Losing A Won Game

     Failing to win a won games happens in all sports. In football (American), in December 17, 2022 the Indianapolis Colts–Minnesota Vikings game that was played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Vikings overcame a 33–0 halftime deficit to defeat the visiting Colts 39–36 in overtime and complete the largest comeback in National Football League history. 

     In baseball, on April 17, 1976, the Chicago Cubs blew a 13-run lead against the Philadelphia Phillies in Wrigley Field in Chicago. On August 5, 2001, the Cleveland Indians rallied from 14-2 down to beat the Seattle mariners, marking the largest blown lead in the history of the National League. 

     And, probably the worst blown game lead in in Major League Baseball happened on September 28, 2019, when the Houston Astros were leading the Tampa Bay Rays by a score of 6-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Astros were one out away from winning the game when the Rays scored three runs to tie the game. The Astros then went on to lose the game in the 10th inning by a score of 7-6. 

     It happens in chess, too. Most players resign when their position is utterly hopeless, but some have made the worst blunder you can make when they resigned in a won position! That's what happened in the following game played in a tournament in Berdiansk, a port city in south-eastern Ukraine. It starts out boring, but the surprising turn of events are quite amusing!

     Igor Smarin (1956-2014) was an International Correspondence Grandmaster. His opponent, Vladimir Antoshin (1929-1994) earned the GM title in 1964. As a young player hr was a high achiever, but in the 1950s chose to play correspondence chess, culminating in his winning the USSR Correspondence Championship of 1960. He was a noted opening theorist. Antoshin became a tournament organizer and trainer to the USSR Olympiad team, maintained a second career as a technical designer. According to Mark Taimanov he also had strong ties to the KGB. 

 

[Event "Berdiansk"] [Site ""] [Date "1985"] [Round "?"] [White "Igor Samarin"] [Black "Vladimir Antoshin"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D11"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "1985"] {Catalan} 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 c6 3. c4 e6 4. Qc2 Nd7 5. g3 {The Catalan is a sort of mix between the Queen’s Gambit and a Reti and can arise from a number of move orders. White basically plays d4 and c4 and then fianchettoes the B on g2. It avoids several attacking ideas by black and instead focuses on development.} Ngf6 6. Bg2 Ne4 7. O-O Bd6 8. Bf4 {Very unusual, but, oddly, not a bad idea. There is no way for black to get at white's K.} (8. Ne1 f5 9. cxd5 cxd5 10. Nd3 Qb6 11. Be3 O-O 12. Nc3 {Equals. Miles,A (2550)-Arencibia,W (2560) Cienfuegos 1997}) 8... Bxf4 9. gxf4 Nf8 {The main alternatives are 9...O-O and 9....f5} 10. Nbd2 Nxd2 11. Qxd2 {Now there comes a period of slow maneuvering typical of the boring Catalan.} Ng6 12. Rac1 Qf6 13. e3 O-O 14. Kh1 Qe7 15. b4 dxc4 16. Rxc4 f6 17. Qb2 Bd7 18. Rc5 b6 19. Rc2 Rac8 20. Rfc1 Qd6 21. a3 Ne7 22. Nd2 Nf5 23. Be4 Nh4 24. Qb3 Kh8 25. Qd3 f5 26. Bg2 Nxg2 (26... e5 {is an interesting alternative is the P sacrifice...} 27. fxe5 Qh6 28. f3 Nxg2 29. Kxg2 g5 { with some play.}) 27. Kxg2 g5 28. fxg5 e5 29. Qc3 f4 30. dxe5 Qe6 31. f3 c5 { Black has managed to work up sufficient counterplay and now white should play 32.bxc5 instead of closing the center and giving black free reign.} 32. e4 { [%mdl 8192]} (32. bxc5 {would have resulted in approximate equality.} Rxc5 33. Qd4 fxe3 34. Qxe3 Qxe5) 32... Rg8 33. Kh1 Rxg5 34. Qc4 {This should have lost almost immediately.} (34. Nc4 cxb4 35. Qxb4 Qh6 36. Nd6 Rxc2 37. Rxc2 {and white is only slightly better.}) 34... Qh3 (34... Qg6 {was also quite good...} 35. Qf1 Rg8 {and black is winning. Just one line...} 36. e6 Bxe6 37. Nc4 Qh5 38. Nd6 Rg1+ 39. Qxg1 Rxg1+ 40. Rxg1 Qxf3+ 41. Rcg2 c4) 35. Qf1 {Black's next move is a gross blunder in a winning position. 35...Qh5 would have kept the win in hand.} (35. Qf1 {Kxh2} Qxh2+ {[%mdl 8192]} 36. Kxh2 $18 Rcg8 {[%mdl 32768] Weighted Error Value: White=0.53/Black=0.19 (very precise) . Loss on time!?} (36... Rcg8 37. e6 Rh5+ 38. Qh3 Rxh3+ 39. Kxh3 Bxe6+ 40. Kh2)) 35... Qxh2+ (35... Qh5 36. Qf2 Bh3 37. Rg1 Rxg1+ 38. Kxg1 Rg8+ 39. Kh1 Qxe5 40. Nb3 ( 40. bxc5 Qa1+ {mates}) 40... Bg2+ {wins}) 36. Kxh2 Rcg8 {Believing he could not prevent ...Rh5+, white resigned, but it was a gross blunder...he has a win. OTB it was, clearly, difficult to find the only winning line.} (36... Rcg8 37. e6 Bxe6 {Here there is only one winning move.} (37... Rh5+ 38. Qh3 Rxh3+ 39. Kxh3 Bxe6+ 40. Kh2 {with a clear win!}) 38. Rxc5 bxc5 39. Rxc5 Rg3 40. Rh5 { and white is winning.}) 0-1