Answers.Body: <p>The short answer: because it is the most valuable piece after the king.</p>
  
  <p>The long answer: 
  For a piece to be trapped two things must happen: you need to threaten to capture it, and you need to make this in a way it can't <strong>escape</strong> or be <strong>protected</strong> without loss of material or a positional drawback suck as mate.</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li><p>For a piece to be protected effectively, the piece attacking it must be more valuable than the piece being attacked, so <strong>any</strong> piece can attack the queen and if there is a trade the attacker will gain a material advantage. <strong>So other pieces can be protected in more ways than the queen.</strong> </p></li>
  <li><p>For a piece to be able to escape, it must be <strong>able to move</strong>, and it needs a <strong>safe square</strong>. The queen is the most mobile piece, but moving in straight lines, it can be easily blocked by another piece, and <strong>any</strong> piece can do this, since a trade would mean material loss for the defending side. <strong>So the queen can be blocked in more ways than most pieces.</strong> For a square to be safe for the queen, it needs to be free from attacks (except from the opposing queen), again, since any trades that happen after the queen moves to that square will result in material loss. Other pieces can move to squares attacked by stronger pieces, if the defender has another piece protecting that square. <strong>So the queen has less safe squares available than most pieces.</strong></p></li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>That sums it up, but there are MANY exceptions when you take into account the actual position, since a square can be safe if moving to that square uncovers a discovered attack with a mate threat, or many other situations.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-12-27T22:35:11.577Z
Answers.Text: +1 There are lots of cases where a bishop or knight may be "trapped" in such a way that it would be impossible to prevent its capture by an opponent who was willing to give up a queen or rook for it, but nobody really regards them as trapped because it wouldn't be worthwhile for the opponent to capture them.
Answers.UserDisplayName: supercat
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-12-25T20:50:25.650Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2018-12-25T20:50:25.650Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Ivan Lerner
Answers.Body: <p>Blundering away the most powerful chess piece is a common mistake. Many players would simply resign for a new game.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-12-23T05:28:33.943Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2018-12-23T05:28:33.943Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: SmallChess
Body: <p>I am aware that in most chess games the king is the one to be checkmated. Yet when playing many online chess games I have found the queen is the the one being checkmated. Is this simply another variation of chess?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-12-23T08:47:12.163Z
Comments.Text: It's most likely what SmallChess says below, but could you provide a link?
Comments.UserDisplayName: Glorfindel
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-12-23T11:33:48.593Z
Comments.Text: "Is this simply another variation of chess?" Maybe. It is impossible to tell without looking at the games.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Wais Kamal
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-12-23T17:50:44.653Z
Comments.Text: The Queen being checkmated (in the true sense of the word) is very unlikely. So perhaps Lauryn should clarify better her wording or provide a few samples, as already suggested.
Comments.UserDisplayName: A. N. Other
Tags: <rules><tactics><checkmate>
Title: Why queen traps happen so frequently?
ThreadText: # Why queen traps happen so frequently?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2018-12-23)
  
  I am aware that in most chess games the king is the one to be checkmated. Yet when playing many online chess games I have found the queen is the the one being checkmated. Is this simply another variation of chess?
  
  **Tags:** rules, tactics, checkmate
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: It's most likely what username_6 says below, but could you provide a link?  
  > **username_2**: "Is this simply another variation of chess?" Maybe. It is impossible to tell without looking at the games.  
  > **username_3**: The Queen being checkmated (in the true sense of the word) is very unlikely. So perhaps username_0 should clarify better her wording or provide a few samples, as already suggested.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_4 on 2018-12-25. Score: 5
  
  The short answer: because it is the most valuable piece after the king.
  
  The long answer:
  For a piece to be trapped two things must happen: you need to threaten to capture it, and you need to make this in a way it can't **escape** or be **protected** without loss of material or a positional drawback suck as mate.
  
  1. For a piece to be protected effectively, the piece attacking it must be more valuable than the piece being attacked, so **any** piece can attack the queen and if there is a trade the attacker will gain a material advantage. **So other pieces can be protected in more ways than the queen.**
  2. For a piece to be able to escape, it must be **able to move**, and it needs a **safe square**. The queen is the most mobile piece, but moving in straight lines, it can be easily blocked by another piece, and **any** piece can do this, since a trade would mean material loss for the defending side. **So the queen can be blocked in more ways than most pieces.** For a square to be safe for the queen, it needs to be free from attacks (except from the opposing queen), again, since any trades that happen after the queen moves to that square will result in material loss. Other pieces can move to squares attacked by stronger pieces, if the defender has another piece protecting that square. **So the queen has less safe squares available than most pieces.**
  
  That sums it up, but there are MANY exceptions when you take into account the actual position, since a square can be safe if moving to that square uncovers a discovered attack with a mate threat, or many other situations.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_5**: +1 There are lots of cases where a bishop or knight may be "trapped" in such a way that it would be impossible to prevent its capture by an opponent who was willing to give up a queen or rook for it, but nobody really regards them as trapped because it wouldn't be worthwhile for the opponent to capture them.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_6 on 2018-12-23. Score: 4
  
  Blundering away the most powerful chess piece is a common mistake. Many players would simply resign for a new game.
  
  
  ---
  
  