Play began 1. e4, e5; 2. Qh5. Now what should Black do? White’s last move is not quite comparable to the forking moves the queen made in the previous examples, because here the queen does not have an open line from the h-file to the enemy king. But danger lurks nevertheless. One way for Black to chase away the queen is to play a pawn to g6. The move fails to protect the e5 pawn and is poor for that reason alone; but more importantly, ask the question White will be asking himself after that move: what checks will he have? Qxe5+—which also attacks and wins the unprotected rook on h8, the line to which would have been opened by Black’s last move. A simple move to protect the pawn on e5, such as d6 or Nc6, was indicated for Black.

Black’s bad second move is unlikely to occur in any actual game you play (nor is White's second move, Qh5); this position is given just to illustrate the damage a queen can do after it has moved to the side of the board and then is given a chance to move to the center. We will see a more involved example of this pattern later in the chapter.