Greatest chess blunders in the history of chess

ERRARE HUMANUM EST…

The last tournament game I played was a Croatian league match. I was playing White and played a very good game, untill the following position was reached:

Considering that my opponent was female, it was somewhat expected, since I score terribly against women.

And they also often beat me in chess.

…BUT EVEN GRANDMASTERS ARE HUMANS

After that “dramatic” finish to the game, I was so shocked that all I could do was laugh. However, later, after computer showed me that my advantage was worth 13 pawns, I seriously started doubting the ancient “laughter is the best medicine” saying.

In order to make myself feel better, I got the motivation to write this article.

Because something malicious in our subconsciousness makes us enjoy seeing our idols failing miserably.

Or as they say, “There are two types of luck, my luck and misery of others.”

Therefore, without further ado, I bring the compilation of the biggest blunders made by top grandmasters in the history of chess.

1. PETROSIAN BLUNDERS HIS QUEEN

Probably one of the most famous blunders in the history is following blunder by the 9th chess champion Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian.

In his game against David Bronstein in Amsterdam Candidates tournament in 1956, the following position was reached:

2. BACROT BLUNDERS HIS QUEEN

Petrosian is not the only one that commited a one move blunder. Etienne Bacrot, a very strong  Grandmaster and seven times French Champion can also join that club.

In his game against Ernesto Inarkiev in the Baku Grand Prix 2008 , the following positions was reached:

3.  KARJAKIN BLUNDERS HIS ROOK

Not only World Champions, but also World Champion Candidates are prone to blundering their heavy pieces once in a while. In the game Peter Heine Nielsen – Sergey Karjakin, Corus Chess Tournament 2005, the following position was reached:

4. KRAMNIK BLUNDERS MATE IN ONE

Another shocking example is the blunder of the 14th World Champion Vladimir Kramnik. In his game against the computer Deep Fritz from the year 2006 a following position was reached:

5. CHIGORIN BLUNDERS MATE IN TWO

Another famous, and probably the most shocking blunder on this list, is the blunder by the Russian Grandmaster Chigorin in the 23rd match game in his 1892 World Championship Match against the champion Wilhelm Steinitz.

The importance of this blunder can best be evaluated if we consider that the score in the match was standing at 9-8 in Steinitz’s favour. The match was played in the best of 10 format, and the following position in the 23rd game was reached:

6. KORCHNOI BLUNDERS MATE IN THREE

Viktor Korchnoi is widely considered as the best chess player ever never to become a World Champion. The closest he ever came to winning the title was the 1978 Baguio city World Championship match against Anatoly Karpov. I remind the reader that at one point the score in the match was 5-5, and Karpov managed to prevail by the closes possible margin by winning the 32nd game and thus the match.

However, everything might have ended differently if 17th game of that match went differently.

In that game, the following position was reached:

7. FISCHER BLUNDERS HIS BISHOP

 

The Fischer – Spassky “MATCH OF THE CENTURY” is probably most famous chess event of all times. However, it would be a big blunder not to include the events that occurred in the game one of that match in this list.

In the following position, Fischer as black decided to grab a pawn:

8. BOGOLJUBOW BLUNDERS IN A DRAWN ENDGAME

 

For the next blunder we go back to year 1929 and Alekhine – Bogoljubov match. In the game 19, the following endgame occurred on the board:

 

9. BRONSTEIN BLUNDERS IN A DRAWN ENDGAME

 

The long list of blunder in the World Championship matches continues with amazing Bronstein blunder in the 6th game of the Botvinnik – Bronstein World Championship match from the year 1951.

In the following position, Bronstein’s brain tilted:

The blunder is even more significant if you bear in mind that the match ended with the 12-12 score, which allowed Botvinnik to retain his title, according to the match regulations.

10. ANAND NAIVELY BLUNDERS TWO PAWNS

 

The last, but not the least on this list, is the Indian superstar and World Champion Vishwanathan Anand’s blunder in the 11th game of his 1995 World Championship match against Garry Kasparov.

It has to be said that up to this point it has been a very close match. Both players have scored one win, and Kasparov was unable to break through Anand’s deep opening preparation.

In the 11th game he decided to play the Sicilian Dragon for the first time in his life, and the following position was reached:

CONCLUSION

To conclude, this list could probably continue further. These are some of the most vivid examples of the grandmaster blunders in the history of chess. If you have your favourite, or your own thoughts about the theme of this article, feel free to comment below 🙂

Therefore, next time you overlook your queen, don’t give up your hope of becoming a GM.

After my atrocious Nxg6, I certainly haven’t. But as my favourite band Architects sing in their song, “HOPE IS A PRISON.”

 

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