I'd like to hear other people's nominations for this.
Here's mine.
Worst move:
1. e4 e5
2. f4 exf4
3. Nf3 Bc5????
Wait. So white already has a huge development advantage. And you want to give him a free chance to get the second center pawn as well as recapture the gambit pawn with tempo?
The people who really, really, REALLY don't know how to defend the king's gambit play something like
4. d4 Bb4+?
5. c3 Bd6?
6. e5 Be7
7. Bxf4
after which, to my mind, black's position is resignable. lets see. how many tempi is white up? 5? Has two pieces developed, complete control of the center, strong presence in the kingside, locked up queenside... black is going to be defending the f7 square for a while, and will never catch up.
The ones who at least realize their mistake just play 4. d4 Be7 (or Bb6) straightaway. Then lose anyway. But not quite so nastily. After which I SUPPOSE 5. Bxf4 Bh4+ is playable (well, not really) but generally the people who play 3. ... Bc5 don't think to try it.
I see it all the time playing the KG and I almost feel guilty for winning afterward. Can anyone see any GOOD consequence from that move 3? The best I can come up with is just sacing the stupid bishop on d4 for no good reason.
So that's my candidate for worst common move (thematic blunder?) in chess. Any other candidates?
For worst game ever, I've got to give props to <a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1079203">this one</a> (check out my comments in the chessgames.com page), where white blows an easy win after black makes the aforementioned mistake.
Originally posted by SirLoseALotI did not say that Bc5 is good move. But it is not completely senseless and does not lose right away. There are worse moves, in this position and overall:-)
Hmm,Bc5 is not the worst,no,Qh4+ is worse.But Bc5 must certainly be among the worst moves,me thinks.
Originally posted by TovMauzerI know,but you did say you considered it playable.I disagree,to me it's a senseless move.Not that I consider myself able to punish it,but that has nothing to do with the value of the move itself,that's just 'cause I suck 😉
I did not say that Bc5 is good move. But it is not completely senseless and does not lose right away. There are worse moves, in this position and overall:-)
Sir Lot.
Originally posted by Natural ScienceROFL
Uh, well, this one is ALMOST the worst game ever:
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1221231
White misses mate with Nd6 on move 6, but ends up winning the game anyway.
Well,white did set a nice trap and black walked right in it.Too bad he forgot how to finish it 🙄
Had he lost that game and then saw what he missed in the post-mortem he had probably shot himself!
Sad to say, but I actually walked right into that trap here. I play the Caro-Kann almost all of the time against e4. I love it. And when my opponent played 5. Qe2 I took a quick glance and thought it was a bad move and a waste of time for him. I then played, without any hesitation, ...Nf6... I've played that a thousand times. Without a Queen on e2 of course.
Ouch... 1-0 This is especially bad considering this is supposed to be correspondence chess! Anyway, it's a nice trap.
http://www.redhotpawn.com/core/playchess.php?gameid=486675
Originally posted by wibWalking into a trap like that is bad,of course,but it's the not executing which I find funny.Not that I'm laughing all too hard,I'm sure I've done even more silly things on the chessboard (and outside chess too) 😉
Sad to say, but I actually walked right into that trap here. I play the Caro-Kann almost all of the time against e4. I love it. And when my opponent played 5. Qe2 I took a quick glance and thought it was a bad move and a waste of time for him. I then played, without any hesitation, ...Nf6... I've played that a thousand times. Without a Queen on e2 of cour ...[text shortened]... ess! Anyway, it's a nice trap.
http://www.redhotpawn.com/core/playchess.php?gameid=486675
After 4) d4 perhaps g5 followed by g4, Qh4+ would make for an interesting game although you would be a bishop down. Anyway Bb6 or Be7 (which i think look better than Bd6) should be playable although it is a waste of tempo.
Here is a quick win I had on another site with 3)Be7 not losing the tempo of course!
1) e4 e5 2)f4 exf 3)Nf3 Be7 4)Bc4 Bh4+ 5)g6 fxg 6) Bf4 g2+ white resigns
Originally posted by Jay Peatea1e4,e5 2.f4,exf4 3.Nf3,Bc5 4.d4,g5 5.dxc5,g4 6.Qd4! and you won't get the Qh4+ in which just leaves you a B down.Unless you are willing to give up your rook too,in which case I'll be more than willing to take the white side 😀
After 4) d4 perhaps g5 followed by g4, Qh4+ would make for an interesting game although you would be a bishop down. Anyway Bb6 or Be7 (which i think look better than Bd6) should be playable although it is a waste of tempo.
Here is a quick win I had on another site with 3)Be7 not losing the tempo of course!
1) e4 e5 2)f4 exf 3)Nf3 Be7 4)Bc4 Bh4+ 5)g6 fxg 6) Bf4 g2+ white resigns
Having said all that,I never meant that Bc5 isn't playable,if you retreat it to b6 or e7 it's far from over.But in my opinion it doesn't make any sense,I would never make such a move myself.Unless I'm really drunk,then maybe.....
Sir Lot.
Originally posted by SirLoseALotFunny how one can stare at something for ages and miss the obvious! Thanks 😉
1e4,e5 2.f4,exf4 3.Nf3,Bc5 4.d4,g5 5.dxc5,g4 6.Qd4! and you won't get the Qh4+ in which just leaves you a B down.Unless you are willing to give up your rook too,in which case I'll be more than willing to take the white side 😀
Having said all that,I never meant that Bc5 isn't playable,if you retreat it to b6 or e7 it's far from over.But in my opinio ...[text shortened]... sense,I would never make such a move myself.Unless I'm really drunk,then maybe.....
Sir Lot.
Originally posted by wibThat trap will always be near and dear to my heart, because it's my shortest ever tournament loss. I do have a question that maybe one of the beter players on this site can answer. Does 5.Qe2 serve any purpose at all, other than setting up the cheap 5...Ngf6? 6.Nd6# trap? It seems to be just a waste of a move as long as Black just plays e6 or even Ndf6. White has already moved the queen once, and he'll have to move it again to develop the light-squared bishop, unless he wants to develop it on the long diagonal (which is pretty pointless against the Caro Kann). And indeed, on chesslab.com I only see 32 games with this line, 10 White wins, 10 Black wins, and 12 draws. The 10 White wins is suprising. With a move as suspect as 5.Qe2 I'd think this number would be even lower.
Sad to say, but I actually walked right into that trap here. I play the Caro-Kann almost all of the time against e4. I love it. And when my opponent played 5. Qe2 I took a quick glance and thought it was a bad move and a waste of time for him. I then played, without any hesitation, ...Nf6... I've played that a thousand times. Without a Queen on e2 of cour ...[text shortened]... ess! Anyway, it's a nice trap.
http://www.redhotpawn.com/core/playchess.php?gameid=486675