1 
 
Black to play 

Von Popiel - Marco - Monte Carlo 1902.    

This is the earliest, the most famous, and still the clearest example of this blunder. :B resigned because he saw he was going to lose the BS2 on D04.   He could have won on the spot with 36B-BS2-D04/G01.  

 
 
2 
 
Black to play 

Krejcik – Schwarz - Vienna 1905, city championship.    

Can you see the fork below of A-KT forking B-KI and B-QU.    01B-KI-C04/D05,

02A-KT-C06/E07+CH   …….B-QU is forked.  

:B resigned, but if he played…….  

02B-KI-D05/E04,

03A-KT-E07*C08-B-QU1, 03B-PA-F04/F03+CH

04A-KI-E02/F02 …….otherwise a counterfork.   

04B-BS2-G05/H04+CH, 05A-KI-F02/G01,

05B-PA-F03/F02+CH 

06A-KI-G01/H02, 06B-PA-F02/F01#QU2  …….a new B-QU2! 

He would have won; his KI will escape the +CHs and he will ++CM :A soon.  

3 
 
White to play 
 

Torre – NN - New York 1924, simul.   

The Mexican grandmaster did not see what he could do against Rc1+ and promotion, and resigned.   With 1.Rd6! he could have saved the day, and even have won: e.g. 1...Rxd6 2.g8Q+ Kd7 (Rd8 3.Qxd8+ and 4.f7) 3.Qf7+ Kc6 4.Qe8+ Kb6 5.Qe3 Kc6 6.Qxc5+ 

4 
 
Black to play 
 

Ahues – NN - Berlin 1920. 

In this ‘free’ game, White had just sacrificed his QU on F06 and Black resigned - what can he do against mate?   1...Qe1+ 2.Kh2 Qxc3 3.Qxc3 isn’t much fun.   But with 1...Qg4 (sadistically, he could first play Qd1+), he could have remained a RO to the good. 

5 
 
Black to play 
 

Meyrinck – Eilinger - 1936. 

Black played the nice combination 1...Ne3+ 2.fxe3 Rb2 and White resigned because the promotion cannot be stopped.   That was true, but he missed an equally nice countertrick: 3.Rf2 c2 4.Ba3 c1Q 5.Rxb2 and the back rank mate costs Black his new QU2.  

 
 
6 
 
White to play 

NN – Sonnenschein - Berlin 1937.   

White resigned because he was losing his QU, but he could have mated in a few moves: 1.Bxf7+ Kxf7 2.Rf1+ Kg8 3.Rf8+ Rxf8 4.Qg7 mate. 

 
 
7 
 
White to play 

NN – Grammatikoff - London 1938. 

Here, White resigned in view of 1.Rxd2 Rxd2 2.Qg4 h5 when he would end up a RO down.   He overlooked 2.Bxg6 hxg6 3.Qg4, when there will be no H05.  
 
 

 
 
8 
 
Black to play 

Goldstein – Turi - Budapest 1942. 

In this strange case, Black is the exchange and a PA up, and after 1...Qe6, he must eventually win.  However, he saw something even better: 1...Qxf2+ - and resigned immediately after playing it.  One wonders what he could have thought, both in playing that move and in resigning.   The move was very good: either he takes the white QU with check and after that the Rb8, or there follows 2.Kh3 Rh6+ 3.Qxh6 gxh6 4.Rxe8+ Kg7 and Black wins.   Did he overlook the flight square on G07 in that last variation?  

 
 
9 
 
White to play 

Keller – Schlemmer - Women’s Ch. ‘Greater Germany’, Vienna 1943.    

This was the final position of a decisive last round game; by winning it White would have tied for the championship.  According to the story, Keller said: “It’s over”.    “I prefer to play on a little”, Schlemmer said.   “No, I mean I’m resigning”.    White wins with 1.c6 (threat Kb8) Bd5 2.Kb6 Kd8 (if Bc4 then 3.c7) 3.Kxb5 Kc7 4.Kc5 Bxc6 (otherwise 5.b5) 5.g6 and wins.  

10 
 
White to play 

Kofman – Sacchetti - Bucarest 1948. 

