When Grandmasters Blunder
Chess can be a very cruel game! A momentary loss of concentration or distraction can cause you to lose immediately. We call this a blunder. Even World Champions are not exempt from this failing.
Below I give three examples from the very strong French team championship, known as the Top-12, where each game is decided in just one move with a horrible blunder. Enjoy!
gm Malakhov – gm Efimov France 24.5.2019
1.Nf3 e6 2.c4 d5 3.e3 c6 4.b3 Nf6 5.Bb2 Nbd7 6.d4 b6 7.Bd3 Bb7
8.O-O Be7 9.Nc3 Rc8 10.Qe2 Qc7 11.Rad1 O-O 12.e4 dxe4 13.Nxe4
Rfd8 14.Neg5 Rf8 15.Bb1 Bd6 16.g3 g6 17.Ne5 Rce8 18.h4 c5 19.Nxd7
Nxd7 20.d5{[#] <strong style="color:red;">There is no doubt that White has a promising game, but that is no reason for Black to lose in just one move. Black must advance his King pawn.</strong>} ( 20.dxc5 Bxc5 21.Qh5$4 Qxg3# ) exd5$4{[#]} ( 20...e5! ) 21.Qh5!{[#] <strong style="color:red;">Grandmaster Efimov overlooked this crushing move. Black resigns immediately. Mate is unstoppable.</strong>} 1-0
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gm Chabanon – gm BrunnerFrance 24.5.2019
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4
b5 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.O-O a6 10.e4 c5 11.e5 Nd5 12.Bg5 Qb6 13.Nxd5 Bxd5
14.dxc5 Bxc5 15.a3 Qb7 16.b4 Bb6 17.a4 bxa4 18.Rxa4 a5 19.bxa5
Rxa5 20.Rxa5 Bxa5 21.Qa4{[#] <strong style="color:red;">This looks like a very strong move, attacking the Bishop on a5 and threatening, in some cases, Rb1. For this reason Black’s next move seems obvious</strong>} Qb4$4{[#]} ({<strong style="color:black;">Grandmaster Brunner believes that trading Queens will solve all of his problems, but he is very wrong. Black should simply castle and ignore White’s threats: </strong> } 21...O-O! 22.Qxa5 ( 22.Rb1$5 ) Bxf3
23.gxf3 Qxf3{<strong style="color:black;">and White should not try to avoid the perpetual check </strong> } ) 22.Rc1$3{[#] <strong style="color:red;">Ouch!! This unexpected move wins immediately. Black can not capture White’s Queen as he would be mated in two moves, and Castling would allow the White Queen to capture the Knight on d7 for nothing. Black resigned immediately.</strong>} 1-0
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gm Solodovnichenko – gm GukeshFrance 25.5.2019
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 e5 4.Bc4 Be7 5.d3 d6 6.O-O Nf6 7.Ng5
O-O 8.f4 exf4 9.Bxf4 h6 10.Nf3 Be6 11.Nd5 Bxd5 12.exd5 Na5 13.Qd2
Nxc4 14.dxc4 Qd7 15.Qd3 Rae8 16.h3 Bd8 17.Nd2 Nh5 18.Bh2 f5 19.Rae1
Bg5 20.Nb3 Rxe1 21.Rxe1 Re8 22.Rxe8+ Qxe8{[#] <strong style="color:red;">The game has become quite sterile and there is little for either side to play for. White should just move his King towards the centre via f2 or f1,to stop the check on e1, and offer a draw.Instead, Grandmaster Solodovnichenko finds a way to lose in just two moves!</strong>}
23.Bxd6$4{[#]} Qe1+ 24.Kh2
Be3{[#] <strong style="color:red;">White resigned immediately. The only way to stop the mate is to give up the Queen.</strong>} 0-1
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