Discussing this with Octal over in the Cheating Poll thread. We've got the theory that Kramnik is more blunder prone than the average champion. The point of this thread is to find and post the worst games played by sitting champions. That's awfully subjective, so let's set a few ground rules.

1) It has to be a game that the champion actually lost. Let's not argue about draws that should have been wins or wins that should have been easier wins or draws that they should have lost if the other guy hadn't let them off the hook. Let's stick to defeats here.

2) Only post games from the 14 Classical Champions. Who cares how badly Khalifman might have played?

3) Use your own judgment about what constitutes "a bad game". It can be a really good game marred by one colossal blunder, or it can be a game that was just generally badly played. You nominate games, we'll all look at them.

4) It has to have been played while the champion actually held the title. Not before or after.

5) No Blitz, Rapids, casual, blindfold, simuls, or anything like that.

Here are the nominees we have for Kramnik so far. Chip in any other nominees for him, and especially ones for other champions (except of course Fischer, who has to be exempted, since he played no games as champion), and feel free to agree or disagree with any of the nominees and explain your reasons why you think one should or shouldn't count. Did the champion lose this game because he played so badly or because his opponent played so well? Let's try to get at least one game nominated for each champion.


[Event "Man Vs. Machine Match"]
[Site "Bonn"]
[Date "2006.11.27"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Deep Fritz"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 b5 4.a4 c6 5.Nc3 b4 6.Na2 Nf6 7.e5 Nd5 8.Bxc4 e6 9.Nf3 a5 10.Bg5 Qb6 11.Nc1 Ba6 12.Qe2 h6 13.Be3 Bxc4 14.Qxc4 Nd7 15.Nb3 Be7 16.Rc1 0-0 17.0-0 Rfc8 18.Qe2 c5 19.Nfd2 Qc6 20.Qh5 Qxa4 21.Nxc5 Nxc5 22.dxc5 Nxe3 23.fxe3 Bxc5 24.Qxf7+ Kh8 25.Qf3 Rf8 26.Qe4 Qd7 27.Nb3 Bb6 28.Rfd1 Qf7 29.Rf1 Qa7 30.Rxf8+ Rxf8 31.Nd4 a4 32.Nxe6 Bxe3+ 33.Kh1 Bxc1 34.Nxf8 Qe3?? 35.Qh7# 1-0


[Event "Sofia MTel Masters"]
[Site "Sofia"]
[Date "2005.05.12"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Eco "C42"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 Be7 8.c4 Nb4 9.Be2 0-0 10.Nc3 Bf5 11.a3 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Nc6 13.Re1 Re8 14.cxd5 Qxd5 15.Bf4 Rac8 16.Qc1 Na5 17.c4 Qe4 18.Bd1 Qd3 19.Re3 Qxc4 20.Re5 1-0


[Event "Sofia MTel Masters"]
[Site "Sofia"]
[Date "2005.05.12"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Eco "B80"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.f3 b5 8.Qd2 b4 9.Nce2 e5 10.Nb3 Nc6 11.c4 Be7 12.Ng3 g6 13.Bd3 Nd7 14.Rd1 0-0 15.Qf2 a5 16.0-0 a4 17.Nc1 Nc5 18.Bb1 Qc7 19.Nce2 Be6 20.Bh6 Rfe8 21.Nf5 Bxc4 22.Ne3 Ba6 23.f4 exf4 24.Bxf4 Ne5 25.Nd5 Qa7 26.Bxe5 dxe5 27.Kh1 Bg5 28.Nxb4 Bc4 29.Rfe1 Qb7 30.Nd5 Qxb2 31.Nc7 Ne6 32.Nxe8 Rxe8 33.Rf1 Rf8 34.Nc1 Qxb1 0-1


[Event "Corus"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2005.01.15"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Eco "B80"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.f3 b5 8.g4 h6 9.Qd2 b4 10.Na4 Nbd7 11.0-0-0 Ne5 12.Qxb4 Bd7 13.Nb3 Rb8 14.Qa3 Nxf3 15.h3 Nxe4 16.Be2 Ne5 17.Rhe1 Qc7 18.Bd4 Nc6 19.Bc3 d5 20.Nbc5 Qa7 0-1


