9. Ng5 weakened things, and there are doubts r.e. the followup.
E D'Andre vs C De Vere, 1867  (A02) Bird's Opening, 14 moves, 0-1
Unguarding the back rank
J S Stanley vs C G Heydon, 1872  (C42) Petrov Defense, 28 moves, 0-1
Had White in a net--and fell into a stalemate trap.
J Congdon vs E Delmar, 1880  (C61) Ruy Lopez, Bird's Defense, 44 moves, 1/2-1/2
40. ... Re1?
Bird vs W Pollock, 1889  (B01) Scandinavian, 56 moves, 1-0
Leaving the Knight en prise
Tarrasch vs Alapin, 1889  (C42) Petrov Defense, 6 moves, 1-0
Bishop exchange -- very bad idea
M Porges vs Winawer, 1892  (B06) Robatsch, 22 moves, 0-1
41.Kf2 was a mistake and 45.Rd2 was fatal.
B Vergani vs Blackburne, 1895  (B01) Scandinavian, 48 moves, 0-1
Resigned immediately after 44.c4??
Lasker vs F R Gittins, 1897  (C45) Scotch Game, 44 moves, 0-1
Ceci n'est pas un Amos Burn.
Marshall vs Burn, 1900  (D55) Queen's Gambit Declined, 18 moves, 1-0
With the K-side weakened, the Pawn hunt loses to a King hunt.
L Karpinski vs Marshall, 1901  (C43) Petrov, Modern Attack, 27 moves, 0-1
Bluebearded b3
Schlechter vs Pillsbury, 1902  (D32) Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch, 23 moves, 0-1
"Take my wife--Please!"
K Finn vs W Palmer, 1903  (D08) Queen's Gambit Declined, Albin Counter Gambit, 10 moves, 0-1
When setting up a mate net, still mind your opponent's threats!
Duras vs E Post, 1904  (C77) Ruy Lopez, 23 moves, 1-0
22.Nb1 when he could not afford to break the draw.
Rubinstein vs A Nimzowitsch, 1907  (D32) Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch, 44 moves, 0-1
Queened the Pawn--and then threw it away.
F Duz-Khotimirsky vs Alapin, 1908  (D02) Queen's Pawn Game, 78 moves, 1-0
Hanging a piece as recapturing leads to back-rank mate
Tarrasch vs Lasker, 1908  (C49) Four Knights, 26 moves, 0-1
Too greedy in the opening
J Krejcik vs Baumgartner, 1914  (C40) King's Knight Opening, 7 moves, 1-0
Blundered away the Knight
J Mieses vs Euwe, 1921  (C45) Scotch Game, 12 moves, 1-0
Pawn-snatching in self-offense
Koltanowski vs A Dunkelblum, 1923  (B18) Caro-Kann, Classical, 15 moves, 1-0
38.Re3 would have won it.
K Opocensky vs Janowski, 1925  (D24) Queen's Gambit Accepted, 57 moves, 1/2-1/2
Poaching crows--a terrible mistake
H Walkerling vs Hanssen, 1928  (B40) Sicilian, 10 moves, 1-0
Opening errors walk the White K into Black's masterful net.
Glucksberg vs Najdorf, 1930  (A85) Dutch, with c4 & Nc3, 22 moves, 0-1
5.Nbc3 did nothing to parry My Little Checkmate.
M Warren vs J Selman, 1930  (B20) Sicilian, 5 moves, 0-1
Blundered into a textbook fork trap.
R Combe vs W Hasenfuss, 1933  (A43) Old Benoni, 4 moves, 0-1
Watch out for peer pressure!
A Ebralidze vs Ragozin, 1937  (E60) King's Indian Defense, 45 moves, 0-1
The P isn't truly pinned if capturing the R is a blunder.
V Kirillov vs A S Blankstein, 1938  (C04) French, Tarrasch, Guimard Main line, 10 moves, 0-1
exd3?? == falling for one fast-acting poisoned Pawn.
H Haberditz vs Hysek, 1938  (A04) Reti Opening, 8 moves, 1-0
11...Nd4?? blunders the King away.
H Helms vs O Tenner, 1942  (C51) Evans Gambit, 13 moves, 1-0
Too many fronts at once.
M Stark vs Shainswit, 1943  (D35) Queen's Gambit Declined, 33 moves, 0-1
Black's QBP was a golden dart frog for White's Q!
W Adams vs G Kramer, 1946  (B12) Caro-Kann Defense, 9 moves, 0-1
Wrong stable for that horse!
A Seppelt vs Leganki, 1950  (C07) French, Tarrasch, 6 moves, 0-1
42.Rxg8 could have drawn.
Taimanov vs Geller, 1951  (A48) King's Indian, 43 moves, 0-1
3...g6 did zilch to stop the threatened fork with mate imminent
M Meyer vs D Newcomb, 1952  (C23) Bishop's Opening, 7 moves, 1-0
Poaching that crow was a very bad idea.
