Hey Guys,

Well I have been thinking when you play a game of chess and you play a great chess player (dunno who but some one stronger than you). Suddenly your opponent makes a bad move which lets you trap his major piece! So after few more moves of the game you win.

Now this certain blunder made by your opponent has been converted into a combination which has been executed by you.

When a friend asks you what happened in the game and how you beat this guy, what do you say to your friend?

Do you say:

1) He was being an idot and blundered his piece!

or

2) I thought up a great combination and grabbed a piece!

Well what you say is the type of thinking you have. If you said no. 1 you are modest and thtink lowly of your opponent. If you say no.2 you have confidence in your self and you are also a bit boostful about yourself.

These are just my opinions on how to think please lay down some of your own ideas and thoughts!

What about choice 3? "My opponent blundered a piece and I realized that it was safe to capture it. Thus, I won the game by taking advantage of a mistake."

I know you're giving extremes, but I doubt too many people take their opinion to one side or the other.

"My opponent made a blunder which resulted in a combination that lost his <insert piece name>."

You must use this format only! 

manic dragon's is my option.

It depends on the position.

A blunder can also be more subtle.  Your opponent makes a move that creates a weakness in her position, and you see that weakness and create a combination that exploits it.  Really, any combination is the result of a blunder by the opponent, because if they had correctly assessed the possible threats arising from the new position then they would have realized it was a bad move.  You could also say that if someone moves a piece to a square where it can be attacked more times than it can be defended that that is a blunder, but being able to see that reality and exploit it could be considered a combination.  I think when you get beyond the simple hanging of a piece, whether you call it a combination or a blunder depends on the degree of subtlety involved in exploiting it.  And what is subtle to one player is obvious to a player at a higher lever.

Thx for the comments guys. I have learnt a bit more on the subject!