Coffee for Dessert

Today’s therapy session borrows its title from Alan Watts and lets the board do the talking. The lesson starts with a pawn that only looks free.

1.e4 g5. Borg. Black’s queen takes on b2. Free pawn looks like progress. It is a question.

rnb1k1nr/pp1pppbp/8/4P1p1/3P4/5N2/Pq1B1PPP/RN1QKB1R w KQkq – 0 8

White to move. Do you chase the queen, or do you develop while Black’s king stays in the center?

Black keeps taking. White keeps checking. Sit through the noise.

r5nr/p3k2p/3p4/4b3/4N3/5P1P/P1n2P1q/3Q1R1K w – – 2 21

Qh2#. Name the miss that left the h2 square open. Improvement starts when you stop calling a hanging pawn a gift.

I wish you the best of luck!!

The Chess Zone – Coffee For Dessert.

Check Coach Chad’s mistakes in the full game.

[Event "?"]
[Site "Chess.com iPhone"]
[Date "2024.08.19"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Guest1138239932"]
[Black "Guest4295693270"]
[Result "0-1"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
[WhiteElo "1600"]
[BlackElo "1600"]

1.e4 g5 2.d4 Bg7 3.e5 c5 4.c3 cxd4 5.Bd2 Qa5 6.cxd4 Qb6 7.Nf3 Qxb2 8.Bxg5 d6 9.Nbd2 Bg4 10.h3 Bxf3 11.gxf3 Nc6 12.Bc4 Nxd4 13.O-O Nc2 14.Rb1 Qxe5 15.Rxb7 Qxg5+ 16.Kh2 Be5+ 17.Kh1 Qf4 18.Bxf7+ Kxf7 19.Rxe7+ Kxe7 20.Ne4 Qh2# {0-1}