Instructive Games II: Prevent Blunders — Don't miss your Opponent´s
Hi! Have you ever blundered in a game ? Or have you missed a winning move after an opponent's blunder? I bet you have, so I guess this post might be of interest to you!
How can we avoid making such bad moves in our games? By not overlooking forcing moves—and the best way to do that is by consistently applying the "Checks, Captures, and Threats" (CCT) rule. This rule saves time and effort, since you don’t need to consider every legal move—just the most forcing ones.
Note: You will hear, depending on the author, about the CCA rule (for "Checks, Captures and Attacks") which is the same
I'm from the old school, and to avoid blunders or missed wins I was taught by my coaches to look for checkmates and hanging pieces before making my move. This approach works well, and I still intuitively do it to some extent. However, I feel the relatively new CCT rule is more effective, and I started implementing it only recently. I teach my students to apply this rule in their games and when solving puzzles, and they immediately show an improvement in their strength.
I will show three examples from my own Blitz games where I either blundered or missed a win, and how easy it would have been to prevent them if I had applied the CCT rule!
Let´s see case by case: Checks, Captures and Threats
Checks
This position comes from one of my blitz games, where I was playing Black. My position was worse but White just played 33. Qc2 - e4??. Under time pressure, it was my turn to make a mistake and miss the win with 33...Nf4?? It is clear that applying the CCT rule would have given me an easy win. After 33...Nd2 +, then 34...Ne4 comes next winning the Queen.
Captures
Again, this position comes from one of my blitz games, where I was playing Black. And again I was low on time. The game is almost level but still a bit more difficult for Black to play due to the situation of its king and less active pieces. According to the engine 20...Qh6 21.f4, Rae8 would have held the position, since now Black´s rook and queen come into play. Instead I tried to save clock time and in a hurry I played 20...Ne4 ??
Perhaps I considered that the capture 21. Qe4?? was ineffective due to 21... Rg1! 22. Qh7, Kd6 23. Rg1, Qf6 and still there is a fight. But I missed the in-between capture 21. Rg8! then after 21. ...Qg8 22. Qe4 simply wins the Knight.
Threats (or Attacks)
Yet another blitz game where I was playing Black. I didn´t come out of the opening very well. I had just started learning the Slav defense, and after a few moves I already felt very uncomfortable with the position. If I had play the thematic 14...c5, I would have kept some chances to fight. Instead, I consumed much of my clock, let my emotions dominate my thoughts and played 14...0-0-0 ?? without even considering the consequences. Now the simple threat to the trapped Queen 15. Bf4! wins material (15...e5, 16 fe6).
Conclusion:
These examples were taken from blitz games where clock pressure is of course very high, and it is nearly impossible to blunder check every single move. Fortunately blunders are rather unusual when you have plenty of time to check every detail.
But we can see that in all the cases, if I had applied the CCT rule effectively, I would have avoided blunders or missed wins.
Hence, my recommendation is to apply the CCT rule when considering your own moves or your opponent's, and to stay alert throughout the game.
And if you want to play quality chess, then choose longer time controls like rapid (better) or classic (best).
If you’d like guidance reducing blunders or improving your overall decision‑making, feel free to message me privately. I’m always glad to help players who are serious about improving. I coach players from beginner to advanced level through structured, practical training.
Best,
Ariel (maafernan) – Chess.com Coach
