How to Avoid Blunders

Hey guys. I thank you for your responses to my other threads this week because I've been playing a lot of chess lately. I read in other threads like this that people seem to think that playing a lot and looking over your games will allow your blunders to eliminate themselves. However, I disagree. I have played at least twenty games of live chess or OTB chess in the last week, and I have gone back to look at least once at almost all of those games. However, I still find myself making blunders easily. Today, one of my games ended with blundering a rook to my opponent in an easily winning position and losing the game. I had another bad blunder the very next game. I play 30 minute games normally but I'll go down to 15/10 to play in live tournaments because I really like those.

I make about one game-ruining blunder every four to five games, and I also make smaller mistakes or miscalculations in other games. I feel as if I should improve my board vision, because it clearly contributes to many of my losses. In the game I described earlier, the bishop capturing the rook came from a completely different part of the board and I didn't even notice it because I was so zoomed-in on my attacking plan that I didn't see the rest of the board.

Since school is ending, I have summer coming up here and I have the better part of two weeks free to myself, mostly home alone without any real time-consuming obligations, thus giving me a lot of time to play chess if I so desire. I want to know if there is anything that I could do over such a period of time that could help solve my biggest chess problem here, or any good habits to get into to prevent myself from making silly moves. I especially want to talk to guys who used to be in the 1000-1300 level and became better with time.

I appreciate all you guys answering my post. :)

I have already joined a local club. Did that almost three years ago. A lot of the players are much better than me, but I like the experience a lot.

You're speaking of terrible blunders, right? Every time you make a silly blunder, drop a dollar (maybe more) in the piggy bank. The only way to correct repetitive erratic behavior or action is to somehow punish it.

1. Only play slow games, 30/0 live is the best option on chess.com

2. Turn on submit button and double check your move before submitting

3. Review your games after playing, identify common errors and correct them...

I do review games, I do that almost all the time. When I can't figure something out in a game, I bring it up at chess club or post it here. I do play 30 minute games here also. The submit button seems like a good idea, except there's nothing resembling it in real chess. You can't make the move in real chess and then realize it sucks and take it back. I wonder if other people use this. Maybe it's like a training wheel and I can turn it off if I feel well enough about it?

I can't find the submit button anyway in live chess. If it's on the iPad app, then I wouldn't particularly care since I don't much like the app and would rather play on Safari.

to err is human

Okay, well, I took some of your advice and I played a game with 30 minute time controls on chess.com and I took a lot of time each move. I really thought something good was coming, especially when I got up three pawns late in the game and I was moving pretty well. Then I blundered my knight because, again I don't pay attention to the whole board.

The problem is, I don't have time to look at everything. With 30 minute time controls, we had played 30 moves and I was already down to 8 minutes left of time. I had been doing a good job being patient and calculating, but then I lost my knight because I didn't see that my opponent's queen could take it.

I just don't see things. I make a move and then something I totally didn't think about happens. Is there anything I can do to help this problem? Thanks guys.

To stop blundering means to stop playing chess.

Play on longer clocks, after he makes his move ask yourself, "What did his move accomplish" find what the piece does in its new position it didn't before, and any pieces/files it opened up/blocked. Before moving your piece, check for his possible captures checks, and major threats. It sounds like a lot, but it really helped me. (I used to blunder every second game even though I was rated ~1200).

I already play 30 minutes and no one seems to play longer times...

I want to know if others have these mental checklists of which you speak. If so, how would one be disciplined enough to use it? Surely, I wouldn't use it every move and I'm not entirely convinced others do. Are there any excercises for board vision improvement?

well, if time is a problem, you might consider that 30 minutes is actually a pretty fast time control, not a slow one.

I play longer time controls. :)

30 minutes is the longest time though. No one would play me if I made it longer, which I have tried.

I just want to know how I can see the whole board better and avoid missing things right in front of my eyes.

Read a book on tactics. Once you have better knowledge of tactics, blunders would be reduced. 

Just do it.

See the whole board before moving.

Force yourself to do it. Every time you move, see especially the furthest corners, even if it is counterintuitive. 

If you do this, you will slowly start to do it automatically and blunders like that will slowly decrease.

Anyway 20 games are not enough. You need HUNDREDS of games, unless you are not a chess genius.

hi dpnorman, I'm also still a beginner but I know how to reduce blunders.
and this is my opinion.

What should you do to reduce your blunders :

1. When you're playing a game, you must be in a good shape (Psychology, Health, Concentration)
2. Try to solve hard puzzles. 10 - 15 puzzles  everyday is enough. (This will make you "easier" to spot some good moves and bad moves)
3. Don't forget to have fun while you're playing.
4. Don't impose you're self to keep playing. 3 games/day is enough. (If you're strong enough and have a good confidence you can add it to 10 - 20, but i'm prefer 10 less)
5. Play Live Chess with enough time, it will improve you much much better than Blitz or Bullet, Play Standard games with long time.
6. Experience is the best teacher. 

Regards,
GoldenD 

Watch these great videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N0E0eahWnQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xASlcNhMXwg

GM Igor Smirnov presents useful techniques that help eliminate blunders. One of them which I would like to cite here is "solve the tactical puzzle from the opposite side (i.e. flip the board)" - that teaches you to find opponent's threats so you will be able to avoid them

Roi_g11 Do you use this tactic in live games? If so, how do you manage to do it in a 30 minute time?

Hey guys. I just played another game. Late in the game, I made an error that could have let my opponent back into the game but he missed it and I won. Now, I didn't use any of the aforementioned tactics except basic blunder-checking which didn't really work. I couldn't get myself to do it. I found myself playing my opening and thinking to myself: it's the second move of the game. Do I really need to blunder-check? And then I continued playing. I kind of doubt that you guys do serious post-move blunder-checking as well and I doubt you guys have checklists. After all, no GMs do this.

Well, our checklists are internalised. Hundreds of games are needed to build a sense of the board and not to hang pieces to one-move obviousness. Spotting defended/undefended squares and pieces become second nature over time, and it's a matter of playing around those.

Before I move, I think (almost subconsciously) "What was threatened with that last move? Any threats from before that?" then start thinking about choosing a good move. That process is long, but for each candidate move starts with "Am I hanging anything if I do that?" That one thought will save you unbelievable amounts of grief.

BTW, I still walk into 2-move (infrequently) and three-move (too frequently) tactics. And I've 15 years' experience playing chess (OTB tournaments, as well as 5 years' shogi and competitive Chinese chess) so it IS a long journey.