Terence McKenna’s name is on the title, but the real trip here is White giving away piece after piece. Material says one thing, and the position says another.
White starts giving things away on move 8. 8.Nxf7 Kxf7. Then a rook on f5. Then a bishop on h5. Then a knight on d5. Then the other rook on f5.
r4k1r/pp3b1p/2n4b/2p1PQ2/3P4/8/PPP3PP/6K1 w – – 1 20
19…Bf7. White has a queen and pawns. Black has two rooks, two bishops and a knight. Who is winning? Be honest with yourself before you count.
The pawns walk. d5. e6. e7. The queen keeps checking and eating. The black pieces stand on good squares and do nothing together.
4r3/pp2Pk1Q/3Pbr2/2p5/3b4/1P4P1/P1PK3P/8 b – – 2 37
37.Qh7#. Look at the pawn on e7. It guards f8. One queen and one pawn that got there. That is the whole truth of this board.
Material is a story you tell yourself. The position is what is real. Keep going.
I wish you the best of luck!!
The Chess Zone – Coffee For Dessert.
Check Coach Chad’s mistakes in the full game.
Full game
Find more moments to study in the full game. Copy the PGN into Lichess → Analysis Board to study on your own.
[Event "?"]
[Site "Chess.com iPhone"]
[Date "2024.08.16"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Guest4961136369"]
[Black "Guest5848609164"]
[Result "1-0"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
[WhiteElo "1600"]
[BlackElo "1600"]
1.e4 c5 2.f4 Nc6 3.e5 e6 4.Nf3 Nge7 5.Be2 d5 6.O-O g6 7.Ng5 Bg7 8.Nxf7 Kxf7 9.f5 Nxf5 10.Rxf5+ exf5 11.Bh5 gxh5 12.Qxh5+ Kf8 13.d4 Be6 14.Bh6 Qe7 15.Nc3 Bxh6 16.Nxd5 Bxd5 17.Rf1 Qg5 18.Rxf5+ Qxf5 19.Qxf5+ Bf7 20.d5 Nd4 21.Qf6 Bg7 22.Qd6+ Kg8 23.e6 Bg6 24.e7 Nf5 25.Qe6+ Bf7 26.Qxf5 Re8 27.Qd7 Bf6 28.d6 Bd4+ 29.Kf1 Bc4+ 30.Ke1 Kf7 31.Kd2 Rhg8 32.g3 Rg6 33.Qf5+ Rf6 34.Qxh7+ Ke6 35.Qh3+ Kf7 36.b3 Be6 37.Qh7# {1-0}