NN vs Bronstein, 1954  (C40) King's Knight Opening, 12 moves, 0-1
Petrosian has Bronstein skunked--and blunders away his Q
Petrosian vs Bronstein, 1956  (E66) King's Indian, Fianchetto, Yugoslav Panno, 36 moves, 0-1
Missed chance to refute sac, then missed chance to draw.
A G Murphy vs C Witte, 1957  (B20) Sicilian, 23 moves, 0-1
19. Kh1 didn't work, then a later Queen trade lost fast.
M Tamburini vs E Paoli, 1957  (A44) Old Benoni Defense, 30 moves, 0-1
Opening enemy lines for a mate in two
Sliwa vs B Malich, 1957  (A43) Old Benoni, 45 moves, 0-1
Naturally, the first Chess computer was a total patzer.
Bronstein vs M20, 1963  (C34) King's Gambit Accepted, 23 moves, 1-0
Knight-snatching enables checkmate net.
A Matanovic vs J H Donner, 1965  (C70) Ruy Lopez, 21 moves, 0-1
Blue-bearded Pawn-snatching
Walker vs Almeida, 1965  (C19) French, Winawer, Advance, 11 moves, 1-0
19...Nd7??
Fischer vs Spassky, 1972  (A39) English, Symmetrical, Main line with d4, 37 moves, 1-0
No time to prepare a fianchetto!
P Pantelidakis vs F Rhine, 1974  (A02) Bird's Opening, 6 moves, 0-1
Pawn-snatching into a two-pin combination.
Robatsch vs Jansa, 1974  (A10) English, 14 moves, 1-0
Forty minutes of thought for THAT sort of blunder!?
Gligoric vs Andersson, 1974  (E44) Nimzo-Indian, Fischer Variation, 5.Ne2, 49 moves, 1-0
4. d4 parried mate aspect but not the rest of the threat.
A Riemslag vs P Cameron, 1978  (A02) Bird's Opening, 9 moves, 0-1
In the opening, watch out for threats to King Bishop 2!
J Henningsen vs R Borik, 1979  (A00) Uncommon Opening, 7 moves, 1-0
Enabled a disastrous fork with check on move 3
Z Djordjevic vs M Kovacevic, 1984  (A45) Queen's Pawn Game, 3 moves, 0-1
A fork of King and Rook that did nada to address White's attack
G Minchev vs B Ganchev, 1986  (B02) Alekhine's Defense, 13 moves, 1-0
Forgot your opponent could castle?
W N Watson vs J Piket, 1987  (B08) Pirc, Classical, 23 moves, 0-1
11. Na3 did nothing to stop the checkmate.
B Wall vs S Millimaci, 1988  (B22) Sicilian, Alapin, 11 moves, 0-1
Unguarding the checkmate square--Instant death.
E Schmittdiel vs S Johannessen, 1989  (A04) Reti Opening, 25 moves, 1-0
Yes the Queen whas left en prise/Yes Black right away did seize
R Suess vs O Zenker, 1989  (A80) Dutch, 7 moves, 0-1
This was an easily-won K+P+P vs. K endgame, right?
Dreev vs R Wessman, 1990  (D45) Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, 77 moves, 1/2-1/2
What sort of opening play is THAT!?
M Mas vs R Guerrero, 1991  (C00) French Defense, 12 moves, 1-0
Played g4 one move too soon.
K V Shantharam vs Kaidanov, 1991  (A13) English, 55 moves, 0-1
This was easily drawn if Black had exchanged away the crows!
J Gallagher vs P Bachmayr, 1991 (C39) King's Gambit Accepted, 39 moves, 1-0
That horse left Her Majesty badly overworked.
R Gonzalez vs Tal, 1992  (B32) Sicilian, 26 moves, 0-1
Unsound piece sac dooms the Queen
K Wageneder vs P Acs, 1992  (A02) Bird's Opening, 7 moves, 0-1
58.Ke6?? snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.
Short vs A Beliavsky, 1992  (C48) Four Knights, 58 moves, 0-1
Black has erred already--and then takes a poisoned Knight.
Tg Zulkifli vs W Lai, 1992  (C42) Petrov Defense, 8 moves, 1-0
Really shouldn't have taken that Queen.
R Vera vs G Garcia, 1992  (D37) Queen's Gambit Declined, 24 moves, 1-0
49...c5+?? walks into a trebuchet.
A Beaver vs K Burnett, 1992  (E84) King's Indian, Samisch, Panno Main line, 50 moves, 1-0
Uh, that Bishop was guarding the mate square.
Karpov vs Bareev, 1994  (C07) French, Tarrasch, 36 moves, 1-0
In French the B is called the Jester, and 11.Bd2 was a joke.
J A Palmisano vs G Llanos, 1995  (E80) King's Indian, Samisch Variation, 11 moves, 0-1
16. ... Ne3?? turns White's opening blunder into a sac.
A Smirnov vs V Shepelev, 2005  (A00) Uncommon Opening, 22 moves, 1-0
For Pete's sake, don't castle onto a pawnless side!
