Why would a player throw a game? So I am kind of new to chess and I have been playing online. I have been playing for a year and I consider myself a mediocre player, not too good and not too bad. Recently I got this invitation from someone to play a rated game. This person's rating is around 2100 so I said what the heck. Let's try it. As the game progressed, I saw that he was playing like a child. He made obvious blunders and simply offered me all of his pieces one by one. At first I thought maybe there is some deep strategy that I can't see but no. Now the game is about to end. I have a significant advantage in pieces and he will lose for sure.

My question is, has this ever happened to anyone? Or is this common in the chess community? Is this some weird strategy like how politicians try to throw elections if it is advantageous in that particular voting scheme or how players throw games if money is involved? There is no money involved, no tournament/prestige/title. If anything, he'll lose points and I'll gain them. I don't even know this person. We are just playing anonymously against each other online for the first time. Why would such a highly rated player play against a much inferior player and then lose that game...and it looks like he is deliberately losing.

Quite frankly it is boring and even a little condescending. I was expecting a much more exciting game.



So here is the game. My pieces are white.

[FEN ""]

1.e4 d5
2.exd5 e6
3.dxe6 Bxe6
4.d4 Bb4+
5.c3 Bd6
6.d5 Bf5
7.Bd3 Qe7+
8.Be3 Bg6
9.Nf3 Nf6
10.O-O Nbd7
11.Bxg6 hxg6
12.Re1 O-O-O
13.Bxa7 Ne4
14.Nbd2 f5
15.Nxe4 fxe4
16.Qa4 Nf6
17.Bd4 Qf7
18.Bxf6 gxf6
19.Qxe4 Rh5
20.Qe6+ Rd7
21.c4 Qxe6
22.Rxe6 Rf7
23.Rae1 Bxh2+
24.Nxh2 Rfh7
25.Rxf6 Rxh2
26.f4 Rh1+
27.Kf2 Rxe1
28.Kxe1


So what do you guys think of this game? Any and all comments welcome.
There are some possibilities that I can think of:


His 8 year old sister, dog, neighbor, etc suggested some of these 'great moves'
He was trying to handicap himself to make it more challenging
He tried something new or crazy, possibly to end the game quickly (e.g sacrificing his own pieces to expose your king or free his pieces)
Maybe he tried a chess gambit, first glance it appears you gain advantage, but this advantage is just an illusion.


My favorite is the Danish Gambit (it is rare that someone accepts it completely outside beginner level though)

[fen " w - - 0 1"]

1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2


Update: now that I have seen the game, I can confirm it was a mix of points 3 (the move 23...Bxh2) and 4 (but he decided to improvise one instead of using an existing one). Maybe some of point 1 too.