[Event "World Championship"]
[Site "Brissago"]
[Date "2004.09.25"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Leko, Peter"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Eco "C89"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d4 Bd6 13.Re1 Qh4 14.g3 Qh3 15.Re4 g5 16.Qf1 Qh5 17.Nd2 Bf5 18.f3 Nf6 19.Re1 Rae8 20.Rxe8 Rxe8 21.a4 Qg6 22.axb5 Bd3 23.Qf2 Re2 24.Qxe2 Bxe2 25.bxa6 Qd3 26.Kf2 Bxf3 27.Nxf3 Ne4+ 28.Ke1 Nxc3 29.bxc3 Qxc3+ 30.Kf2 Qxa1 31.a7 h6 32.h4 g4 0-1


Octal nominated this last one, but I'm not sure if it belongs, or if it's just a really well played game by Leko. Of course I haven't looked at it again yet.

Here are a couple that we discussed in the Fritz-Kramnik, Game 2 thread:

[Event "Nottingham"]
[Site "Nottingham"]
[Date "1936.08.10"]
[Round "0"]
[White "Lasker, Emanuel"]
[Black "Euwe, Max"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Eco "D12"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Bd3 e6 6.cxd5 Bxd3 7.Qxd3 exd5 8.Nc3 Bd6 9.0-0 0-0 10.Re1 Nbd7 11.e4 dxe4 12.Nxe4 Nxe4 13.Qxe4 Re8 14.Qxe8+ Qxe8 15.Rxe8+ Rxe8 16.Kf1 Nb6 17.Bd2 f6 18.Re1 Rxe1+ 19.Nxe1 Kf7 20.Ke2 Ke6 21.h3 Nc4 22.Bc1 Bc7 23.Kd3 Ba5 24.b4 Bxb4 25.Nc2 Bd2 26.Bxd2 Nb2+ 27.Ke2 Kd5 28.Bc1 Nc4 29.Kd3 Nb6 30.Ne3+ Ke6 31.Nc4 Nc8 32.Na5 Nd6 33.Bf4 1-0


[Event "Moscow-ch Trades Union"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1964.12.02"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Liberzon, Vladimir"]
[Black "Petrosian, Tigran"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Eco "C18"]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Ne7 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.Qg4 Ng6 8.h4 h5 9.Qg3 Qa5 10.Bd2 Nc6 11.Bd3 Nce7 12.dxc5 Qxc5 13.Nf3 Bd7 14.0-0 Bb5 15.Be3 1-0


And of course some that everyone remembers:

[Event "World Championship 28th"]
[Site "Reykjavik"]
[Date "1972.07.11"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Fischer, Bobby"]
[Black "Spassky, Boris"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Eco "A39"]

1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.0-0 0-0 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 d6 10.Bg5 Be6 11.Qf4 Qa5 12.Rac1 Rab8 13.b3 Rfc8 14.Qd2 a6 15.Be3 b5 16.Ba7 bxc4 17.Bxb8 Rxb8 18.bxc4 Bxc4 19.Rfd1 Nd7 20.Nd5 Qxd2 21.Nxe7+ Kf8 22.Rxd2 Kxe7 23.Rxc4 Rb1+ 24.Bf1 Nc5 25.Kg2 a5 26.e4 Ba1 27.f4 f6 28.Re2 Ke6 29.Rec2 Bb2 30.Be2 h5 31.Rd2 Ba3 32.f5+ gxf5 33.exf5+ Ke5 34.Rcd4 Kxf5 35.Rd5+ Ke6 36.Rxd6+ Ke7 37.Rc6 1-0


[Event "World Championship 28th"]
[Site "Reykjavik"]
[Date "1972.07.11"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Spassky, Boris"]
[Black "Fischer, Bobby"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Eco "E41"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 c5 5.e3 Nc6 6.Bd3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 d6 8.e4 e5 9.d5 Ne7 10.Nh4 h6 11.f4 Ng6 12.Nxg6 fxg6 13.fxe5 dxe5 14.Be3 b6 15.0-0 0-0 16.a4 a5 17.Rb1 Bd7 18.Rb2 Rb8 19.Rbf2 Qe7 20.Bc2 g5 21.Bd2 Qe8 22.Be1 Qg6 23.Qd3 Nh5 24.Rxf8+ Rxf8 25.Rxf8+ Kxf8 26.Bd1 Nf4 27.Qc2 Bxa4 0-1


