Avoid This

A common and very well-known tactic led to a rout of one of my students in a chess tournament taking place online today.

A Player (1500) - Another Player (1500) [C20]
Youth Event, 18.04.2020

1.e4 e5 2.Qh5

Black to move

2...g6??

2...Nc6 First protect the pawn. 3.Bc4 Now, prevent checkmate. 3...g6 4.Qf3 Nf6 Again, preventing checkmate. 5.c3

5.Ne2 has been a more popular line 5...Bg7 6.d3

5...Bg7 6.d3 0–0

3.Qxe5+ Be7

3...Qe7 is the last chance to stay in the game. 4.Qxh8 Qxe4+ 5.Kd1 Nf6 and maybe Black can trap the queen.

4.Qxh8 Bf8 5.Qxg8 Qf6 6.d3

Black is already completely lost. White checkmated Black after another 23 moves. 1–0

Some Reference Games

Shaposhnikov,Evgeny (2573) - Vukanovic,Sasa (2351) [C20]
Canarias en Red prel 2nd playchess.com INT (11), 04.05.2004

1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Nc6 3.Bc4 g6 4.Qf3 Nf6 5.c3 Bg7 6.d3 0–0 7.Bg5 d6 8.Nd2 Be6 9.Ne2 Bxc4 10.Nxc4 d5 11.Ne3 dxe4 12.dxe4 h6 13.Rd1 hxg5 14.Rxd8 Raxd8 15.h4 gxh4 16.Rxh4 Rd3 17.Nc1 Rd7 18.Rh1 Rfd8 19.Nb3 b6 20.Ke2 a5 21.Rd1 Nh5 22.g3 a4 23.Rxd7 Rxd7 24.Nd2 Bh6 25.Nd5 Kg7 26.Nc4 b5 27.Nce3 Nd8 28.Ng4 Bg5 29.Nxe5 Rd6 30.Nxc7 Rd2+ 31.Kf1 Rxb2 32.Qd3 Rxa2 33.Ne8+ Kf8 34.Qd7 Rd2 35.Nd6 a3 36.Nexf7 a2 37.Nxg5 a1Q+ 38.Kg2 Qxc3 39.Qxd8+ Kg7 40.Qe7+ Kg8 41.Qh7+ Kf8 42.Qf7# 1–0

Mede,Istvan (2262) - Laszlo,Janos (2282) [C20]
HUN-chT2 Maroczy 1112 Hungary (1), 25.09.2011

1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Nc6 3.Bc4 g6 4.Qf3 Nf6 5.c3 Bg7 6.d3 0–0 7.h3 d5 8.Bb3 Be6 9.Nd2 d4 10.Ne2 Nd7 11.Ng3 Nc5 12.Bc2 b5 13.0–0 Qd7 14.Nb3 Na4 15.cxd4 Nxd4 16.Nxd4 Qxd4 17.Ne2 ½–½

Nakamura,Hikaru (2657) - Filippov,Anton (2466) [C20]
Champions Challenge 92nd playchess.com INT (5.1), 30.04.2005

1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Nc6 3.Bc4 g6 4.Qf3 Nf6 5.Ne2 Bg7 6.d3 d6 7.h3 a6 8.Nbc3 Na5 9.Bg5 h6 10.Be3 Nxc4 11.dxc4 Be6 12.b3 0–0 13.a4 Nh7 14.g4 f5 15.gxf5 gxf5 16.exf5 Bxf5 17.Rg1 Bxc2 18.Qh5 Ng5 19.Bxg5 hxg5 20.Rxg5 Rf7 21.Kd2 Bh7 22.Rag1 Qf8 23.f4 Kh8 24.R1g4 Bh6 25.Rh4 Bxg5 26.fxg5 Rg7 27.g6 Qf6 28.gxh7 Rg5 29.Qh6 ½–½

Nakamura,Hikaru (2657) - Filippov,Anton (2466) [C20]
Champions Challenge 92nd playchess.com INT (5.3), 30.04.2005

1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Nc6 3.Bc4 g6 4.Qf3 Nf6 5.Ne2 Bg7 6.d3 d5 7.exd5 Nb4 8.Bb3 Nbxd5 9.h3 0–0 10.Bg5 c6 11.Nbc3 h6 12.Nxd5 hxg5 13.Ndc3 a5 14.a4 Qe7 15.Qe3 Nh5 16.g4 Nf4 17.Nxf4 gxf4 18.Qe2 Qh4 19.Ne4 Kh8 20.Nd2 e4 21.0–0–0 exd3 22.Qxd3 Qxf2 23.Ne4 Qe3+ 24.Kb1 Qxd3 25.Rxd3 Be5 26.Re1 f6 27.Nd2 g5 28.Nf3 Re8 29.Bf7 Re7 30.Rd8+ Kg7 31.Bb3 b5 32.Nd4 Rb7 33.axb5 Bxd4 34.Rxd4 Rxb5 35.Re7+ Kh6 36.Rd6 Kg6 37.Bc4 Rb7 38.Bd3+ 1–0

Nakamura,Hikaru (2657) - Filippov,Anton (2466) [C20]
Champions Challenge 92nd playchess.com INT (5.5), 30.04.2005

1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Nc6 3.Bc4 g6 4.Qf3 Nf6 5.Ne2 Bg7 6.d3 0–0 7.h3 d5 8.exd5 Nb4 9.Bb3 Nbxd5 10.Nbc3 c6 11.Bg5 Qa5 12.Bd2 Qb6 13.g4 Nxc3 14.Nxc3 Be6 15.Be3 Qa5 16.Bxe6 fxe6 17.Bd2 Nd5 18.Qe4 Qb6 19.0–0–0 Rxf2 20.h4 Qd4 21.Qe1 Raf8 22.Ne4 Rg2 23.h5 Qa4 24.a3 Nb4 25.Kb1 Qxc2+ 26.Ka1 Nxd3 27.Bc3 Nxe1 28.Rdxe1 Re2 29.Rxe2 Qxe2 30.Nd2 e4 31.Nb1 Qf3 32.Re1 e3 33.Bxg7 Kxg7 34.Nc3 Qf1 35.Rxf1 Rxf1+ 36.Ka2 Rf2 37.Ne4 e2 38.Nxf2 e1Q 39.Nd3 Qe2 40.Nb4 Qc4+ 41.Kb1 Qxg4 42.hxg6 Qxg6+ 43.Kc1 h5 44.Nc2 h4 45.Ne3 h3 46.Kd2 h2 47.Nc4 h1Q 48.Ne3 Qd5+ 49.Kc3 Qgd3+ 50.Kb4 a5+ 51.Ka4 Q5c4+ 52.b4 Qcc2+ 53.Kxa5 Qxe3 54.a4 Qb6+ 55.Kxb6 Qxa4 56.Kc5 Qb5+ 57.Kd6 Qxb4+ 58.Kxe6 c5 59.Kd6 c4+ 60.Kc7 c3 61.Kc8 c2 62.Kb8 c1Q 63.Ka7 Qa5+ 64.Kb8 Qcc7# 0–1