These power plays are not about the overt moves you see.
Chess is not about taking the opponent's pieces. Chess is about understanding where your opponent can and can't move. It is about steering your opponent into an inescapable sequence where their available options all lead to the same end result of their loss.
But we are playing against amateurs. Professionals, out of courtesy, realize when they have no escape and bow out. The cabal will have to be played to mate. They won't accept it until then.
But are we playing chess… Shogi… Or perhaps some of the pieces are like games of Go? Suddenly a black bishop turns white Knight?