Another Double Delusion

The Double Delusion is probably the most intriguing example of chess psychology. How can both players see the same thing when it doesn't exist? Is there some kind of telepathic communication between the players, or is it a certain feature in the position that leads both players astray? 

Me - N.N. (Open Tournament, 2024)

Black has just played the surprising Qg5, and both players were now totally convinced that this was the start of a winning attack. How can White defend? Nxf4 fails to the discovered check Bxf3+ winning the Queen, Bx4 loses a piece after Rxg4, and Qd2 allows Rbf8.

1.h4!

How could that move be so incredibly hard to find? Because it was obscured by the delusion. Once found, the move not only defuses Black's attack, it also wins a piece:

1...Qe5 2.Nxf4 Qxd4+ 3.Kg2 Rf8 4.Bxg4 Rxf4 5.Be6+

Now White is winning. I managed to trade off the Queens and Rooks, and got an easily won ending. How did go then? Embarrassingly enough, I messed up and lost the game. But, even though I failed to beat my opponent, I managed to beat the delusion, and that counts for more, at least in my book!

So, the move Qg5 (in the first diagram) was a blunder caused by a double delusion. As a side note: even if White doesn't find the best move, 1.h4!, the dismissed 1.Qd2 Rbf8 2.Qe3 is perfectly playable, leading to a sharp position with equal chances.

Instead of Qg5, Black could have played Bxf3 with a slightly better position.

Takeaway

The next time you think your position is won (or lost), take a moment to consider whether your assessment is for real, or just a delusion. You might think that every piece on the board is fully visible, and that you can imagine every possible move, but that's not entirely true. Your mind is constantly hiding information from you, and takes a lot of effort to find the moves obscured by fear or greed.

Fear and Greed

 Fear and greed are probably the most common causes for making bad decisions in chess. Both emotions prevent us from thinking logically and systematically, and make us do stupid things. Below is an example on what greed can do to you (I'm at the move as White, and I'm the greedy one in this game).

I have been building up for a Kingside attack, and now it's time to leap into action. I started off with 1. Bh6, seeing that the Bishop cannot be captured due to 2. Rxf6, but now greed kicked in:

1...Qe6 2. Bxg7?? Kxg7 3. Qg5+ Bg6

This was the move I completely ignored, blinded by the beautiful wins after 3...Kh7. Now White's completely busted. This is the hardest type of loss - you are just waiting for them to resign, but instead they play a move that not only saves the day, but also wins the game! The worst part of it is that you have only yourself to blame.

Instead of the disastrous Bxg7, White could have retreated the Bishop to e3 with a winning game. But, retreats are seldom on your mind in the middle of an attack.

However, the greediness doesn't stop there. Being obsessed by the capture on h6, I completely overlooked a much better continuation from the diagram:

1. e5! dxe5 2. Bxe5 Nh7 3. Bxa8 Rxa8 (or 1...Ne8 2.Rae1 Ne6 3.Bxh6) and White is winning.

Takeaway

The next time you're overcome with fear or greed, try to take a moment to calm down. It's not easy to be objective is the heat of the battle, but if you succeed, it could save you the game.