Blunders; What Was I Thinking?

We’ve all been sitting at the chessboard in real life or virtually and wondered “what on Earth was I thinking?” It’s an unfortunate feeling that many chess players know better than they’d like. Few mistakes can compare to the ultimate blunder that we are going to see in this game. The stakes were as high as possible. It is from the World Championship match of 1892 between reigning champion, Willhelm Steinitz and the challenger Mikhail Chigorin. In game 23 of the match the score was almost even in a race to 10 wins. Steinitz was ahead by the narrowest margin 9-8. With a win Chigorin would close the gap and the next person to win a game would be World Champion. In a completely winning position Chigorin makes one of the most unthinkable moves in chess history. It almost hurts to look at but go ahead you will enjoy it.