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.

A Strange Coincidence

 The day after I wrote about Double Delusion, it appeared in one of my own games. That might seem like a strange coincidence, but these things happen a lot more often than we think.

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

The Knight on d5 had been a nuisance for a long while. There's a fork on e7, at the moment covered by the Queen. I decided to chase the Night away with 1...Rf5 to free the Queen for other tasks. (That's actually not the best move. 1...Bd4! 2.Nc3 Bxc3 3.bxc3 h4! wins, but that was clearly above my level).

Now, the delusion. 2.Re1?? Black thought that Qxd5 wasn't possible because of Ne7+, forking King, Queen and Rook. Very beautiful, except for the Knight is now off the board, and may no longer participate. Nc7 would have saved the Knight.

My immediate impulse was Qxd5 winning the Knight, but then I saw the fork. Shock and terror! Then I remembered the game Ebralidze - Ragozin I wrote about the day before, and managed to calm down a bit. I forced my to visualise the position after Qxd5 (not too hard to do, being just one move ahead) and realised that there is no longer a fork since the Knight is gone. 

2. Qxd5 and White resigned.

Takeaway

Face your fears! Whenever you're overcome with the "I can't do that" feeling, try to think "I want to do that". Most delusions can be cleared by visualising the position after the move you want to play. It worked for me in this game, and it would have worked in Ebralidze - Ragozin too.

Double Delusion

Can both players make the same mistake at the same time? Yes they can. It happens to grandmasters, and it will happen to you too.

This example is from a classic game, first published in Think Like a Grandmaster by Alexander Kotov, and later in How to Reassess Your Chess by Jeremy Silman (both books are excellent study material for the aspiring club player). Black to move.

 Ebralidze - Ragozin (Tbilisi 1937)

 In this age, Stockfish tells us that this is a draw. Ragozin, however, was clearly troubled by the fact that his Rook and his pawn on a7 are under attack, and his Bishop is pinned. He came up with 1...Rc7, thinking that Rook cannot be captured as 2.Rxc7 Bd6+ wins back the Rook with a winning endgame. The problem is, however, that the Bishop is still pinned, and cannot move. So, White can just take the Rook and win the game.

Alas, Ebralidze had fallen victim to the same delusion, thinking that his Rook, now under threat, must move. 2.Rd5 Bf6 and Black soon won the game.

Takeaway

Lasker said "when you see a good move, look for a better one". That's a good advice, but there's more to it than that. Before looking for a better move, make sure that the good move you've seen really is good. Does it allow a quick mate? Does it hang something? That second look might clear your head of delusions.