[Event "World Championship 28th"]
[Site "Reykjavik"]
[Date "1972.07.11"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Spassky, Boris"]
[Black "Fischer, Bobby"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Eco "B04"]

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 g6 5.Bc4 Nb6 6.Bb3 Bg7 7.Nbd2 0-0 8.h3 a5 9.a4 dxe5 10.dxe5 Na6 11.0-0 Nc5 12.Qe2 Qe8 13.Ne4 Nbxa4 14.Bxa4 Nxa4 15.Re1 Nb6 16.Bd2 a4 17.Bg5 h6 18.Bh4 Bf5 19.g4 Be6 20.Nd4 Bc4 21.Qd2 Qd7 22.Rad1 Rfe8 23.f4 Bd5 24.Nc5 Qc8 25.Qc3 e6 26.Kh2 Nd7 27.Nd3 c5 28.Nb5 Qc6 29.Nd6 Qxd6 30.exd6 Bxc3 31.bxc3 f6 32.g5 hxg5 33.fxg5 f5 34.Bg3 Kf7 35.Ne5+ Nxe5 36.Bxe5 b5 37.Rf1 Rh8 38.Bf6 a3 39.Rf4 a2 40.c4 Bxc4 41.d7 Bd5 42.Kg3 Ra3+ 43.c3 Rha8 44.Rh4 e5 45.Rh7+ Ke6 46.Re7+ Kd6 47.Rxe5 Rxc3+ 48.Kf2 Rc2+ 49.Ke1 Kxd7 50.Rexd5+ Kc6 51.Rd6+ Kb7 52.Rd7+ Ka6 53.R7d2 Rxd2 54.Kxd2 b4 55.h4 Kb5 56.h5 c4 57.Ra1 gxh5 58.g6 h4 59.g7 h3 60.Be7 Rg8 61.Bf8 h2 62.Kc2 Kc6 63.Rd1 b3+ 64.Kc3 h1=Q 65.Rxh1 Kd5 66.Kb2 f4 67.Rd1+ Ke4 68.Rc1 Kd3 69.Rd1+ Ke2 70.Rc1 f3 71.Bc5 Rxg7 72.Rxc4 Rd7 73.Re4+ Kf1 74.Bd4 f2 0-1


[Event "World Championship 28th"]
[Site "Reykjavik"]
[Date "1972.07.11"]
[Round "21"]
[White "Spassky, Boris"]
[Black "Fischer, Bobby"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Eco "B46"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bd3 d5 8.exd5 exd5 9.0-0 Bd6 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Bd4 0-0 12.Qf3 Be6 13.Rfe1 c5 14.Bxf6 Qxf6 15.Qxf6 gxf6 16.Rad1 Rfd8 17.Be2 Rab8 18.b3 c4 19.Nxd5 Bxd5 20.Rxd5 Bxh2+ 21.Kxh2 Rxd5 22.Bxc4 Rd2 23.Bxa6 Rxc2 24.Re2 Rxe2 25.Bxe2 Rd8 26.a4 Rd2 27.Bc4 Ra2 28.Kg3 Kf8 29.Kf3 Ke7 30.g4 f5 31.gxf5 f6 32.Bg8 h6 33.Kg3 Kd6 34.Kf3 Ra1 35.Kg2 Ke5 36.Be6 Kf4 37.Bd7 Rb1 38.Be6 Rb2 39.Bc4 Ra2 40.Be6 h5 41.Bd7 0-1

For this game, you have to consider things that don't show up in the game score. Kramnik was playing at blitz speed, and Leko was using a lot of time. Kramnik continued to play super-fast, thinking that Leko was in time trouble, and neglected a critical continuation, recalling only that a quick glance at the computer during his preparation had shown White was winning. In fact, Black was winning, and the computer "analysis" hadn't been deep enough. I think VK used something like 10 minutes for the whole game (maybe a little more if there was a single big think someplace), and Leko used practically all his time. The whole story has been covered by Chessbase and other Web sources, but I'm too lazy to search.

