I am no expert, but I understand the difference this way. A blunder is a simple overlooking of something you would normally notice. A mistake is a misjudgement or misassesment of the position. Blunders tend to be tactical in nature. Mistakes are strategically errors when you choose a wrong plan.
What is difference between Mistake and Blunder in Chess?
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Mar 7, 2015
0
#3
The differencce between a mistake and a blunder? Easy.
When you played it, were you drunk? Or stoned?
I analyzed some of my games on an engine and there I saw not only the use of terminology of blunders , mistakes and inacuracies but also the exact quantification of them so I was interested to find out how these engines make such sharp differentitation between moves termed as blunders, mistakes and inacuracies.
Persionally at the moment I am mostly concerned with blunders pinpointed in my games analysis, I really want to get rid of the blunders first and foremost as most of the games that I have won and analyed later with an engine showed that I made less blunders in those games compared to the ones that I lost.
Normally a mistake is a small error that can be overcome with accurate play. A blunder is more of a devastating miscalculation that more or less ends the game.
Mar 7, 2015
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#6
A mistake is like you (the knight) and your two buddies (the bishops) walk into the room with your swords thinking that you can take on the other guys also a knight and two bishops but you miscalculated the advantage they had from the positions they were standing in...
A blunder is like you (the knight) and your two buddies (the bishops) walk into the room thinking that you can take on the other guys also a knight and two bishops and realized too late that you forgot to bring your swords.
Typically, blunders are obvious mistakes. Thus, the definition of a blunder changes depending on the level of a player.
Blunders arise from the player not seeing something obvious, mistakes come from not seeing deeply enough.
If a 400 rated player leaves his queen where it can be freely taken, that's a blunder. If a 400 rated player hung his queen due to a 2 move tactic, that was a mistake. If a GM hung his queen due to a 2 move tactic, that's a blunder.
A blunder usually costs the guy who blundered the game , a mistake may not lose the game for you but greatly increases your chances of losing the game , an inaccuracy is usually a very small mistake which is sometimes not significant . Then there is a " howler " which is a blunder so bad that it often leads to immediate loss/resignation . There are some decent chess glossaries online that help with chess terms we don't know/understand .
I don't know which type I would call what but there definitely seems to be two different phenomenological errors (using the term error as encompassing both kinds:
1: Errors you make because they do exceed your knowledge in chess, and you had no chance to see it coming giving your present level.
2: Errors where you do thing that you actually know are bad, but which you make regardless due to momentary distraction or low concentration.
The main difference is in the reaction: With type 2 errors you go DAMMIT NOT AGAIN and with type 2 you go AHHHHH! Type 1 errors make you learn nothing but the importance of concentraytion: Type 2 errors teach you entire new things in chess.
Inaccuracy. Not really a bad move, but perhaps there was a better one you should have played.
Mistake- results in a loss of material or position. this can take you from a winning position to an equal one, or equal to losing.
Blunder- an absolutely devestating mistake. results in the loss of large amounts of material or ruins your position for the rest of the game. usually takes you from a winning position to a disadvantaged one, or it can even seal the fate of the game.
Mar 7, 2015
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#11
Mistake involves underestimating, miscalculating -- after seeing water in the swimming pool, leaps off the diving board only to find out the water wasn't deep enough to keep from injury...
Blunder involves omission, oversight -- leaping off the diving board only to find out there is no water...the latter is a fatal mistake
Reb wrote:
A blunder usually costs the guy who blundered the game , a mistake may not lose the game for you but greatly increases your chances of losing the game , an inaccuracy is usually a very small mistake which is sometimes not significant . Then there is a " howler " which is a blunder so bad that it often leads to immediate loss/resignation . There are some decent chess glossaries online that help with chess terms we don't know/understand .
A howler. HAHAHAHHA!!!! Because everyone starts howling with laughter!!!
Assuming the position is roughly even (no big advantage for either white or black), it works like this:
"Inaccuracy" - The computer evaluates that this move resulted in a position that is at least 0.3 points worse than the position resulting from the best move available
"Mistake" - This move is at least 0.9 points worse than the best move available
"Blunder" - This move is at least 2 points worse than the best move available - pretty bad! :)
Jul 17, 2015
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#14
TheDev1 wrote:
Normally a mistake is a small error that can be overcome with accurate play. A blunder is more of a devastating miscalculation that more or less ends the game.
thats it..... severity
I’ve noticed that sometimes I will make calculated sacrifices if I see that it puts me in a better position, the game however will count this as a blunder. I find this to be very strange because many times the very move that allows me to set up for checkmate is considered a blunder. Is it really a blunder if it wins me the game?
varelse1 wrote:
The differencce between a mistake and a blunder? Easy.
When you played it, were you drunk? Or stoned?
Probably both
Mistake is somewhat recoverable and has a slight chance of going unnoticed, but still bad
Blunder just sticks out like a sore thumb and smacks the evaluation bar so hard it changes color
A mistake is something that gives you a disadvantage or is a missed opportunity. A blunder makes you lose the game (assuming your opponent doesn't blunder as well or makes too many mistakes) or that the player missed a move that would've won the game. A mistake is basically a miny blunder. A bunch of mistakes is basically as bad as a blunder.
May 26, 2021
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#19
Nice how this thread was casually bumped... to me, a mistake is something that decreases your advantage and gives your opponent a better position, and a blunder gives your opponent a winning position...
I would ask experts to shed some light on the difference between the terminology of inaccuracy, mistake and blunder often used in chess discussions and analysis.