Here though, I present only the créme de la créme of implosions from my practice. My main criteria were imagination (I've learnt the hard way that there's no such thing as a position that can't be lost), artistic value (how spectacular is the reality check?) and contextual significance (impact on tournament, match result, etc.) The interested reader is again directed to the Streatham & Brixton Chess Blog, and more specifically the "World Championship Blunders" series which uses a similar mechanism.
It is hardly surprising that a shortage of time is often responsible for the debacle - hence it is regrettable that some of the finest efforts were lost by my having to stop recording. They are alluded to here nonetheless; often I managed to give a passable explanation in prose. As usual, games are arranged chronologically, and it goes without saying that these games aren't for the faint-hearted...
Index created: 7th September 2013. Last updated: 22nd August 2018
Young, D ½–½ Campbell, E (e2e4 Gatwick International, October 2011) (Grade Difference: -36) - This brought to an end a nice little run of form here after a dire start, and I lost feebly in the last round. My opponent tries too hard to confuse me in the opening and I soon manage to reach an ending two pawns up. However black's Rooks are allowed to become far too active and in the end a draw is even a little generous!
Fenwick, H 1-0 Young, D (Crystal Palace vs. Castles, December 2011) (Grade Difference: +40) - White plays a line of the Fantasy Caro-Kann that promises him nothing, and indeed the only thing he gets from the opening is time trouble. But I drift too easily into passivity; the position is still comfortably drawn, but then I miss a basic tactical point and go down quickly.
Young, D ½–½ Bellers, C (99th Richmond Rapidplay, January 2012) (Grade Difference: -31) - A crazy game by any standards - my tournament began inauspiciously when I blundered a piece on move 5, but amazingly I gained a huge attack by sacrificing my other Bishop. Bellers collapses under the pressure and is about to be mated... then I inexplicably offer a draw!
Haridas, G 1-0 Young, D (99th Richmond Rapidplay, January 2012) (Grade Difference: -5) - And another collapse in the final round of the same tournament. Distinctly unimpressed with white's insipid handling of the Benko Gambit, I win a pawn tactically, fully consolidate, and then lose a pure Rook ending, a pawn up with no counterplay, thanks to time trouble.
Smith, M 1-0 Young, D (Castles vs. Streatham, February 2012) (Grade Difference: +31) - Ranks among the great tragedies; with some powerful play in this sideline of the Benko Gambit (again!), I win his Queen and have it all but in my best-games collection when white takes his one and only chance, turning the tables with some incredible tactics. With far fewer fireworks, I at least returned the favour in round 2...
Lea, S 1-0 Young, D (South Norwood vs. Castles, March 2012) (Grade Difference: +17) - As usual in these scenarios, the higher-graded player overextends his forces trying to beat me, despite some imprecision I reach a clear, much better endgame, and lose it for no apparent reason.
Young, D 0-1 Lea, S (South Norwood vs. Castles, March 2012) (Grade Difference: -17) - A seemingly impossible double-whammy from the same evening! After an improvised opening (my first divergence from 1. e4 in almost 18 months) fizzles out, I again demonstrate my positional skill and endgame play to be superior, but again find almost the only way to lose, literally one move from victory.
Swaroop, S 0-1 Young, D (U.K.C.C. Surrey Megafinal, May 2012) (Grade Difference: -39) - Hitherto things have been rather one-sided, but recently I've become quite a swindler myself! White completely outplays me in the opening and is an exchange up with overwhelming positional advantage. Tactics and time come to the rescue as usual, but it still requires white to resign in a drawn position for me to prevail.
Smith, P 1-0 Young, D (e2e4 Diamond Jubilee Open, June 2012) (Grade Difference: +32) - I make no apologies for recycling this from my Memorable Games index; there's stiff competition but it must be the biggest swindle here, as I gift white a win in an endgame where he is a Rook down for nothing.
Verma, A 0-1 Young, D (102nd Richmond Rapidplay, July 2012) (Grade Difference: -17) - Completely suffocated in another of my overconfident battles with the IQP, I again have to fight on an exchange down. My own time trouble saves the day, as white loses all of his composure and most of his pieces - in the end, even his King to a minor-piece mating net.
Bell, D 0-1 Young, D (U.K.C.C. Southern Gigafinal, July 2012) (Grade Difference: +34) - A first for this list: the heavy favourite loses! But he really shouldn't - his position from the opening is positionally winning and he soon collects material, but in mutual time pressure he misses his winning chance before losing a pawn, then an exchange and finally a piece.
Young, D 1-0 Macarthur, D (Chipping Sodbury Rapidplay, October 2012) (Grade Difference: -26) - In the final round, black needs a win to share 1st, but he might well have been beaten right in the opening. Yet he survives following my strange decision to trade Queens, and wins a piece tactically. But in a time scramble, passed pawns assume great power, and I'm allowed to promote for perhaps the least deserved 6/6 ever.
Beckford, L ½–½ Young, D (Bristol University vs. Harambee, November 2012) - Equal grades this time, and appropriately enough, another double-choke. White's unpretentious opening soon explodes into a Kingside attack bagging material, but his technique is poor and I cobble together some counterplay. It quickly reaches such proportions that I'm actually winning, only for me to force a draw by perpetual check!
Young, D ½–½ Fry, S (CCF Rated Friendly, December 2012) (Grade Difference: +3) - Uncharacteristically for that time, I competently play a very slow and patient positional grind. Slowly but surely black's defences fall apart, and I have a trivial ending on the board only to lose my cool completely when a passed pawn confuses matters - mercifully, black didn't know his theoretical endings and offers a draw in a won position.