White, a renowned problem composer who later emigrated to the Soviet Union resigned here, because he did not see what he could do against the mate threat Qxh3.   He could have won a piece and the game by 1.Re8+ Kd7 2.Re3 Qg7 (or Qf4 or Qh4) 3.Rxd4+ (Qxd4 4.Rd3 Qxd3 5.Ne5+).  

 
 
11 
 
Black to play 

Romi – Staldi - Italy, Championship 1954.   

Black was so shocked by the QU sacrifice on h7 that he resigned immediately.   But after 1...Kxh7 2.f8Q+ Kg6 3.Rg7+ (3.Qxc8 Rf1+ and mate) there follows Kh6 (a difficult move to see ahead, but he could have let the situation arise) and Black remains a RO up. 

 
 
12 
 
Black to play 

Wolk – Oswald - 1954.   

White had just played Re5-f5 and Black resigned because of 1...Qh4 2.g3 Qh3 3.Qxg7+ and Qxd4+ However, 1...Re4 would have turned the tables: because 2.Rxe4 Qa1+ (note the double clearance of the diagonal) is mate, the mating threat Rxe1 means Black can simply take the RO on F05 next move, and will remain a RO up.

 
 
13 
 
Black to play 

Negyesi – Honfi - Budapest 1955. 

A case of mutual blindness, based on the overburdening of the Nc3.   It has to guard against Rd1+ and Qxa2+.   But 19...Rd1+ 20.Nxd1 Qxa2+ 21.Kc1 and Black has nothing.   Therefore: 19...Qxa2+ The other way round!   White resigned in view of 20.Nxa2 Rd1 mate.   Both overlooked the fact that the deflected KT has a new defense: 21.Nc1.

 
 
14 
 
Black to play 

Rudenko – Rootare - USSR 1956. 

In her winning position (but not 29...Rxd5 30.exd5 b2 31.d6), Black saw an immediate decision, and played 29...b2 White, the Women’s World Champion 1950-1953, resigned because of 30.Bxa2 Rc1 and queens. Only later did both notice that after 31.Rf1, there is no queening, and Black would have had to resign.  

15 
 
White to play 

Sanguineti - Najdorf - Mar del Plata 1956. 

White could have won simply with 58.Qg8+ Ke7 (Bf7 59.Qd8 and mate next move) 59.Qxg6 and now both Rxd4 and Rxg4 fail to 60.Qg7+ Ke8 61.Kd6 and mate next move.  But he saw something even quicker: 58.Kd8 and indeed, Black resigned, not seeing anything against Qe7 mate—or that Rxg4 would give him a winning position.   The logic is that with his last move, White didn’t only threaten Qe7 mate, but also interfered with his QUs access to C08, which he needed against Rxg4. Black also hadn’t noticed this.

 
 
16 
 
White to play 

Mathot – Baumgartner - cr France 1958. 

White resigned in view of the ROs power on the second rank.   1.Rc8 however, would have been a forced win. The threat is 2.Qxh6+ and Rh8 mate, and 1...h5 doesn’t help because of 2.Qg5 and the threat is renewed.   Or 1...g5 2.fxg5 Qg6 3.Nxe6 and there is nothing against 4.Nf8+, winning the QU.  An interesting try is 1...Qg8!? because after 2.Rxg8 Kxg8 the black ROs would still be killing.   But after 2.Nf5 or even better 2.Nxe6 (Qxc8 3.Ng5+ Kg8 4.Qxh6) Black is still lost. 

 
 
17 
 
Black to play 

Ortega – Etcheverry - Havana, Pan American championship 1963. 

Black, who had been better all along, decided the game here with the nice double decoy 38...Nd2+ White resigned, because on 39.Nxd2, there follows Qg1 mate, and on 39.Bxd2, there follows Qf2 mate. 
Only, in the last variation, Qf2 is an impossible move. 
 
 

 
 
18 
 
Black to play 

Darga – Lengyel - Amsterdam izt 1964. 

Black played 41...R6xe2+, and White resigned.   Both players overlooked that after 42.Rxe2 Bxh4+, 43.Kg2 is not forced; 43.Ke3 is possible.   Perhaps it was logical to miss that, E03 being so very inaccessible to the white KI before (Ke3-f2 had been White’s last move.) 
 
 

 
 
19 
 
Black to play 

Langeweg – Krabbé - Zierikzee 1967, championship Netherlands. 

