It is classed as a blunder because Nxe5 was a chance to win a full piece and more whereas h3 does not win material. Bb5+ is nice and it is in fact foolproof. In all variations white is winning material.
How is this a blunder?
Sort:
It should be noted that h3 would be a crappy move even if there wasn't a chance to win material. Bxn shatters your kingside pawns. The simple be2 is much better.
very fast to swap queens
As a fellow beginner :-) I've learned that 'blunder' applies a lot more then gifting away my pieces. Missing trade offs in material that give you a +, like in this case, or also classed as bad.
In this case you try to chase away the Bishop, and it feels very weird why capturing the Knight and gifting away your Queen would be 'the best move'. I didn't spot the pattern to a forced recapture of the Black Queen either (not seeing the e5-pawn as a key to forcing through after c6). Let alone spotting that you're actually free to go win extra material while having a Black Bishop on your back rank.
No decent player would've followed up with 5...Bxh3, gifting you a free Bishop. So in game we're often not punished, making it feel like it wasn't that bad a move.
I regularly don't immediately see why certain moves are classed as bad in the analysis mode. But looking at the variants on that move in the analysis to see what could have happened the next few moves often (but not always) clears it up for me. I guess in this case the variants didn't show the moves deep enough down the line to clear it up.
Dec 17, 2020
0
#6
Points about the moves above are all valid; h3 just isn't a good move. It's classified as a blunder (not a mistake or inappropriate) because of how badly the move deteriorates your position from what it might have been. This is indicated in the "score" shown beside each move. h3 = 1.17, whereas Nxe5 = 6.83. That is a significant difference because you gain position and material after exchanging Queens (see below). As a beginner, it would be difficult to see this, so review the moves closely after Nxe5.
Ah I see now. Thanks everyone!
I've played this out a few times but I can't figure out how h3 is a blunder. I understand Bb5+ is nice but not foolproof. What am I missing?