King's Pawn Game: Wayward Queen Attack: what should Black play?

In the King's Pawn Game: Wayward Queen Attack, Black faces an immediate threat against the f7 square. The optimal response according to engine evaluation is g6, which directly parries the mate threat while driving the white queen away. With an engine evaluation of -0.24, g6 provides Black with a comfortable setup and active piece play.

Strategic implications of g6

The move g6 represents the primary choice in practice, appearing in 53.6% of recorded games (2.20M recorded). By kicking the h5 queen, Black gains time to develop the dark-squared bishop to g7 and control key central squares. An illustrative engine continuation demonstrates this setup via g6 Qd1 Bg7 d3 c6 Nf3, where White drops the queen back to its home square and Black prepares solid central coordination. Despite Black's slight engine edge, White has scored 52.8% from this position in the recorded database.

Alternatives defending f7

Defending the f7 square with a queen or minor piece represents the main alternative approach. Defending directly with Qe7 occurs in 17.7% of games (729K recorded) with an evaluation of -0.03, where the engine line runs Qe7 Qe2 Nf6 Nf3 g6 O-O. Players also frequently counter with Qf6, seen in 16.5% of games (677K recorded, eval +0.24), followed by Qf6 Nc3 Be6 d3 Ne7 Be3. The minor piece defense Nh6 accounts for 9.3% of games (381K recorded, eval +0.21), leading to Nh6 d3 Bg4 Qg5 Qxg5 Bxg5. Finally, Qd7 is chosen in 3.0% of games (122K recorded, eval +0.07), with the illustrative continuation Qd7 Qe2 Nc6 Nf3 Nf6 O-O.