Seeing nothing against Qxf7, Black resigned.   Later, Kurt Richter showed in the Deutsche Schachzeitung that he could have drawn with 32...Rc2 33.Rf1 Rc1 etc.   But over 30 years later, in his book ‘Der letzte Fehler’, Klaus Trautmann showed Black could even have even won: 32...Rc2 33.Rf1 and now Qd2! and 34.Rg2 Qxg2+ 35.Qxg2 Rxg2+ 36.Kxg2 Bxa4 and wins, or 34.Rh3 Bxa4 35.Kh1 Be8 36.Rg1 Re7 37.Qf6 Qg2+ 38.Rxg2 Rc1+ 39.Rg1 Rxg1+ 40.Kxg1 gxf6 ‘White will hardly find a way out’.

 
 
20 
 
White to play 

W. Schmidt – Kwasniewski - Lublin 1969, ch Poland.   

White played 41.Bxd4, whereupon Black, instead of remembering that important maxim ‘patzer sees an adjournment, patzer gives an adjournment,’ resigned. With 41...Qh3+ 42.Kg1 Rf1+ 43.Qxf1 Bxd4+ 44.Rf2 Qxg3+ 45.Bg2 Bb7 46.Kh1 Qxh4+ 47.Kg1 Qg3 48.Kh1 Bxg2+ 49.Qxg2 Qxf2 he had an entirely forced win. 
 
 

 
 
21 
 
Black to play 

Havasi – Reko - Budapest 1976. 

Black resigned, missing a deep, but entirely forced win with a well-known breakthrough: 1...c4 2.bxc4 (2.dxc4 a4, and now either 3.bxa4 b3 or 3.c5 axb3 as in the main line.   Or 2.Kg3 c3 3.bxc3 a4 4.bxa4 dxc3 etc.) a4 3.c5 a3 4.bxa3 bxa3 5.c6 a2 6.c7 a1Q 7.c8Q Qf1+ 8.Kg3 Qf4+ 9.Kh3 Qf3+ 10.Kh2 Qf2+ 11.Kh3 Qh4+ 12.Kg2 Qxg4+ 13.Qxg4+ Kxg4 and wins.  

 
 
22 
 
Black to play 

Zinn – Syre - Dresden 1977. 

Mutual blindness again.   Black, a RO up but faced with a nasty mating threat, could have won immediately with 1...Qd1+ when White cannot stay off the white squares for long, allowing Black a winning check with his Bc8.   But play continued: 1...Kf7? 2.Be8+? (he should have taken the repetition with Qh7+ and Qh8+ now) Ke7 3.Bc6 and to crown it all, Black resigned.   He still had that win with Qd1+ 

 
 
23 
 
White to play 

Kotov – Lambert - London 1978. 

The game was adjourned in the position of the diagram.    Lambert offered a draw, which was stupid enough, but when Kotov told him his sealed move was 42.Re6+ and the intended continuation 42...Kd7 43.Rxe8 Kxe8 44.Re6+ followed by Rxe4 and Rxg4, he even resigned.   Kotov’s great authority may have helped him to miss that with 43...g3, instead of recapturing the RO, he could have won - the adjourned position was a forced win for him.  

 
 
24 
 
Black to play 
 

Dekhanov - K. Yusupov - Uzbekistan Championship 1981. 

Black (not grandmaster Arthur) played 1...Qa6 and White resigned, thinking the possibility of Qf1 mate forced an exchange of QUs.   He missed a very nice forced mate: 2.g4+ fxg4+ 3.Nxg4+ g5 (Qxb5 4.Nf6 mate) 4.Qe8+ Qg6 5.Nf6 mate. 

 
 
25 
 
White to play 

Veprek – Glaz - Bad Kissingen 1982. 

After 33.Rxb7, Black resigned.   She saw no defense; 33...Qxb7 34.exf5 and Bd5+ will decide.   Her main reason was that after 34...Qh7 35.Bd5+ Kh8 36.Qxf8+ would be mate - missing that the QU would have been pinned.  
 

 
 
26 
 
Black to play 
 
 
 
 
 

Rijnsbergen - v.d.Weijden - Haarlem 1983. 

