Avoid careless blunders/mistakes

My blunders seem to come mainly from long-range attacks 
especially innocent-looking ones where they recapture a piece but it actually creates an additional threat as well... 

I firmly believe if a person avoids careless blunders that are part of human error, our ratings would increase by a good 200-300 points. So many games have been lost due to this. 

1) Time pressure is a crucial point.
2) Moving too quickly
3) Not observing the whole board
4) Not asking yourself some basic questions

How do you guys train to avoid them? How do I stop getting caught by LONG-RANGE attacks? What are your ideas or methods? Thanks 

improve 

If I saw boobs galore I might blunder, also.

Yeah.  I was also thinking that with a name like Boobs, you've gotta expect the occasional gaffe now and then...

I simply can't train myself to avoid them.

Yeah, that's like training yourself not to be an idiot.  Every once in a while it's gonna happen.  Still, sounds impressive, right?  You're "training" and everything.   You must be a Serious and Committed Player.

I have priorities, hehe!

I only play turn-based chess seriously and I can't even eliminate all my oversights with all the time in the world. BUT you can try and minimize them as much as possible by doing the following before every move:

Count material - when I play OTB I line up the captured pieces so I can tell at a glance if I'm even, ahead or behing in material

Examine the entire board and don't "overlook" any pieces/pawns that don't seem related to your immediate plan or combination

Keep track of the clock 

Ask yourself what you would do in your opponents place. Look for his/her threats by seeing what they could do if it was their move when it isn't

Keep track of weaknesses - in your position and your opponents such as doubled, isolated and backward pawns; undeveloped or poorly developed pieces and back rank mate threats etc.

Memorize a lot of chess maxims and famous quotes to rely on when you don't know what to do (works for me - sometimes) Here's just a few I rely on to tide me over when I'm stumped for a move:

Weak points or holes in the opponent's position must be occupied by pieces, not pawns.   TARRASCH

When you don't know what to play, wait for an idea to come into your opponent's mind. You may be sure that idea will be wrong.  TARRASCH

A passed pawn increase in strength as the number of pieces on the board diminishes.  CAPABLANCA

The isolated pawn casts gloom over the entire chessboard.  NIMZOVITCH

The passed Pawn is a criminal, who should be kept under lock and key. Mild measures such as police surveillance are not sufficient.  NIMZOVITCH

And many many more at http://www.chessquotes.com/

lovely quotes from NIMZOVITCH

Those are some helpful ideas NimzoRoy! and great weblink.

A lot of helpful quotes.

Thanks 

I see no boobs in the link. Am I on the right site??

I would read Silman's "Reassess Your Chess", it is a great book and centres around improving and fighting against those natural problems. I haven't got around to reading it yet, but one day, I think I might...

nimzoroy's quotes are very helpful

Nimzoroy's quotes and links are greeeat! Another way to train against blunders is to play blitz chess. If you blunder there you get chopped up right away. A few hundred games of blitzchess will immunize u against making obvious blunders.  

Next I'm gonna train against getting hit by a bus.

I read in an article (or heard in one of the videos) on Chess.com that "one should almost become obsessed with the opponent's plans before making your own".

I think there is a lot of truth in that statement.  If you do that, you are more likely to ask: "What did he just accomplish by making that move?".  "What is he threatening?".

And I don't agree with playing Blitz.  If you are not noticing your opponent's threats in slower time controls, you are most certainly not going to start noticing them in faster time controls.

The problem is that a a galore of boobs is not enough. You require a much higher dose of boobs, an amount so high that it will trigger a spark in your brain that will make you see the chess board in a completely different way.

And yet, somehow, it's never enough.

Err... until your rating drops low enough that you win 50% of your games because those blunders start to go unpunished.

And ignoring your opponent's last move.

Are the two biggest hurdles for new players IMO.

What to do to combat it?  Other than willpower coupled with enough embarrassing losses to really motivate you to make blunder checking a habit?

Force yourself to find two moves instead of 1.  The first move for yourself like you  normally do, and the 2nd move for your opponent (pretending your 1st move was made).  But here's the catch, not just any move, try to punish your intended move, try to find the most annoying reply... you're working for the enemy now, find the best move.

This is hard because you tend to think "oh, of course he'll just recapture" or "he'll just defend what I threatened" but that's not how you think on your turn is it?  You look for checks and other captures and anything annoying you can do to them, you don't just mindlessly react to their move unless it's the only choice you have.

Sounds easy but for some reason it's hard.  Good news is after a lot of games it becomes 2nd nature and you don't need to "blunder check" anymore, it's just a natural part of your thought process.  Of course you need to play games long enough that you can practice good thinking habits.