Not exactly a blunder, but Korchnoi asking the referee if he can castle. (Which he legally could have done) Korchnoi vs. Karpov in their '78 world championship match.
Grandmasters' Worst Blunders
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too much vodka
Perhaps he couldn't find the king?
There is a type of blunder which I think may well be more common than we admit.
Intense concentration with mental calculation of numerous lines then missing the obvious. After all it is quite possible to analyse four or five moves deep missing a mate in one.
I do not ascribe to the view that seeing at great depth makes a great player, but grand masters see accurately at depth which is a rare quality.
With my limited chess skill I have analysed and then come back to the move I first considered. The wonder ofchess and life is that it is far deeper than we can ever realise in spite of our developed cranium.
Jan 31, 2012
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#6
Whatever Korchnoi did was still the action of a player who might have been world champion without extraneous factors, and has held his form as he got older better than any world champion (eg he was higher rated at the age of 70 than Karpov at the age of 50).
Jan 31, 2012
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#7
Try this:
Petrosian completely dominates, to the point where his opponent is mechanically moving one piece back an forth. Then he puts his queen en prise.
Makes my point his head must have been stuffed to capacity with dozens of lines in this complex position and like a juggler with to much in the air he slipped. Computers are free of this sort of error but then they have no mind.
Carlsen's last move here ought to be one of the worst moves ever made in a World Championship (OK, maybe blitz World Championships shouldn't be counted):
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1428322
Reshevsky drops his queen in the Interzonal.
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1162749&kpage=2#reply40
vadsamoht wrote:
Try this:
Petrosian completely dominates, to the point where his opponent is mechanically moving one piece back an forth. Then he puts his queen en prise.
I did that the other day. I worked to a comfortable end game advantage. I thought I was dealing out the forcing move for the death blow and darn....that was my queen...."you dummy, you know rooks can't protect diagonally, what were you thinking?....I got lucky and still won...
fabelhaft wrote:
Carlsen's last move here ought to be one of the worst moves ever made in a World Championship (OK, maybe blitz World Championships shouldn't be counted):
If we're counting World Blitz Championships...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeyXKTVYenA
(includes a classic flounce in slow motion).
And then there's this one (Anand vs Kasparov, Geneva Rapid 1996)...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xZDm670Zoc
Korchnoi vs. Karpov in their '78 world championship match.
I am embarrassed to say that I got that wrong a few weeks ago when I was working through a grandmaster's game and was convinced that something was wrong when the player castled with his rook under attack.
I am about 1550 CC, I have been playing for 60 years, and I didn't know this?
Maybe I knew it and forgot it? That's probably it, but how will I ever know?
Feb 17, 2012
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#17
batgirl wrote:
Savielly Tartakower was on the losing side of 3 really short miniatures.
Wow! All three "blunders" were amazing!
Feb 17, 2012
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#18
The Reti game is pretty famous. I don't know how well-known the other two are.
Didn't Kasparov blunder a queen to Vishy Anand? I head he rocked his chair back and buried his face in his hands.
Feb 18, 2012
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#20
all of them listed on this page are pretty big blunders
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1003221
What do you think is the biggest blunder ever made by a GM in a tournament?