to squares of one color. Second, unlike the bishop, the queen is not hampered by an inability to control squares of the opposite color to the square on which it stands. A factor in favor of the rook and bishop together is that they can attack (or defend) a square twice, whereas a queen can do so only once. However, experience has shown that this factor is usually less significant than the combined points favoring the queen.

The queen is strongest when the board is , the enemy king is poorly defended, or there are loose (i.e., undefended)