How to Avoid Blunders

How did you get to that point?

I understand what you’re going through. A little over a month ago when I started getting back into chess, I realized I wasn’t doing well because I had a terrible thought process. I was playing Hope chess. I would think about all the tactics and pieces I wanted to attack, and just sort of hoped that my opponent didn’t have any response that could hurt me. After reading a bunch of Novice Nook articles on thought process, I started looking for my opponents checks, captures and threats before every move. Every time my opponent would move, I would pay attention to the purpose behind the move and what he is threatening.

So did my rating skyrocket after adopting this great new thought process? No! While I played the beginning of the games a lot better, I would always end up in time trouble which often led to me blowing the game. I stuck with it though and I have noticed that I’m going through the process faster now. I also do it more automatically now, whereas before I had to really concentrate and keep telling myself not to move until I checked for everything. Now that I’m doing it a bit faster, I’m also seeing my rating start to creep up.

One last bit of advice that a lot of people may disagree with. Try applying this process to some blitz games. The fast time controls in blitz helped me to think faster. Then the trick is to remember that you should be thinking just as quickly in longer time controls! The extra time is so that you can think MORE, not slower.

Eliminating blunders takes time. Identifying the source of your blunders, thinking deficiencies, is relatively quick and easy by comparison, and is only the first step. I think you'll find that the most persistant kind of blunders are there because of bad chess habits. It takes at least 3 weeks of consistant work to establish a better habit, and even then the old habit will continually try to reassert itself. So it takes work, time, vigilance, patience, and persistance. Everyone's different, so the speed at which you improve will vary--but improve you will!!

Many many many many many games played. Mainly. Just force yourself to think, for every move, "Am I hanging anything?" That one thought is enough to bump your rating here to about 1400, 1500? Doing tactics helps you avoid walking into forks, skewers and the like, but the important thing is to not just hang pieces. For that... board vision... experience?

Basically, just play more. Try to avoid playing when you're lazy, tired, or just want a quick dose of fun. Play when you're really seriously out for winning your games, that helps. I played on teams in competitions, it really helps you focus (I can't let my team lose by a blunder!) I'm sorry if that's not the answer you want, but it's really important to drill drill drill into your head the blunder-checking, until it's a reflex for every move, just a couple seconds or fewer.

You're right, strong players don't consciously go through a checklist.  But until it's automatic you have to force yourself.  It's hard at first but the more you do it the easier it becomes until it's a habit and you don't even have to think about it.  Strong players are automatically aware of things like checks, captures, undefended pieces, and basic tactical patterns for both players at all times.  (Basic patterns like king and queen lined up on same file or diagonal or fork-able by a knight).

You do this by taking each move seriously and taking your time with each move.

I actually blunder a lot. It isn't just looking at your games that works. I find it that on a position that you either

1. had no idea what to do

2. blundered

or

3. made an amazing move

you can really dig into the position and find all sorts of ideas. If you stop to truly understand the position and find what you could have done, it drills it into your head. I find that I like to make notes on what I was thinking as I play so I can better understand the position later.

Practicing is very important. You need to do it alot. Study lines, go over games, play with someone or the computer... there are a lot of ways to practice. Slow games also are helpful because you can take time to think.

Everyone has a blind spot. If we don't always go with our instinct, we can find amazing moves. Once, my friend had a game where the only way to win was to move into a discovered check position with the king! Normally, we don't like to move into positions that can hurt us, like allowing discovered checks by the opponent, so we discard such moves. My friend naturally discarded the idea, and an opportunity to win. Slow games avoid such things as big blindspot blunders because you have time to consider everything. And I agree with what roi_g11 wrote. Checks, captures, then threats.

How does one do this with only 30 minutes to move?

Think before each and every move and you will not blunder anymore.

One simple idea is not to leave pieces undefended.  Another is not to move pieces to squares where they can be taken.  They are simple checks that should take very little time and should save you a lot of blunders.

Correction: You WILL still blunder. But this will help you cut down on the amount and severity of the blunders that occur.

If you want slower games join this group here at chess.com  

http://www.chess.com/groups/home/world-standard-time-control-chess-club-365-days-a-year

Well, at first, I guess you don't.  Just do the best you can is what counts.  It should take at the very fastest a year of practice to be doing well IMO.  (Where you're making 1 move blunders less than once every 10 games let's say).

Before you get too frustrated though remember as hard as chess is it's just as hard for our opponent!  Ratings help us find opponent who aren't years ahead of us.  And of course everyone blunders and overlooks a simple threat at some point.  Even world class players.

http://en.chessbase.com/home/TabId/211/PostId/4003512

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZqcT66Fkzw

One of the things about live chess is that when you're on a computer, you can hover the piece over the square and think about it with no regard to touch-move. I feel guilty about this and I can't do it on an iPad, though. I find that it sometimes helps me to talk as I move and do sort of verbal commentary, but I couldn't do this in a real game either. Should I continue using such tactics?

when i was losing alot of games in the league( Manchester  chess fed)i studied my games but i looked at them from my opponents side of the board too very useful to understand why an opponent plays the moves they do and a great insight into their thought processes and try to bear in mind nobody loses in chess if they learn

That's a great idea...

Only 9980 games to go, and you will have a serious level.

Sorry, but the "at least twenty games" must have started a few laughs among the readers. Chess is hard, and although analyzing is a fast way to improve, "fast" does not mean immediate.

I have been playing chess for now 15 years, and I still hang my queen sometimes. Not often, not to obvious threats, but it happens. So don't expect to be cured of this in a month, not even in a year unless you spend it playing like crazy (which you should not do).

Well the emphasis was on the "in the last week". It wasn't to say at all that by playing twenty games, I expected to improve. It was more that I've spent that much time on chess recently and I'm still not having success. I understand where you come from, though.

1. Learn how to spot when you're about to make one.
2. Don't do it.

It is actually a lot harder than it sound. Most blunders happen because of the 'blind spot' we all have. We don't notice we are making a blunder until we've made it! What you actually need to do is study, practice, go over games, and do long games instead of short. That is a good way to stop a blunder.

Oh, yeah, step 2 is definitely the easy one.