From a club match in Holland.   White had just sacrificed his RO on G07, and Black resigned because of 1...Kxg7 2.Qxf6+ Kg8 3.Nh6+ when he must give the QU.   That wouldn’t have mattered however: 3...Qxh6 4.Qxh6 Ne2+ 5.Kh1 Rxf1 mate.   For the same reason, Black could play 2...Kh7; 3.Ng5+ Qxg5! etc. 
 

27 
 
Black to play 
 

Jonasson – Angantysson - Iceland 1984. 

What Black invented here went around the world as a brilliancy: 26...e2 (Bxf6 would have won easily) 27.fxe7 Bd4+ and White resigned.   Very nice.   Months later, a reader of the Observer chess column, which was one of the many where this combination was published, asked what happens if White plays 28.Ne3.  

 
 
28 
 
Black to play 

Samarin – Antoshin - Berdyansk 1985. 

This too was published as a nice combination by Black - in the Latvian SAHS this time.   With 35...Qxh2+ 36.Kxh2 Rcg8, he threatened an unstoppable mate. White agreed, and resigned.   With two clever moves however, as reader E. Veveris from Riga demonstrated, 37.e6 and 38.Rxc5, he could have remained a RO ahead.  

29 
 
Black to play 

Martorelli – Antunes - Reggio Emilia II 1985/86.   

Black, seeing no defense to White’s threats, resigned. For instance: 39...Rxd7 40.Rxd7 and wins. Or 39...Rf7 40.Rxe7 Rxd1+ 41.Kg2 Rxe7 42.Qf8 mate.   But with 39...Qf7! Black could have stopped White’s attack. After 40.R1d5 (only move) Qg8 42.Rxc7 Rf7 Black should win. 

 
 
30 
 
Black to play 

Sznapik - Van Gils - Liege 1986. 

Blindness of a special kind; forgetting the rules.  Black didn’t see how he could avoid losing a BS without being mated by Qxg6+, and resigned.   The Polish master then pointed out 20...O-O to him (‘and Black is better’), a possibility that had not occurred to Van Gils. ‘Black is better’ was a euphemism, to use a euphemism.   After 21.Bxg7 Kxg7 Black, with his royal extra PA and White’s weaknesses on b4 and e6, is winning.   Van Gils suggested to me that White’s title’s authority might have contributed to his blunder. 

 
 
31 
 
White to play 
 

Matamoros – Klinger - Gausdal Junior World Championship 1986. 

A special case.   In great time trouble White touched his KT, saw he could have won by simply Rxg6, panicked about losing his Rg7 now, and resigned.   With 36.Nh5+ however, he could have reached the same position and still have taken the KT: 36...Ke8 37.Nf6+ Kf8 or Kd8 and now 38.Rxg6 winning a piece and with a winning attack.  

 
 
32 
 
White to play 

Both – Späte - Women’s Championship Germany, Bad Lauterberg 1987. 

A parallel to Keller - Schlemmer (diagram 7). This too, was a decisive last round of a German Women’s Championship and here too, White resigned in a won position.   In view of g7+, 40.Kc1 would have been enough.   Had White won she, and not Späte, would have been champion.  

 
 
33 
 
White to play 

Hartmann – Rädisch - Correspondence, 1987. 

In this position, again from a correspondence game, White resigned as the passed pawns cannot be stopped. He didn’t see that they do not need to be stopped: 1.Re2! c2 2.Kd4 and Re6 mate.   Even 1.Ra1 wins (b2 2.Re1 Kc5 3.Kd3). 

 
 
34 
 
White to play 

Nagler – Wolkenstein - Eberswalde 1995. 

Total blindness.   After 1.Bd4? (Qxa1!) Black resigned, missing the not too difficult 1...Nc2+ and Black remains a RO up.  

 
 
35 
 
White to play 
 

Glek – Lazarev - Porto San Giorgio 1997. 

Black had been pestered with a threat on F08 for a long time, and believed to have finally succumbed to it when White played 43.Rxf8+   He resigned, but after Kxf8 44.Bc5+ Re7 45.Bxe7+ Ke8, 46.Qxe4 would be forced, and Black shouldn’t have too much trouble winning, e.g. 46...dxe4 47.Bg5 a5 48.Bxf4 Kd7 49.Be5 g6 50.Kg1 Ke6 51.Bg7 Kd5 52.Kf2 Kc4 53.Ke3 b4 54.Kxe4 a4 55.Ke3 Kb3 56.Kd2 Ka2 and a PA promotes.