Blunders

Bad moves, even pure-out blunders are the bane of any chess player's existence but something to which no one is immune, not even the greatest masters. 

Burt Hochberg, then editor of "Chess Life & Review" relates the following situation from the Second Interzonal Tournament in Petropolis, July, 1973 (won by Henrique "Mequinho" Mecking) in which one of the greatest U.S. players of all time not only blunders but, as Bronstein put it, made "the blunder of five centuries."

Qxg6? Oh my god! It's a mystery what might've passed inside his head.

BTW, translating in 5... 4... 3...

Does it help to have the words in editable text?

Sammy Reshevsky keeps trying, but age and other factors take their toll. He complained of the altitude in Petropolis, which made him feel dizzy and light-headed. The religious orthodoxy he imposes on himself can create problems for him that no other player has. For example, Reshevsky eats only kosher food. Now, where are you going to find kosher food in the Brazilian mountains? I'll tell you: in a yeshiva! (A yeshiva is a religious school for Jewish children.) Would you believe there is a yeshiva about 45 minutes by car from Petropolis? There is indeed, and that is where Sammy took himself at least twice a day, every day, for his meals. And knowing how those Brazilians drive, it's a wonder Sammy made it through the tournament at all. But he even had a plus score. Were it not for a disaster in the next-to-last round, his score would have been at least one and a half points better. Take a look at this position:

Reshevsky, White against Soviet Grandmaster Vladimir Savon, has a forced mate. But in time pressure (Reshevsky has to make his 40th move), Sammy played 40 QxPch.... , thinking it was mate—he completely forgot about that Black Bishop lurking innocently at the other end of the board. Of course, Savon grabbed the Queen and Reshevsky resigned. In the press room, which is where I was at the time, there was suddenly a disturbance. Werner Hug, the Swiss international master, came tearing into the room like a bull elephant, yelling: "Reshevsky blundered! My God, what a blunder! He had a mate and sacrificed his Queen!" Bronstein later told me it was "the blunder of five centuries." Anyway, a few minutes later, Reshevsky was pacing the press room looking absolutely distraught. In that atmosphere of general excitement at the approaching end of the tournament, Reshevsky stood alone—God only knows what was in his mind. No one dared speak to him. Savon, looking sheepish, his blond hair carelessly draped over one eye, followed his compatriots around as they examined the other positions on the demonstration boards. No one was speaking to him either; he looked like a little boy who had done something bad and was sure to be punished later, but for the moment was at his best behavior.

 once i was playing a blitz game and my opponent blundered his queen just like that and i was a queen up later i made the same mistake and blundered my queen thinking it was mate but he took it with his knight. he was a piece up and won in the end.

it happens to me all the time when I eat a lot of mussels, shrimps or octopus 

I am surprised that no-one has pointed out the nice little mating combination that Reshevsky missed.

Reshevsky wasn't supposed to miss a mate-in-1 or a simple winning combo.  It was a bad day for
 

Reshevsky didn't have a great time. Here and I think he was beaten badly by nemesis Portisch. Plus the conditions. It didn't help that he was over 60 years old at the time either I believe.

A lot!

Thank you, doing it right now.

lmao that pic

This was a pretty fun one for me xD