Rich dad, poor dad, and the board asks the same money question about where your moves go. One side invests in the whole army; the other keeps spending on a single bishop.

1…g5. The Borg. White grabs the pawn with 2.Bxg5 and feels rich. Then the same bishop goes back to c1, out to e3, over to d2, up to c3. Five moves on one piece. On move 8 it gets traded off with check.

Black spent that time building. By move 13 the knight is inside.

r1b1k1nr/pp1ppp1p/5q2/8/2Q5/1PN1n3/P3BPPP/3R1KNR w kq – 2 14

13…Ne3+. White has one legal move. Find it. Then look at what the knight takes next.

14.Ke1 Nxc4. The queen is gone. White gives the rook on d4 to buy time, and the time costs more.

r1b1k1nr/pp1ppp1p/8/8/8/1Pq2N2/Pn2BPPP/3K3R w kq – 2 18

17…Nb2#. Two pieces did the work. White still had a rook, a knight and a bishop on the board. None of them helped.

Time is the account. Put your moves where they earn. A pawn you chase for five tempi is a bill, not a win.

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 "2024.08.16"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Guest9021873567"]
[Black "Guest5291334490"]
[Result "0-1"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
[WhiteElo "1600"]
[BlackElo "1600"]

1.d4 g5 2.Bxg5 Bg7 3.Bc1 c5 4.Be3 Qb6 5.b3 cxd4 6.Bd2 d3 7.Bc3 dxe2 8.Bxe2 Bxc3+ 9.Nxc3 Qf6 10.Qd3 Nc6 11.Rd1 Nb4 12.Qc4 Nxc2+ 13.Kf1 Ne3+ 14.Ke1 Nxc4 15.Rd4 Qxd4 16.Nf3 Qxc3+ 17.Kd1 Nb2# {0-1}