Wayward Queen Attack

The Wayward Queen Attack, 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5, develops the queen on the second move. It has many other names, among them the Parham Attack, after Bernard Parham, an Indiana National Master who advocated early queen moves, and the Danvers Opening, a name traced to a 1908 anecdote about the Harvard champion E. E. Southard. It is also derided as the patzer's opening. From h5 the queen attacks the unprotected e5-pawn and eyes f7, which only the king defends. White's usual follow-up is Bc4, adding a second attacker on f7, and 2...Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6?? 4. Qxf7# is Scholar's Mate.

Black must meet the threat to e5 first, then neutralize the pressure on f7 while gaining time against the exposed queen. 2...Nc6, the most common reply and the engine's first choice, protects the pawn with a developing move. After 3. Bc4 g6 4. Qf3 Nf6 both lines to f7 are closed, the queen has been forced to move again, and Black continues with ...Bg7 and ...O-O. 2...d6 also holds e5 but develops nothing and loses a tempo if Black later wants ...d5. 2...Qf6 covers e5 and f7 together, yet it takes the knight's best square; after 3. Bc4 g6 4. Qf3 Qxf3 5. Nxf3 White keeps a small edge. 2...Qe7 looks awkward but is considered playable. The careless 2...g6?? drops the rook to 3. Qxe5+ Be7 4. Qxh8.

The Kiddie Countergambit, 2...Nf6, is the second most popular answer. It hits the queen and abandons e5, offering a pawn for development. After 3. Qxe5+ Be7 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Qf4 O-O, Black has castled and brought out three minor pieces, while White has spent most of the opening shuffling the queen, and the position is assessed as level. On Lichess Black scores better after 2...Nf6 than after the other main replies. The Mellon Gambit, 2...Nc6 3. Bc4 Nh6 4. d3 g6 5. Qf3 f6 6. Ne2 d5, takes a different route: Black reinforces f7 with ...Nh6 and ...f6 before striking in the center.

The opening relies largely on the chance of an early blunder, and it is a common choice against inexperienced opponents; its position is among the most frequently reached of all named openings. Against accurate defense White obtains a playable but unambitious game, and the engine rates it as roughly balanced, marginally favoring Black. In online play White still scores slightly better than Black, with very few draws. Grandmasters occasionally use it as a way to avoid theory rather than in hope of a quick mate; Magnus Carlsen played it at the 2018 World Rapid Championship.