There's usually more than one way to get out of check

This is a little lesson for the beginners...

We won't name any names, but the Gabridoodle had an amusing 16-move miniature in a game with a member of Salem CHESS CLUB played at Chess.com. 

What happened

The game had a very sharp opening.  The unnamed player panicked a little and swapped a piece for a pesky pawn.  However, the Gabridoodle was then given a few scares by his opponent's rampaging queen.  After some fancy footwork, he found a way to bail out, forcing a queen trade.  Or so he thought...

For once in his life, the Gabridoodle was gallant and messaged his opponent a hint: don't panic and consider there may be more than one way to get out of check.  Despite this helpful advice, his opponent responded to the check with a fatal mistake: Kd1.

At first, the Gabridoodle was all excited about the prospect of taking his opponent's queen for free.  But then he saw that he could deliver instamate instead.

As they say: when you see a good move, look for a better one.

They also joke that if you have a choice between taking your opponent's queen for free and checkmate, take the queen.  There is small grain of truth to this: the mate you see might turn out not to be mate, while if you take the queen, you'll probably end up winning.

What should have happened...

When you're in check and it isn't mate, you'll have one, two, or three ways of getting out of check:

* Moving the king.

* Interposing a piece between the king and the attacking piece.

* Capturing the attacking piece.

Had the unnamed opponent simply captured the Gabridoodle's queen, he'd have recaptured with the bishop and the game would have continued.