Can The Queen Kill The King In Chess?

Chess is indeed a game with plenty of rules. They have been so furiously discussed that the need for a centralized board that would define the official rules arose. In the face of that need, the FIDE, or Federation Internationale des Echecs, was founded, and with it, the laws of chess were finally consolidated.

On the other hand, some of the rules have never been the subject of much discussion as they were openly accepted and seemed to make sense to whatever point of view players would have over the game.

To make it more graphic, for example, the rule that says that any piece can capture or kill any of the opponent’s pieces has been largely debated.

As the rules were made up in parallel with the evolution of the game, and the various regions of the world that received chess also had their cultural differences, setting up the final rules wasn’t such an easy task.

Such evolution, however, helped to define some of the most important rules. The basic rules of play, consolidated by the FIDE laws of chess, point out, in its article 1.2, that the opponent’s king can never be captured.

Considering that point of view, the answer to the question in the title of this article is an obvious no. However, as we’re discussing the killing of the king as the final endgame move, we have to look at a different set of rules of the game.

Can The Queen Kill The King In Chess?

At first glance, the proposition seems perfectly possible as the queen suffers no restriction when capturing the opponent’s pieces. For that matter, no piece, apart from the king, has any restrictions in killing any other piece.

According to the FIDE laws of chess, due to the principle that the king cannot be deliberately put in harm, it can never capture the opponent’s king.

Considering that the king can only move one square in any direction, in order for it to be in such a position that it could capture the opponent’s king, the king itself would have to be in a position in which the opponent’s king could capture it. That restriction doesn’t apply to any other piece on the board.

So, answering the question herein, yes, the queen can kill the king in chess . Considering the meaning of ‘killing the king’ as making the final move that puts the opponent’s king in a checkmate situation, then yes, the queen can do that.

Additionally, the queen, seeing as though the queen is the piece with the largest range of movements, is highly likely that a player will use her to make the final moves of the endgame.

However, great care is needed with the queen, as you can only get another one if any of your pawns reaches the farthest file from its starting position and get a promotion. Feel free to use the queen to wreck your opponent’s game, but make sure not to lose her on your path to victory.