Answers.Body: <p>As you said, this is a very general guideline, but looking back it has served me well in practical play.</p>
  
  <p>Note that by "checking from the diagonals", the pattern I have seen is that the queen maintains a stable circuit on a diagonal but the checks themselves are usually horizontal or vertical.</p>
  
  <p>I think it's because the checks from a diagonal allow the queen to keep the king in a box with only minimal pawn support (a single nearby pawn for <em>either</em> side will usually do it). Checks from a file or rank each allow the king to run across the board in one direction unless there's a pawn directly blocking his path.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-01-16T15:31:18.867Z
Answers.Text: I don't understand what you mean. Could you post a concrete position to illustrate this method?
Answers.UserDisplayName: user1583209
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2016-12-17T01:16:13.803Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2016-12-17T01:16:13.803Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Cleveland
Answers.Body: <p>This personally makes no sense to me.  Gustafsson might have been referring to a specific situation with other pieces involved, but if you experiment with a lone queen versus the king on an open board, you'll see for yourself that it makes no difference. Perhaps in a situation such as with the white king on b1 and his pawn on b2, and the black queen checking from d1, then after the white king went to a2, the black queen could continue checking diagonally from a4 to d1 and back to a4 consecutively, with the white king rotating between a2 and b1, until the position had been repeated 3 times, but that's a specific situation.  </p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-06-08T12:02:59.063Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2017-06-08T12:02:59.063Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: CConero
Answers.Body: <p>I first heard this from chess24.com's GM Jan Gustaffson during one of his commentary sessions. The explanation he gave was that it is harder for the opponent to block diagonal checks with the queen. In queen and pawn endgames it can be much harder to continue with checks once the opponent's queen has managed to come back and help.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2016-12-17T20:48:54.730Z
Answers.Text: Don't see how it should be harder to block diagonal checks. Do you have a link to the video (and time)?
Answers.UserDisplayName: user1583209
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-01-16T15:30:48.447Z
Answers.Text: Could you post a diagram illustrating this situation?
Answers.UserDisplayName: user1583209
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Answers.CreationDate: 2016-12-17T08:56:49.673Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2016-12-17T08:56:49.673Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Brian Towers
Body: <p>There exists a heuristic that recommends checking from the diagonals (using a queen) in order to get a perpetual. This, I expect, is a rule that is meant for the worse player in queen and pawn endgames. My question is, why does checking from diagonals ensures, or at least raises the probability, for a draw? </p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2016-12-17T00:35:00.487Z
Comments.Text: I have never hard such a thing.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Tony Ennis
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2016-12-17T03:55:07.047Z
Comments.Text: Never heard of such rule either. If anything, the opposite would make more sense to me, since checking horizontally/vertically (without support) two squares away from the king, you leave the king 4 escape squares while checking from a diagonal he has 6.
Comments.UserDisplayName: user1583209
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2016-12-18T18:44:26.573Z
Comments.Text: I don't think there is such a rule. I think rank and file checks are just too obvious for people so they just don't say how great they can be.
Comments.UserDisplayName: hoacin
Tags: <endgame><queen-endgame><perpetual>
Title: Using the diagonal in perpetual queen checks?
ThreadText: # Using the diagonal in perpetual queen checks?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2016-12-16)
  
  There exists a heuristic that recommends checking from the diagonals (using a queen) in order to get a perpetual. This, I expect, is a rule that is meant for the worse player in queen and pawn endgames. My question is, why does checking from diagonals ensures, or at least raises the probability, for a draw?
  
  **Tags:** endgame, queen-endgame, perpetual
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: I have never hard such a thing.  
  > **username_2**: Never heard of such rule either. If anything, the opposite would make more sense to me, since checking horizontally/vertically (without support) two squares away from the king, you leave the king 4 escape squares while checking from a diagonal he has 6.  
  > **username_3**: I don't think there is such a rule. I think rank and file checks are just too obvious for people so they just don't say how great they can be.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 3 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_4 on 2016-12-17. Score: 1
  
  As you said, this is a very general guideline, but looking back it has served me well in practical play.
  
  Note that by "checking from the diagonals", the pattern I have seen is that the queen maintains a stable circuit on a diagonal but the checks themselves are usually horizontal or vertical.
  
  I think it's because the checks from a diagonal allow the queen to keep the king in a box with only minimal pawn support (a single nearby pawn for *either* side will usually do it). Checks from a file or rank each allow the king to run across the board in one direction unless there's a pawn directly blocking his path.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_2**: I don't understand what you mean. Could you post a concrete position to illustrate this method?  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_5 on 2017-06-08. Score: 0
  
  This personally makes no sense to me. Gustafsson might have been referring to a specific situation with other pieces involved, but if you experiment with a lone queen versus the king on an open board, you'll see for yourself that it makes no difference. Perhaps in a situation such as with the white king on b1 and his pawn on b2, and the black queen checking from d1, then after the white king went to a2, the black queen could continue checking diagonally from a4 to d1 and back to a4 consecutively, with the white king rotating between a2 and b1, until the position had been repeated 3 times, but that's a specific situation.
  
  
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  ### Answer by username_6 on 2016-12-17. Score: 0
  
  I first heard this from chess24.com's GM Jan Gustaffson during one of his commentary sessions. The explanation he gave was that it is harder for the opponent to block diagonal checks with the queen. In queen and pawn endgames it can be much harder to continue with checks once the opponent's queen has managed to come back and help.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_2**: Don't see how it should be harder to block diagonal checks. Do you have a link to the video (and time)?  
  > **username_2**: Could you post a diagram illustrating this situation?  
  
  ---
  
  