Wow, so many missed oppurtunties! Bet you're glad you won in the end though

Yeah, I guess winning always feels good. The most valuable thing I gained, though, was further reinforcement of the notion that I should always closely consider my moves! Also, finding the checkmate scenario above through analysis was very interesting and reminded me that I should always have my eye on the enemy king!

hm.. what comment to make for a game like that?

-Both players did make big mistakes, I guess that you make many mistakes in most of your games.

Do you play mostly blitzgames? Play with longer timelimit, and do your best try finding a good plan and a move that works with your plan.

First of all, check all your moves for obvious mistakes before you make them.

The thing is, I always play with longer time limits (usually 30 minutes). The thing I enjoy most about chess is the time spent pondering the next move. Sometimes, though, after a long day at work, I make impetuous moves far too quickly and play stupid games.

Most games I make way fewer blunders than in this game (see my other recent game analysis thread, http://www.chess.com/forum/view/game-analysis/a-game-i-didnt-mess-up ), though I freely admit that I make many dumb mistakes. I am starting to play "correspondence chess"/"online chess" a bit and find that I consider my moves much more closely and am finding better results.

Thank you for the advise. I am always trying to pay closer attention to my moves. See my online games in my profile for a better representation! :)

One thing that really helps is to use the Kandidate move method, Kotov wrote a good book about it "Think like a Grandmaster" but it had some mistakes, "how to calculate chess tactics" is much better, and Silman's "Reassess your chess" is a "must read book"

-The only problem with the kandidate move method, is that you is forced to think (lol) with the method your play will be at your best, without it would be ups and downs...

Thank you for the recommendations. I will check those books out. Have you tried Chess Mentor on this site? I did the demo lessons and found it to be very helpful! I may become a premium member soon so I can view all the lessons and videos.

I have a version of chess mentor, but I like "total chess training" much better, the tactic part is called "crt art"

The program gives you a rating so it's easy to see if you make improvments, you can allso check what kind of tactics you need to study deeper. "themes"

Cleanse you're soul of blunders.

"You're" is not the same as "your," that being said, the advice is still sound.

Set yourself a goal to play games without obvious blunders. It may take you a few years to achieve such a goal.

There was so many oppitunities to take his best pieces. Luckly you won in the end.