Waitzkin and Silman: 2 different accounts of the same game

I saw the video and read the book.  Josh missed the rook because he was not focused on something so simple.  How many times have you done a tactical exercise and thought and thought for minutes and finally plucked out an inferior move only to realize something was hanging and could be taken in one move?  As far as Silman goes, who was coaching the American junior team and waching from the balcony with fellow coach Pal Benko, read his words and decide for yourself if he misinterpreted what Josh was thinking at the time:

"Qf2 seemed odd.  How did we miss it?  Then reality hit us both in the face-this simply hangs the h1-Rook!  Of course, it was clear that White wasn't aware h1 was floating in the breeze, no doubt feeling that it was defended a moment ago and so "Black still can't take it."  Good news for us since now, after the obvious 1...Qxh1, White would resign and we could begin looking at the games of other players.

But no-instead of snapping off the free Rook....Josh sank into deep thought.  In fact, he seemed disturbed by 1.Qf2-for some reason he thought this wasn't possible (just like our initial reaction!) and couldn't understand why it was now staring him in the face!  One minute ticked by, then two, and it became clear that Josh had bought into white's "he can't take the Rook?" (which translates into black's "I can't") delusion. 

.....As you can see, if the opponent's delusion can create "I can't" so powerfully that you aren't able to see a one move snatch of a hanging Rook, imagine how easy it is to buy into something believable, like a threat.  That's why you have to use the "Rubbish!" prompt when an enemy threat appears."

I love Silman's message of "don't buy what your opponent is selling."   Essentially, you must calculate the board to learn the truth. 

What's funny about the story is that Josh describes his opponent as being dejected after the move (I think he threw his coat or kicked his chair), showing clear visual signs of defeat and being very mad at himself for having made the move.   So Josh had two clues that the move was bad, but he was so focused on winning as though the Rook was protected that he was simply blinded by his own intense focus on a more challenging problem.  How to win with a protected h1 Rook.

I think the OP was rated about 1000, when he posted this 13 months ago. Now he's pushing 2000.

Conflagration_Planet, I don't find what you said to be true when I search the archive.

True. He was rated 1488.