Coffee for Dessert

I sat down again with this game until the position was real. This is that second sitting.

Chess Therapy. Patience is rewarded quickly.

That sounds backwards next to “The Borg Requires Patience.” Both are true. Be patient. Be ready for a quick reward. Then be patient again.

A quick game I pulled from July 23, 2024. 1.d4 g5. That is the Borg. Black offers the g-pawn on move one. 2.Bxg5 Bg7. White took it. Black put the bishop on the long diagonal and waited.

White kept taking. 4.dxc5, and Black’s bishop took on b2 and then on a1. Black’s queen went to a5, then took on a2. On move 8 White’s bishop took the rook on h8. On move 10 White took on b6. Both sides were grabbing. Only one was building toward the king.

13.Qb5 Bxb1 14.b7.

rn2k1nB/pP1pp2p/5p2/1Q6/3N4/2P1P3/q4PPP/bb2KB1R b Kq – 0 14

Count it. White has a queen, a rook, two bishops, a knight and six pawns. Black has a queen, a rook, two bishops, two knights and five pawns. The pawn on b7 attacks the rook on a8. Black to move. Do you save the rook?

Black doesn’t. 14…Bxc3+. White has one legal move, 15.Kd1. Then 15…Qd2#.

rn2k1nB/pP1pp2p/5p2/1Q6/3N4/2b1P3/3q1PPP/1b1K1B1R w q – 2 16

The queen lands on d2, guarded by the bishop on c3. 0-1. White spent the game collecting material. Black spent it waiting for the king.

Taken in contrast to “The Borg Requires Patience” — Patience is rewarded quickly — is an axiom for limitless chess growth: be patient, be ready for a quick reward, be patient, the universe has been watching for eternity, be patient, the rewards are limitless.

In the Borg style of chess, the style is meant to evoke a feeling in both players. Some of the greatest chess masters believe that eliminating feelings is paramount to playing perfect chess – some trust the analysis of their brain to compute always the best move, even when the best move is to find a drawish repetition. These feelings that are underlying chess games will effect your ability to have patience in your game or alternatively, the feelings might have a blinding effect towards realizing the reward.

so when it comes to chess, sometimes Coach Chad evokes emotions through his style of play, tempts a mistake to earn the reward, but the actual reward is hidden in that deeper layer that brings us coming back for another opportunity. Sometimes the deeper reward requires chess therapy. In chess therapy, I learned that adjacent to chess skills lay the web design projects, which need to be edited and perfected, not to be procrastinated as a disguise for patience, but rather as a genuine reason and purpose to discover new rewards.

Some rewards are an opening mate in 15 moves, other rewards happen after move 40, but they can be attributed to patience. Be patient, but not complacent. Seize rewards, defend advantages, and use chess therapy every week to gain perspective about the feelings that might have been underlying your performance and haunting your results!

Here are some examples of feelings that tend to haunt Coach Chad —

• “I feel distracted, it’s too loud, I can’t focus”
• “I feel worthless, I have too many bills, I’m just wasting time”
• “I feel outmatched, I know the best I can do is a draw, but they play much faster than me already”
• “I feel like I have a lead, but this online match means my opponent might use a computer for assistance — I have no chance”
• “I feel like I should be doing something around the house like a chore or errands instead of playing chess”
• “I feel like my opponent isn’t giving me a genuine effort so I definitely don’t want to play perfect chess right now”
• “I feel like I don’t deserve a reward because the universe knows I’ve been impatient and acting out”

Be honest, get those feelings out, use chess therapy, regain focused energy, find some patience, earn a reward — you can do this too!

– Coach Chad, August 15 2024

Check Coach Chad’s mistakes in the full game.

[Event "?"]
[Site "Chess.com iPhone"]
[Date "2024.07.23"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Guest0087621956"]
[Black "Guest7763650247"]
[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.Nf3 c5 4.dxc5 Bxb2 5.c3 Bxa1 6.Be3 Qa5 7.Bd4 Qxa2 8.Bxh8 f6 9.e3 b6 10.cxb6 Bb7 11.Nd4 Be4 12.Qh5+ Bg6 13.Qb5 Bxb1 14.b7 Bxc3+ 15.Kd1 Qd2# {0-1}