up, down, left, right and diagonally as many squares it wishes provided they are not occupied by an enemy or friendly piece (Fig. 4 & 5). If placed in the center of the board, a Queen can control up to 27 squares.

White Queen’s movement

Fig. 4

The moving proprieties of the Queen can emulate those of the King, Rooks, Bishops and Pawns but not the Knights as shown in the graphic below with red marks (Fig. 6 & 7)

When a Queen is blocked by a friendly piece (Rook) as shown in Fig. 8 & 9, it cannot move to the square occupied by the Rook nor the squares that lie beyond marked with two red “X’s”.

More about the Queen

The Queen moves an arbitrary number of squares in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal direction, but may not move over occupied squares unless it makes a capture.

Queen takes (captures) in the same way as she moves.

Do not develop the Queen too early during a game as she may be attacked and forced to retreat.

Because the Queen is so powerful, she must always avoid capture.

The relative numeric value of the Queen is 9 points.