Beware of mate in 1 tunnel vision
Sometimes in a game of chess, we can get tunnel vision. That is, we get so focussed on our planned series of moves that we lose sight of the rest of the board. This is different to making a gambit or taking a calculated risk, as those are decisional choices. Instead, it is not seeing threats and alternatives due to being so invested in a particular line. A situation where this can happen when we are trying to create a mate in 1 threat and I’m going to talk about two games I played recently back to back as examples.
The insight that I have from these games is that even when you think you’ve created a brilliant mating threat, it’s probably a good idea to take a step back, and deliberately take some time to see how and where that threat can be refuted. Consider, how obvious that those moves would be and the likelihood that the opponent will see it. And if they do so, what happens to your position?
I hope you enjoyed this video, and thanks for watching!
Originally published: https://adventuresofachessnoob.com/2022/01/26/beware-of-mate-in-1-tunnel-vision/
Game 1:
Game 2:
