user11144: Wouldn't be surprise if this is a duplicate (related even more related), but:
Obviously there are two main ways to lose a game: Blundering it away in a single move or be slowly crushed by a better player without knowing what's happening.
We now have a giant database of games and engines that can tell us who is on top at any time in a game, and they could answer my question: which way is more frequent?
Very evidently, the answer might depend on ELO or ELO difference, so you can take that in account too.

user27354: At the GM level, players mostly resign after the second "slow crushing" method. In amateur chess usually a blunder of a queen or checkmate or major piece wins. Before 1000 it is the first around 99% of the time (talking chess.com elo) because they cannot calculate well enough to find tactics.
Even at the IM and GM level players will still blunder, but they are usually positional errors and not major piece blunders (of course, they do occur such as Giri vs Carlsen in the Chessable Masters).
Most victories in classical and longer time formats at the GM level are resignations, but in bullet it is usually timeout or a blunder.

11144: <p>Wouldn't be surprise if this is a duplicate (<a href="https://chess.stackexchange.com/questions/13494/probability-of-making-a-game-losing-move-as-a-function-of-elo">related</a> <a href="https://chess.stackexchange.com/questions/8765/what-percent-of-chess-games-contain-a-blunder?rq=1">even more related</a>), but:</p>
<p>Obviously there are two main ways to lose a game: Blundering it away in a single move or be slowly crushed by a better player without knowing what's happening.</p>
<p>We now have a giant database of games <em>and</em> engines that can tell us who is on top at any time in a game, and they could answer my question: which way is more frequent?</p>
<p>Very evidently, the answer might depend on ELO or ELO difference, so you can take that in account too.</p>
 27354: <p>At the GM level, players mostly resign after the second &quot;slow crushing&quot; method. In amateur chess usually a blunder of a queen or checkmate or major piece wins. Before 1000 it is the first around 99% of the time (talking chess.com elo) because they cannot calculate well enough to find tactics.</p>
<p>Even at the IM and GM level players will still blunder, but they are usually positional errors and not major piece blunders (of course, they do occur such as Giri vs Carlsen in the Chessable Masters).</p>
<p>Most victories in classical and longer time formats at the GM level are resignations, but in bullet it is usually timeout or a blunder.</p>