So it superficially looks like a great game by Leko, but was also quite an unseemly (by WC standards) effort from Kramnik: laziness, dubious preparation and misfired gamesmanship.

That said, I'm stepping aside due to the general negativity of the thread topic.

Yeah, that's a good reason. Really bad preparation, bad time usage, or things like that that don't show up on the scoresheet can be a reason why a game should be considered especially bad.

Here's a forgotten Spassky lemon:


[Event "Belgrade URS-World"]
[Site "Belgrade"]
[Date "1970.03.29"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Spassky, Boris"]
[Black "Larsen, Bent"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Eco "E12"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Nc3 Bb7 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 0-0 7.Bd3 c5 8.0-0 Nc6 9.d5 Nb4 10.d6 Bxd6 11.Bxh7+ Kxh7 12.Qxd6 Bxf3 13.gxf3 Ne8 14.Qe7 Qxe7 15.Bxe7 Rg8 16.Rfd1 Nc6 17.Rxd7 Ne5 18.Rb7 Nxc4 19.Ne4 Na5 20.Rd7 Nc6 21.f4 Rc8 22.Rc1 a5 23.a3 Kg6 24.Kg2 Rh8 25.Kf3 Rxh2 26.Ng5 e5 27.Rg1 exf4 28.Bd6 Nxd6 29.Rxd6+ f6 30.Ne6+ Kf5 31.Nxf4 Ne5+ 32.Ke2 Re8 33.Rxb6 Nc4 34.Rb3 g5 35.Nd5 Re5 36.Rd1 g4 37.Kf1 Rh1+ 38.Ke2 Rxd1 0-1

Everybody's seen the miniature game where Spassky rolled up Larsen on the black side of a Larsen's Opening. It's a heavily anthologized game. This is the next game they played right after that. It's pretty even until the howler 37. Kf1??, which allows Larsen to trade off rooks and take the now-unprotected Knight.

After this loss, the Soviet team benched Spassky for Round 4 and put Stein on Board 1, so that Larsen wouldn't have a chance to win a mini-match against the World Champion.

For Kasparov's worst games I nominate the nineteen-move Caro-Kann against Deep Blue in 1997 and game ten of the 2000 match against Kramnik. The first was a terrible game in many, many ways; the second was Kasparov's shortest loss against a human while he was champion.

I think Karpov lost to Korchnoi in 19 moves in 1974.

Edit: Uh, never mind. Karpov became champion in 1975.

I think Karpov lost a piece right out of the opening against Christiansen . I don't know whether it was after he became champion or not.

Sorry, I don't know how to post game diagrams.

Petro, I think you mean Gelatinous Cube, not octal. I mean I think. Unless i've been posting unconsciously again. That always gets me. I hope I didn't say anything dumb (...er than usual)

:p

Yeah, that was a stinker.


That was in a Candidates Final. Before he was champion. That one was more a failure of home prep than anything else. Korchnoi found an improvement in a line they'd played earlier. I don't see it so much a terrible Karpov game as a really good Korchnoi game.

Even though it doesn't qualify, let me post it here, with a few notes, just to see if people would count it if it were played while he was champion. Despite the brevity, I personally wouldn't really consider it to be in the same category as the ones we're discussing here. But see what you think...


[Event "Candidates final"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1974.09.16"]
[Round "21"]
[White "Korchnoi, Viktor"]
[Black "Karpov, Anatoly"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Eco "E17"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 b6 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.c4 Be7 6.Nc3 0-0 7.Qc2 c5 8.d5 exd5
9.Ng5 Nc6

{They'd played this same line in Game 5. That time, Karpov had played 9...g6, with an eventual draw.}

10.Nxd5 g6 11.Qd2

{There's a story in Karpov on Karpov about this game. Supposedly Petrosian had warned them about the hidden threats from this move. I don't have the book handy to quote from, but Karpov says something about him warning that something felt wrong in Black's defensive plan, but he couldn't put his finger on it, and Karpov makes some comment about Petrosian always being able to smell danger a mile away, but the whole thing got lost in the shuffle, and they hadn't had time to break the whole thing down.}

Nxd5

{White gets a clear edge after this. I've got it up in Fritz now, and it says only 0.25, but keep watching. Black really should have played something like 11...Rb8 12. Nxe7+ Qxe7 13. O-O Nd4, with advantages for both sides.}

12.Bxd5 Rb8


{At this point, Karpov had to play 12...Bxg5 13. Qxg5 Qxg5 14. Bxg5 even though White would still have a strong Bishop pair and Black has the isolated QP.}

13.Nxh7!!