Young, D 0-1 Rajesh, G (London Junior U-21/18 Open, December 2012) (Grade Difference: -1) - One of the select few that really hurts even months later. Black clearly has no idea what he's doing out of the opening and is totally lost in no time, but my uncertain middlegame lets him back into it. Undaunted, I again build a winning position and again squander it. Things are very drawish, but he shamelessly plays on my time trouble, declining a draw offer after making many of his own, and I fail a two-minute claim.
Iles, S 0-1 Young, D (Bristol University vs. Clevedon, January 2013) (Grade Difference: +3) - After my opening preparation proves ineffectual, white establishes a better position in which I eventually buckle, losing a whole piece for nothing. But in a time scramble, he allows me a passed pawn I should never have had, diverts his King away from it and then hangs the piece with which he could still have won the game. To add insult to injury, it lets the University scramble to an undeserved 3-3 draw.
Young, D ½–½ Fisher, J (Horfield vs. Bristol University, April 2013) (Grade Difference: +32) - My crude but nagging Queenside pressure abruptly comes to an end when I blunder a pawn. Striving for a Kingside cheapo in time pressure, I briefly think I've found a way out but still get a bad ending which I somehow survive... for a moment I'm even winning, but as usual flounder in the face of a passed pawn. Fortunately black declines to try and win the Q-R ending, thus allowing the University to cling on to 2nd in the league.
Young, D 0-1 Musson, A (Steve Boniface Memorial Open, June 2013) (Grade Difference: -17) - A mutual oversight in the opening hands me an absolutely overwhelming position, but I find perhaps the only continuation that doesn't win, and instead lose a pawn. But he makes a terrible job of converting, misses several easy wins and even loses a piece - but again I throw it all away, this time thanks to the clock.
Young, D 0-1 Porter, S (Jessie Gilbert Festival U-2000, August 2013) (Grade Difference: -18) - Insipid opening play leaves me in a difficult position, albeit a token pawn up. Black carelessly allows it to become a real pawn, and I triumphantly break my bonds only to quickly sink back to passivity. Hanging on for dear life, I steer the game towards a simple fortress, but with a terrible oversight destroy it and lose.
Jackson, P 0-1 Young, D (King Pawns vs. Castles, December 2013) (Grade Difference: +1) - My delight at making a match I was sure I'd miss quickly turns to dismay when I sheepishly drop a piece in the opening. But nebulous counterplay convinces me to play and pray; white's refusal to play actively leads him to spurn simple wins again and again. Just as he seems to be escaping, he blunders material and gives me an easily winning ending.
Young, D 0-1 Gupta, A (Imperial vs. Bristol University, February 2014) (Grade Difference: -40) - A team collapse as much as anything - it briefly looked liked we could pull off an incredible whitewash against all odds. Here I am losing most of the way, go from lost to drawish to won in 3 moves, and then hand it straight back again after missing a study-like win and passing over a safe draw.
Young, D 1-0 Garrett, R (South Bristol vs. Bristol University, March 2014) (Grade Difference: -27) - Consumed by the red mist, I go on an uncharacteristic sacrificial spree and find myself in a lost endgame. But black flounders in the face of stubborn resistance, and even with reduced material manages to walk his King into a mating net.
Anilkumar, A 1-0 Young, D (CCF Summer Cup U-2000, July 2014) (Grade Difference: +2) - Needing a win to play for tournament victory in the following round, I out-prepare my opponent and play a perfect game until two moves from the end, when I hang a Rook in a position with a forced mate on the board. Another cross-over from my 'memorable games' index.
Crouch, T 1-0 Young, D (Jessie Gilbert Festival U-2000, August 2014) (Grade Difference: -27) - My first game in over a month is a snooze-fest, but white gradually gets outplayed from a completely equal Rook ending. Slowly but surely I get to a simplified position with two pawns more, only to be rushed by the clock, turn it into a draw and finally even into a help-mate.
Young, D ½-½ Lock, G (CCF Easter Open, April 2017) (Grade Difference: -27) - I bet you never thought this series would see the light of day again! But my gift for wasting glorious opportunities has gone nowhere; after outplaying Black in a thematic position I win an exchange, but rush into an awkward rook ending and, two pawns up, am lucky to even get a repetition...
Young, D ½-½ Sugden, J (Major Open, August 2017) (Grade Difference: -10) - Even now I find this game hard to explain, but it could and should have been 5/5 for the tournament. I get a winning position almost immediately, but totally lose my head at the first hint of counterplay.
Young, D 0-1 Crocker, P (Major Open, August 2017) (Grade Difference: -11) - On this day I choked a tournament as much as a game. After an opening ambush I lost any common sense, blundered material and missed a way out of it. A full point lead was wiped out just like that.
Young, D 0-1 Fegan, C (SCCU 125th Anniversary Match, September 2017) (Grade Difference: +4) - Losing to my manager at work, after declining a draw in order to win a full piece, was not my finest moment. I saw ghosts everywhere, right up to the moment when his threats became real and I switched off.
Edwards, N 0-1 Young, D (King Pawns vs. Castles, November 2017) (Grade Difference: -15) - This game could have ended several hours earlier than it did if I'd followed up my clever pawn sacrifice on move 12 properly. Instead I stumble into a lifeless ending, do everything wrong and yet somehow still win when White forgets that he too has passed pawns...
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