Ivanchuk vs Topalov, 1996  (B81) Sicilian, Scheveningen, Keres Attack, 23 moves, 0-1
Leaving the Rook en prise
J Piket vs Anand, 1998  (D86) Grunfeld, Exchange, 60 moves, 1-0
Hangs a Bishop for a Pawn
Nisipeanu vs Ivanchuk, 1999  (C45) Scotch Game, 14 moves, 1-0
Leading with the Lady against a former World Champion?
B Becker vs Kasparov, 2000  (C20) King's Pawn Game, 18 moves, 0-1
Castling into it
U Capo Vidal vs E Gonzalez Chavez, 2001  (A54) Old Indian, Ukrainian Variation, 4.Nf3, 19 moves, 1-0
73.Nd8 would have been FAR better.
D Lavin vs E Lawson, 2004  (E15) Queen's Indian, 91 moves, 0-1
Recapturing on f6 was the wrong move.
GM Qwert vs R Hungaski, 2004  (A03) Bird's Opening, 17 moves, 1-0
Failed to realize the N couldn't take the Q w/out trouble.
H Koller vs C Di Caro, 2004  (A41) Queen's Pawn Game (with ...d6), 9 moves, 0-1
Bye-bye Queen.
Bacrot vs M Vukic, 2004  (A46) Queen's Pawn Game, 29 moves, 1-0
Developing the Queen directly into the line of fire
A Gautam vs J Worell, 2004  (C65) Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense, 8 moves, 1-0
Qf8??
Carlsen vs Bareev, 2005  (B12) Caro-Kann Defense, 46 moves, 0-1
Missed a mate in 3 on move 41 and then proceeded to lose.
R Soupizon vs A Guthrie, 2006  (B23) Sicilian, Closed, 75 moves, 0-1
Developing the wrong Knight left the threat unparried.
P Morriss vs J McDonnell, 2006  (A00) Uncommon Opening, 4 moves, 1-0
Grob Opening, Butterfingers Variation
B Tavassoli vs S Schoknecht, 2007  (A00) Uncommon Opening, 2 moves, 0-1
Critical failures on both their spot checks.
Y Wen vs Z Almasi, 2007  (A20) English, 39 moves, 0-1
Castling into it.
Y Quesada Perez vs Y Salaun, 2008  (C80) Ruy Lopez, Open, 12 moves, 1-0
43.Nxd5??
Carlsen vs Nakamura, 2009  (E92) King's Indian, 45 moves, 0-1
Bishop-snatching blundered away the King.
Svidler vs Gelfand, 2009  (A28) English, 56 moves, 0-1
A N move in self-offense--B cannot now capture K-&-R-forking N.
Shirov vs Kramnik, 2010  (E20) Nimzo-Indian, 38 moves, 1-0
4. Bg5?? and Black gets to kick White's K around.
M Murara vs I Scott, 2012  (A51) Budapest Gambit, 13 moves, 0-1
131.Rc4?? 131.Ka2 with the perpetual would have been better.
Giri vs Karjakin, 2014  (A35) English, Symmetrical, 131 moves, 0-1
Resigning in a drawn position.
Carlsen vs So, 2017  (A07) King's Indian Attack, 22 moves, 1-0
Taking the Pawn did nothing to stop the fork.
Sengupta vs S Narayanan, 2018  (A45) Queen's Pawn Game, 10 moves, 0-1
Blundered away a vital Bishop in the opening.
A Avila Fraire vs S Logothetis, 2019  (A07) King's Indian Attack, 11 moves, 1-0
Dodged the 77. a6? trap, but blundered a different way.
Nepomniachtchi vs Anand, 2019  (A21) English, 77 moves, 0-1
150. ... Kc1 loses just four moves away from a 50-move draw
V Kovalev vs D Gavrilescu, 2019  (C07) French, Tarrasch, 152 moves, 1-0
A fatal misclick about to cost the Queen
Nepomniachtchi vs Carlsen, 2020  (C60) Ruy Lopez, 38 moves, 1-0
Marshall's 1940 P-pushing opening against Ragosin this wasn't.
NN vs F Rhine, 2020  (A40) Queen's Pawn Game, 13 moves, 0-1
White missed 61.Ka4! winning.
Giri vs Firouzja, 2021  (C11) French, 67 moves, 1/2-1/2
How not to play the From Gambit
NN vs F Rhine, 2021  (A02) Bird's Opening, 3 moves, 0-1
18.Ba3?? was instant death for Aronian's King.
Aronian vs Duda, 2021  (C18) French, Winawer, 18 moves, 0-1
9.e3 could have equalized.
NN vs F Rhine, 2022  (A50) Queen's Pawn Game, 9 moves, 0-1
31...Qe8?
Carlsen vs So, 2022  (C65) Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense, 39 moves, 1-0
27.Kh2 could have drawn.
P Venkatesh vs R Praggnanandhaa, 2022  (C70) Ruy Lopez, 30 moves, 0-1
100 games |