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What Is Your Worst Blunder?

ChessOver the boardTournamentStrategy
The chess world was surprised to see a Grandmaster blundering mate in one in an advantageous position. This is a very rare occasion. GMs, as all humans, can and do make incredibly big blunders, but it is not often you see a mate-in-one blunder in classical chess.

Screenshot 2026-03-26 120141.pngGM Aagaard commented, "This is perhaps the worst blunder I have seen a GM do that is not me..." under my funny post. I asked him, what is his worst blunder? Then I thought, what was MY worst blunder?
I don't remember blundering mate in a classical game, but immediately, a few horrifying moments came to my mind. Perhaps I can do a top 10 horrendous blunders article as well? Anyhow, today I would like to show you one of the most terrible blunders in my career. One that has a somewhat happy ending.

This game was happening in the Millionaire tournament, right after beating the highest-rated player I had ever beaten, Wesley So (2760). I had 4/4 and playing my roommate, Le Quang Liem (2697). At that tournament, you needed to make the top 4 after 7 rounds or something. Basically, if I had made 3 draws I would have qualified. WhatsApp Image 2026-03-26 at 11.40.11.jpegIn this game, Liem was pressuring me the whole game, but I defended extremely well, and we reached the following position. At this moment, I had quite a lot of time and decided to play for a win. Please don't ask me why and how... I have no clue.

I did see that the best move is Kf6, and it leads to repetition and a draw. Instead, I was like, let's continue the game. I played Kg8?? and almost instantly realized that Ne6! is game over, which Liem played.
That event had live commentary, and the commentary was hilarious and a real reflection of my feelings. They really wanted me to cry there... Check it out.
That game cost me a lot. I did not make the top 4.

A year passed, and I was playing against Liem again. This time, the importance of the game was not as high. But still, you know, we take every game seriously. This time, I did not let him have any pressure. Equalized somewhat easily. Then we reached this position and were repeating.
WhatsApp Image 2026-03-26 at 11.47.08.jpegAt this point, as if it were deja vu, I was seriously considering playing Kh5 and continuing to fight. Again, don't ask me why and how. But this time I stopped. I said, Vasif, you have no right to play for a win. So I made a draw and left.

After the game, Liem asked me, why didn't I play Kh5? He felt I was itching to play. I was like, I did not see anything. Then he told me about the mate idea I was not seeing. Do you see it?
This was the happy ending. I did not fall into the same trap twice.