Chess Tips: 7 Tips to Stop Chess Blunders
Hi everyone! Welcome to my third blog in the series I created the series called "Chess Tips" where I teach you some useful skills you can use in your own games. Now let's get started!
You might be surprised to know that the majority of amateur games end the way they do because of a deadly blunder from one or another side. If your rating is below 2200, you can be in the same boat. By simply reducing the number of blunders yo make, your rating can grow significantly as a chess player. In this blog, I will give you 7 easy tips that will dramatically decrease your blunder rate.
1. Double check your moves
This way is the most effective way to cure blunders. It may sound obvious, but chances are, you are not doing this. Some people think they are double checking their moves, but they stop checking after a while. After playing 10 moves or so, double checking it over and over again and not blundering anything, these players gain confidence and stop checking on move 11 or 15 or 25… It'll happens sooner or later. That’s where the danger is. They stop double checking the moves and they blunder without even realizing why and how it happened.
To sum up, double check all of your moves, not just some, to save yourself from blunders.
2. Asking "why"
Every move should have a purpose. You should figure out why you played that move in the first place, and what did this move do. Once you figure out that idea, you will be able to reduce the threats and traps set up by your opponent.
3. Calculate deeper
Another source of blunder comes from not calculating deep enough. You may think that using the Greek Gift Sacrifice or The Standard Bishop Sacrifice works in this position. But if you calculate just 1 or 2 moves ahead, you'll discover this line is a losing one. However, you don't know that because you saved the trouble of calculating the 2 moves and eventually lost material.
To prevent yourself from coming this very common scenario, make sure to calculate just a move or two deeper than you think is necessary. Trust me that will pay off.
4. Stay focused until the very end
I’m sure you don’t want to lose a game in a completely winning position. Remember to always stay focused until the very end. If your opponent just lost his queen, the game isn’t over yet. It is only over if you have checkmated him, he resigned or flagged.
5. Work on tactics
Many blunders come due to lack of player’s tactical awareness. It simply means that a player is not aware of certain tactics or simply overlooking it. In order to get rid of this huge problem, I highly recommend solving tactics and puzzles. After a while of solving puzzles, you will notice your blunder rate decrease.
6. Avoid instinctual moves
Have you played an instinctual or automatic move and resigned 3 or 4 moves later? To avoid this problem, remember there are no obvious moves that don't need to be thought about. The sooner you realize it, the less blunders you will make.
#7: Don't resign immediately after blunder
Many chess players blunder, get mad, and resign right away. Little do they know if they take a few minutes to think what has happened, there might be a chance of saving the game? When you make a mistake next time, take some time to evaluate the consequences and see if the game can still be saved.
Fun Fact: the chances are you can still save at least 3/10 “lost” games if you play right.
That is all for this blog! Thank you so much for reading it, I really appreciated it and pls comment if you learned something new! I hope you have a nice day! Now see you next week!
