When blunders happen…
In chess most blunders are disguised as inspiring opportunities. They often start off as great ideas. The problem, of course, is that our opponent does not cooperate and everything (from our perspective) quickly goes south.
Sarcasm apart, there are a zillion reasons why we lose. Distraction. Over-estimation. Loss of objectivity. Time trouble. The list is long…
Below is a small selection of blunders that I found while pouring over the late Cuban grandmaster Roman Hernandez’ games. Blunders that can happen to all of us (and I am sure they already have!)
Example 1
Neumann,A – Hernandez,R
Dresden 8.10.1969
1-0
Example 2
Boensch,U – Hernandez,R
Leipzig 1975
1-0
How can we explain Black’s defeat here? White’s 27th move was just a bluff, of course. But there must be a deeper reason why Black lost. Perhaps time trouble, not having enough time to find the zwischenzug Rd4. Or maybe he just did not see White’s idea until it was too late. Or perhaps at that precise moment a pretty women walked by the board…we may never know!
To be continued