{The Knight can't be taken. 13...Kxh7 14. Qh6+ Kg8 15. Qxg6+ Kh8 16. Qh6+ Kg8 17. Be4 f5 18. Bd5+ Rf7 19. Qg6+, and That's All, Folks. Karpov had been blitzing up to now, since the line had been pre-prepared from Game 5. He slowed down here, but it was already too late.}

Re8 14.Qh6 Ne5 15.Ng5

{If 15... Bf6 16. Bxf7+ and mate in two, so...}

Bxg5 16.Bxg5 Qxg5

{No other way to stop 17. Bf6, but this is equivalent to resignation.}

17.Qxg5 Bxd5 18.0-0

{NOT 18. cxd5, Nf3+!, of course.}

Bxc4 19.f4 1-0

{After 19...Nc6 20. f5, White's attack just keeps on coming.}


Here's the 5th game, for comparison purposes:

[Event "Candidates final"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1974.09.16"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Korchnoi, Viktor"]
[Black "Karpov, Anatoly"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Eco "E17"]

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.d4 0-0 7.Qc2 c5 8.d5 exd5 9.Ng5 g6 10.Qd1 d6 11.cxd5 Na6 12.0-0 Nd7 13.Nf3 Nc7 14.a3 Bf6 15.e4 b5 16.Bf4 Nb6 17.Re1 a5 18.Qc2 Bg7 19.Rad1 b4 20.Nb1 Ba6 21.h4 Re8 22.Bg5 Qd7 23.Kh2 bxa3 24.Nxa3 Qa4 25.e5 Bf8 26.Qxa4 Nxa4 27.exd6 Bxd6 28.Bc1 Rab8 29.Nd2 Be2 30.Ndc4 Bxd1 31.Rxd1 Red8 32.Nxd6 Rxd6 33.Nc4 Rf6 34.Bf4 Rxf4 35.gxf4 Nxb2 36.Rb1 a4 37.d6 Ne6 38.Bd5 a3 39.Nxa3 Nxf4 40.Bf3 Rb4 41.d7 Ne6 42.Nc2 Rb8 43.Ne3 Kf8 44.Nc4 Rb4 45.Bd5 Rxc4 46.Bxe6 Ke7 47.Bxc4 Nxc4 48.Rd1 Kd8 49.Kg3 Ne5 50.Kf4 Nxd7 51.Kg5 Ke7 52.Kh6 Ne5 53.Kxh7 Nf3 54.Rh1 Ke6 55.Kg7 c4 56.Rh3 Ne5 57.Ra3 Kf5 58.Rc3 Ke4 59.Rc1 Kd4 60.f4 Nd3 61.Rf1 Ke4 62.f5 Ne5 63.Kf6 Ng4+ 64.Kg5 Ne3 65.fxg6 fxg6 66.Rc1 Kd3 67.Kxg6 Ng2 1/2-1/2


It's quite representative of the play in this match; rock 'em sock 'em action in every game, but ultimately futile and ending in a draw because both players were so evenly matched,

Still haven't returned my library copy so...

It's stories like this that make you want to play through their games.

You could argue for or against inclusion in this thread though. It was Korchnoi's superb play and homework that won the game (R. Keene and W. Hartson told Korchnoi that Karpov had played a defective variation in the fifth game), but Karpov also blundered by not re-examining this line before he got to the board. Karpov and Furman's own analysis had also led to the fatal position, but they had missed the danger. Maybe just include games that have over the board blunders (but then you might miss some adjourned blunders that way)????

My choices gane 47 KKI, Game 5 or 6 1972