Blunder (chess)

Common card · No. 348563

In chess, a blunder is a critically bad mistake that severely worsens the player's position by allowing a loss of material, checkmate, or anything similar. It is usually caused by some tactical oversight, whether due to time trouble, overconfidence, or carelessness. Although blunders are most common in beginner games, all human players make them, even at the world championship level. Creating opportunities for the opponent to blunder is an important skill in chess. What qualifies as a blunder rather than a normal mistake is somewhat subjective. A weak move from a novice player might be explained by the player's lack of skill, while the same move from a master might be called a blunder. In chess annotation, blunders are typically marked with two question marks ("??") after the move notation. Especially among amateur and novice players, blunders often occur because of a faulty thought process where players do not consider the opponent's forcing moves. In particular, checks, captures, and...

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