Perelshteyn on the “Anatomy of a Blunder”
Grandmaster Eugene Perelshteyn’s latest written column is titled “Anatomy of a Blunder”, with the subheader “Why GMs miss simple tactics (and how to fix your tunnel vision)”. He begins with an example of an old game of his again Ray Robson, where he played an innocuous-looking move in what felt like a good position, that turned out to be a massive blunder.
13. …Qa5-h5?? is hit with the surprising 14. Nd5!, winning material with attacks on f6 and e7. The full details are outlined in the article, linked below.
He pinned it on two points. (1) “Don’t jump ahead” : in pursuing a goal, like pushing into an endgame, you still have to be on alert along the way, and be aware of key moves like captures, checks, and other threats. (2) “Calm Down” : To quote Perelshteyn directly, “excitement blinds you to danger.” A calm mind helps with your awareness and board vision.
Several other games are drawn on in the piece, including blunders by Karpov, Kramnik, and Gelfand. The conclusion is what he calls the “GM Recipe” for curing tunnel vision, which includes classics like bewareing backwards moves, and noticing loose pieces, while re-emphasizing the value of taking a chess game one step at a time, and being vigilant from start to finish.
Read the full post on Perelshteyn’s substack.
