Why Beginners Blunder So Much In Chess

 
Why Beginners Blunder So Much In Chess
By Iamsomeone4167
 
Introduction
Everyone makes a blunder while playing a game of chess.

Even professional players may sometimes accidentally hang a piece or fall for a trap. However, beginners are notorious for making such blunders, and those typically settle the outcome of the games right away.

For most players starting out in the game, losing a queen or receiving a checkmate seems like a very annoying phenomenon. It takes just a couple of moves from a perfect position, to a situation when you realize something went horribly wrong.

While blunders may seem random, it actually happens quite rarely. Most mistakes are predictable, and figuring out why players make them could be a way to become a better player right away.

 
What Is A Blunder?
Blunder is the name used for a very significant mistake that could negatively impact a player's position.

For example:

Leaving a piece hanging, giving your opponent a free capture
Miscalculating the game and missing a checkmate
Getting deceived by a tactical combination and losing material
Overlooking your opponent's idea and threatening to take a pawn
Underestimating an exchange and losing valuable material
As it was mentioned earlier, games played by beginners are decided by the most serious of these blunders.

In other words, avoiding mistakes is usually more helpful than making brilliant moves. The player who manages to do it is likely to win against more aggressive opponents.

 
The Main Cause Of Mistakes
While there are multiple reasons beginners make blunders, the major one is rather obvious:

Focusing solely on your own idea.

As new players get excited and start planning the attack or simply moving their pieces around, they forget to consider their opponent's idea first of all.

That makes it incredibly easy to miss threats, because:

Your queen becomes undefended and gets attacked by an opponent's piece
A knight becomes exposed, and can be easily forked
Your opponent starts preparing a smothered checkmate
Your bishop becomes trapped behind pieces
Experienced players always try to figure out what their opponent is up to.

Novices usually ignore that aspect.

That's why beginners blunder so much.

 
Why Impulsive Moves May Be Problematic
The next reason why players make blunders while playing chess is connected with playing too fast.

In other words, some novices make their move without considering its consequences thoroughly. It may be due to the excitement or simply assuming that whatever the opponent will do, a move must be correct.

However, chess punishes impulsive actions.

A move which seemed very strong at first glance could easily get discredited by a response from your opponent, resulting in a complete failure.

That's why experienced players tend to pause before making a move.

Even spending several extra seconds considering possible threats makes a huge difference.

When making a move, you need to consider:

Do I leave a piece hanging?
Are there any checks available for my opponent?
Am I vulnerable to a fork, pin, or skewer?
Is my king safe?
What kind of changes did the opponent's previous move cause?
Asking these simple questions helps prevent numerous blunders.

 
Pattern Recognition Plays A Major Role
Another reason for making blunders is the absence of experience in pattern recognition in chess.

Professional players see tactical situations that occurred hundreds of times in their lifetime and could easily identify them.

Examples of tactical situations include the following:

Knight fork
Smothered mate
Pin
Discovered attack
Back rank checkmate
Due to the mentioned lack of experience, players may overlook a potential threat, since they haven't seen a certain combination before.

Therefore, it is essential to train yourself to notice threats sooner.

 
Fear As A Psychological Factor
Finally, the last reason why beginners blunder so much could be considered purely psychological.

Many novices, feeling threatened by the enemy, may rush into action, trying to make any move just to survive the attack.

Paradoxically, it often leads to blundering more frequently.

Playing chess demands calmness and logical thinking.

Instead of rushing and blundering a move, you may simply slow down and analyze the position properly.

It is very likely there would be something you can do to solve the problem.

 
Ways To Avoid Mistakes
Avoiding every single mistake is impossible.

However, there are many techniques aimed at reducing the frequency of blunders to minimum.

Let's discuss them now.

1. Play Slower
Rushing and making impulsive moves leads to blunders. Therefore, playing slower is a solution to this problem.

2. Solve More Puzzles
As you may recall, pattern recognition is critical for not falling for traps. Therefore, solving puzzles might help tremendously.

3. Analyze Failed Games
Each time a beginner loses a game, he or she should analyze it carefully, in order to understand why a blunder had been made.

Analyzing the reason of the failure is one of the most efficient ways to avoid similar mistakes in future.

4. Always Check Your Opponent's Ideas First
Ask yourself: "What does he want?"

Just by making this step you may prevent many mistakes in the future.

5. Play In Long-Time Limits
Fast games promote rushed decisions, thus leading to mistakes. That's why long games allow players to analyze moves properly and avoid blunders.

 
Conclusion
Making blunders is inevitable during chess improvement.

However, every strong chess player blundered as many times as beginners do today.

Avoiding every blunder isn't the point.

The key to improvement is figuring out how to avoid certain types of mistakes, which are predictable.

Those include playing too fast, overlooking the opponent's ideas, poor tactic, and fear.

Luckily for you, all of these factors are improvable with time and practice.

Beginners who learn how to move slower, solve puzzles and analyze their games properly improve significantly faster than others.

In the end, chess is often about preventing your mistakes and avoiding bad moves. ♟️