Tactical awareness is key for many players to improve their game. You need to work on your tactical awareness so you can see these combinations before they are played and avoid them.
I always make the same damn mistakes
Sort:
See the video - Most Common Mistakes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGQ4nH1-TNE and you can get that GM courses at http://gmsmirnovcourses.blogspot.com/
I recommend a blunderectomy although I don`t currently know any surgeons who have done any such operations successfully.
i hope i'm gonna play against you some day!
What daddyjordan said. Board vision can best be improved by daily tactics training. Susan Polgar said in an interview (and no, I don't have a link, and yes, relying on my memory is a bit dicey) that she still does an hour of tactics training a day! Almost doesn't matter whether you use books, software, or websites. Quickest way to improve...
By far the most common mistake I make is putting peices into positions where the other player can move their peice and be in a position to take either 1 of my 2 peices. No matter which I move, I'll lose the other.
Or I'll find myself getting checked, then having to move my king which results in the peice that was checking me being able to take another peice on the board.
For example: Queen on c5 takes knight on e5 putting black kin check, but nothing the black can do to avoid losing the rook on h8
I fall for these combo moves all the time... 90% of the time when I get checked I always lose a peice as a result.
Also I try so damn hard to try and bait my apponent into moving peices that will open gaps in their defence by they NEVER fall for it... why is everyone a pro at chess it seems?