Not improving ability to spot blunders?

It seems like every game, even when I have plenty of time, I keep making blunders or failing to see blunders from my opponent. Do I just need to slow down? I don't (usually) just outright hang pieces, but anything involving two or more moves is usually a problem for me: P i keep making careless mistakes, despite kicking my self either immediately afterwards or during analysis. Any ideas?

I found that too. I increased the time limit on online games from 10 minutes to 30 minutes to really try and be disciplined with the ‘find a good move, then look for a better one’ mindset. I still make glaring errors, but I make fewer of them.

Also, I try and consider my opponents position more. It is easy to play the move you want to make, but sometimes it can be better to play the move your opponent least wants you to make. Maybe focus on tactics. Look for forks, pins, skewers, anything that will give you a quick material gain.

Oh, and don’t play when you’re tired. You are playing the most fiendishly difficult game known to man, and if you are not firing on all four cylinders you will almost certainly get punished.

Hope that helps, and sorry if I’m teaching you to suck eggs, but I’m new here too.

Good luck!

Personally, I became much better about blundering pieces when I realized the nature of the confusion people suffer from due to blundering. So many people post similar threads voicing their frustration that arises from feeling like they simply cant stop blundering pieces, and I think this idea might help. In my games, I noticed that I would consider a move and I would think, "ok, I'm safe to make this move because none of their pieces can capture this piece I am currently moving or any of my other pieces safely on the next move." But I realized that the big issue was that I was always overlooking an opponents piece moving to a square on the next move that didn't capture anything yet but moved to an undefended square, threatening something I did not want to lose. So, the idea here is I saw a huge decrease in blunders in my games when I started looking at the opponents most active pieces and asking, "what can this piece do after I make this move? Is there something I need to defend against before I make this move." This is probably a very basic explanation, but just trying to stay a step ahead of potentially threatening pieces instead of just thinking "can this capture anything on it's next move?" really made a difference for me. Hope this helped.

Hi! My name is Lauren Goodkind and I’m a chess coach based and chess book author based in California: www.ChessByLauren.com

To help you, consider all checks and captures.  And ask, "If I move here, is it safe?"  and "If I move here, where is my opponent going to move?"  

 If you are past this stage, then find a forcing winning line.  

I hope that this helps.  

Its important to think just as hard about your opponents game as your own. After you've decided on your move, ask yourself 'is it safe, what is my opponent's strongest reply?' and then look at their Checks, Captures and Threats, not just related to the square you are moving to, but also THE SQUARES YOU LEAVE BEHIND, the space and material no longer defended after you've moved. Try to understand what a piece or pawn is doing for your position before you move it.

The default game on the app is 10 minutes. I was making a lot of blunders or not catching my opponent's mistakes. Increasing to 30 minute games made a big difference where I can spend additional time before moving. Has not necessarily made me a better player, but has allowed me to think about moves rather than be rushed, especially towards end game