Expert: Len Molden - 9/29/2006

Question
I don't know the name for it but I read before it fooled even the most experienced chessmasters in tournaments.  Basically the objective is to position the queen for a sacrifice move.  Once the opponent finds out you made the "mistake" of leaving your queen exposed he cannot resist the temptation to kill your queen while not realizing that by attacking the queen he left his king open for a checkmate.

I remember this technique was especially famous in several Hollywood movies so you may have seen this in the movies before.  But the movies never gave credit to what this battle plan is called in chess jargon.

Anyway besides the name of this technique I just want to ask in your opinion how successful is this technique in reality?  Do professional chess players still get beaten by this move when their attention is focused on the queen?  Is this really a master technique?

Answer
One type of Queen sacrifice idea I have seen used in Hollywood movies and in TV shows is seen in the following position (not exact, but the mating concept is the same):

White - Kg1, Qd5, Rf1, Rc1, Nh6, Bb2, Pf2, Pg2, Ph2
Black - Kh8, Qd8, Rc8, Rf8, Na6, Ba5, Pc5, Pg7, Ph7

White to move: 1.Qg8+ R:g8 2.Nf7++ mate

Queen sacrifices leading to immediate checkmate do sometimes occur in professional chess (more often in speed games), but are quite rare.  Usually what is seen is a Queen sacrifice to imbalance the position, as in a Queen for two Rooks, or a Queen for a Rook, piece, and a pawn and so forth.