What is the Worst Thing Which Ever Happened To You In a Chess Game or Tournamen

The_Beauty  That is really a sad story!

I've lost 3 straiight winning otb long games vs 2000+ level players, Im just so stupid, randomly dropping grrr

In the final round of the high school state team tournament, playing board 1 on table 1 for the championship, I found a perpetual check that my opponent could only avoid by letting me promote.  My opponent's team needed a win, so he let me promote and suddenly I'm up a queen for a rook.

In a time scramble I lost my queen to a rook skewer.  At least my team won.

hmm, that is just the past.

The Story is still being writtern...! :-)

Also, in a different team tournament I had a winning endgame against NM Eric Rosen (we had both blundered badly) but in time trouble I clumsily blundered into a mating net.  Strong players tend to be fortunate in time-trouble!

My first tourney at 32 years old got smother mated by a 13 year old in 12moves. Not cool.

man reminds me of my time way back, i felt like a pro when i gave up a few moves before the smothered mate i couldnt stop lol

Not a tournament, but a league game a few years back.

I had rook + g and h pawns vs rook and I couldn't win it, against a 1850 (I was around 1500)

All my teammates gave me a hard time. Only some years later when I discovered tablebases did I find many of those positions ARE actually draws, with some neat stalemate defenses.

Just a story: At the parlor where I play on Friday nights, a woman came in while I was playing this man. I had never seen her. She had wild eyes. My opp began speaking with her. He started to talk down to her and her voice started going up. B4 long she was yelling. then she picked up all 4 rooks and one by one threw them across the room. Well, 911 was called and the police came and carried her out. She was kicking and screaming all the way. Afterthat, every body just went home. It was kind of exciting !

The BrashYoung Kid. [This did not happen to me.]

Kankakee Illinois where I live often did not have a chess club. One was formed at the YMCA and I visited there once and nobody wanted to play me.

Later they had their championship and this young fellow about age 18 won with wins against everybody.  He was quite cocky after that and was telling me he was the best player in the whole county.  I told him, sorry, but I was the best player. [This was about 1965].  But he was sure he was better--after all I was afraid to play in the Kankakee club championship..

I offered to play him a ten game match.  At my home, he would come once a week and we would use clocks and have a serious game every Saturday.  I would provide a pleasant environment and refreshments.

I won the first 3 games and then the 4th and 5th and 6th and 7th and he kept coming back for more. Then I had a 9 game winning streak with one game to go.  In the 10th game he had White and was very determined to win.  I wiped him out in just a few moves.  

It was the last I saw of this young man. 

Easy!

Way back in high school, I was in a school team tournament. After I had finished playing the first round (I won) I made the mistake of touching the pairing cards. The director promptly expelled me for the entire tournament. Seems harsh but he had been constantly warning me over the past year. Not only did I not get to play, my school finished dead last. The difference in playing strength between me and the freshman who took my place ruined it for the team.

my first tournament; There was a smal tournament in my neighbour-village and I went there. My small brother thought I would winn it, I thought I could winn, ..

The first game I lost, the second I lost out of time, the third I didn*t play to end;   I was running into the night.

I was thirteen, had never played with a clock, and knew only the Ruy Lopez. We had no father.

I am a leader of the US Open with 5 1/2 out of 6.  But I have to travel from Kankakee to Chicago and back each day.  My 5 friends take me to Chicago this time.

I am on a stage above the other 700 plus players.  My opponent is a well known master from Cananda. Lawrence Day.  I have Black.  

But he has seen my previous score sheets  he knows I play a special line vs the Ruy Lopez.  But I know the line has a hole in it.  Lawrence Day per his home analysis has also found this "hole"  He plays the correct moves and I lose horribly in about 16 moves. 

My first tournament in about 10 years is a local tournament. I used to play when I was in school, and was about a 700 player. I had gotten much, much stronger since then, but still probably only class C (1400-1600). So I go to this tournament, and there's no way I'm winning, what with the few masters that showed up, so I'm just aiming for a good result. As this was unrated, more of a casual thing, they just asked people their ratings. Not wanting to sandbag, I told them I was around class C. That put me below all the rated people there, but above all the unrated.

Swiss systems pair the top half of the player pool with the bottom half. So who did I play in the first round? You guessed it, the #1 seed, who happened to be a FIDE Master, and the highest rated active player in my state. He played the Bishop's opening. He used less than 40 seconds for the whole game, to my 18ish minutes (G/20). 

I played in 3 different preliminary sections of the United States Correspondence Chess Championship.  I did very well in these 3 sections but for some reason the administer at the time decided not to rate these games.  I needed just 3 more games to get a permanent ICCF Correspondence rating.  There were 20 some games in these prelims.

Thus now I have an inactive rating of only 2538 rather than a permanent rating of approximately 2580.

[I believe this is true that the prelims were not rated but are rated now]

[if I am wrong, please correct me]

I disagree. I don't think it was immature. I think it was smart. They were immature. You were smart and cool under pressure, and you were thinking strategically in a tough tactical situation. Well done!

Mate in 2

worst thing that ever happened to me in a game or tournament is a long story with many chapters. Best thing that ever happened to me hasn't been written yet ;->

I had tied for second in a minor tournament (a qualifier for the Ontario Provincial competition) with 4/5 (3 wins, 2 draws). However, there had to be a tiebreaker to determine who would be invited to the Provincial tournament. The tiebreaker was a 10|0 game where I drew white. 

It ended up being a line of the Steinitz Ruy Lopez (which is supposedly advantageous for white). However, in the middle of the game, I forgot to press my clock after moving. In that way, I lost about a minute and a half from my time. Panicked, I blundered a knight for 2 pawns. However, with about 20 seconds left, I could have forced a draw by repetition. Unfortunately, I chose a different move which threatened mate in 2, allowing checkmate in 1.