Also, I am fully aware this is not REALLY wayward queen after move 3, just a stalled opening for both sides down a queen, but after the queen exchange, white is up by a pawn, and has tempo for next move pressuring...... IF THEY HAD ANYTHING ELSE DEVELOPED LMAO
Guys stop running Wayward on the 2nd move lmfao.
I'll reveal the big boy version soon. Suffice to say, you absolutely need white's queenside knight to pop and immediately provide zone denial and versatility to the lines. Ideally, you can develop a side by side pawn pair up to the c rank.
*pawn d3, knight d2, bishop c4, pawn e4* and if it smells juicy enough, pop that queen to h5 and start terrorizing black by punishing the inevitable weaknesses left in their structure after 4 moves of development against what they see as a goofy ineffective opening.
I KNOW. I'm experimenting, you could say. Results are mixed.
Notes; the initial open *appears* to immediately gain momentum, putting white under next-move threat-pressure that it can't ignore. Yet, with the traditional e5, Qh5, black is never in any real danger whatsoever.
ideas; black responds Qf6: doing many things for them at once, if they play it right:
white for 3rd move plays bc4;; (!!) an immediate next move-check threat is presented.
As black facing a Qh5 opening threat, you have to understand that Wayward is *not* played to it's best when it's tailored for a scholar's mate, and in fact; it can backfire embarrassingly, if you're a sweaty checkmate-chaser.
Qf6 has another advantage that shuts down most basic Qh5 wayward opens. qh5 attacks the diagonal, not the c file.
****White can't set the tempo by taking the f7 pawn with the Queen, which would prevent the king's escape to f1.****
So in the face of what *appears* to be mortal danger now that the bishop is in play; [failed]checkmate is only a few moves away if they play it wrong. I know it's not an actual mate threat, just let me cook;
Black calmly responds in due-kind with Bishop C5. Now black is threatening it's OWN scholar mate back; they have the tempo and positional advantage here, as they are defending their f7 AND threatening white's f2. White's Queen can't defend f2;
Should white play ;
a] knight h3 to cover f2
b] pawn f3
c] pawn d4
d] pawn f4
E] knight f3
4th move, white: Knight f3 plays to victory, provided they castle on the next move. From what I've found going through the lines, if they play anything else, it's almost a sure loss, as black's lines to victory quickly unfold and become inevitable. Any attempt to develop white's queenside is punished severely before the developed pieces can even get into their effective positions for white.
Black actually has more optimal positioning to defend and attack simultaneously, with a few reconfiguration moves; and with those same moves, setting up a pin on the knight to f3 and the potential for a discover check capture on the queen several moves from any other move, except knight f3. To be clear though, even knight f3 has some deep lines I haven't fully explored, and black still maintains tempo control after that play, eventually outmaneuvering white on the king side if white doesn't castle on the next move.
Not sure if the embed shows the sub-variation lines, but it's worth checking out for any low elo players who are running into the Wayward Queen Attack and having difficulty with it, Qf6 is the number one thing you need to remember. Don't panic move pawns, don't "book develop" your knight; white captures e5 pawn. black plays Qe7 blocking queen, white plays Qg5, "feaux" pinning the knight by "hiding" behind it: at low elo play levels, do NOT fall for the trick of thinking you have white on the run; they are targeting the g2 pawn going for your rook and a dangerous check(possibly mate in a few moves if white develops right).
This is the beginner level exploration of the Wayward Queen Attack. If you're up against it, I advise you check out another open I developed(it has some name already, idc; It's the Spockfish Backslap; stealing all the aggression momentum from white, stalling their development and using their opening game threats and pressure checks, to properly develop your own pieces.... It's disgustingly efficient to play, at least for me.
TLDR Wayward Queen was always played as the wrong color, and that's why experienced players mislabel it as a bad opening(it is.... BUT*). If a white open can be countered more efficiently by itself as black, it's gotta be dead on arrival, right?
Hahaha.... No, jk... I have my own big boy version that doesn't allow for ANY of these shenanigans... Not ready just yet though. It's so loaded with tangled lines of discovery and pins and tempo threats all over. Extremely technical to play it efficiently.
Stay tooned