What are the common "non-blunder" mistakes non-beginners make?

wow i had the same thoughts as an NM

damn im good haha

Idk what i would sya about this..

i was once down a pawn.. so i complicated like crazy without trading material and making the position complicated..

I drew.

Would this be the best thing for me if i were down a pawn?

Castling way too early when you don't have to, Beginners castle. Check out the Peruvian immortal to know what I mean.

1) Be too cautious, spending too many moves preparing an attack so that the chance evaporates. "When you have a clear advantage - attack!"

2) Waste time messing about on one side of the board following a plan that, if you just thought about it long enough, isn't going to come to anything, while your opponent builds up a strong attack on the other side. An example from one of my games:

Sorry Ozzie, I re-read this and still don't know if you're being sarcastic or not it sounds like you disagree in the beginning but agree at the end

Like Ozzie says, muetdhiver, it's true that the stronger side can maneuver more freely with the knowledge that your opponent has to avoid trades.  However the stronger side likes nothing better than his opponent to be reduced to passive play and would be willing to keep the game calm where his pressure can eventually force trades (or win more material).

As far as complications, that's a term almost always associated with what the weaker side tries to do.  With no long term chances of winning, they have to force something in the present and otherwise give their opponent as much room for error as they can with wild/complicated ideas.

This is exactly what the pros do.  If you're down material with no compensation you have to stir something up

If he was being sarcastic there would be more "i"s in Riiiight.  I read that entire post as sincere.

I read it as sincere too. It's certainly accurate.

Ah, that was it TheGrobe, I re-read it without the word "right" and it made sense. In my head I imagined the wrong tone of voice (Riiiiight)  So nevermind, it makes sense now

Is this generally considered to be poor play?  I always consider castling to be a developing move-- gets my Rook over where he can begin making threatening sounds at my opponent.

Hey johnny, in the game you posted how does black continue his attack or by the final position is it actually equal?  Your #2 is good advice, I had a similar tourney game where I ignored his K-side attack till it was too late.  My Q-side was great, but it didn't matter in the end heh.

I'm surprised nobody mentions time trouble. I lost about half of my games either on time or because of the blunders I make in time trouble.

Time management is a killer for me.  It's the reason I don't play live or one-day-per-move games.

@orangehonda

There was no clear, immediate win for black, or even any killer tactic. 34. ... Ra5 was probably best then even if I advance the pawn his position is miles better - I was terrified of his knight coming into d3 or f3 - it just looked like black could squeeze a win out of it. I was happy with the draw by rep!

It's just too easy to get caught up in your own attack and ignore what else is going on.

Last night I played some of the worst chess you could ever hope to see on FICS 3/0 time controls. It reminded me how deeply terrible I am in time trouble and why I never play blitz.

Even though I also enjoy fast games, at anything G/15 up my play is terribly slow, in tournaments I don't like to move until I'm sure it's THE move I want, and after the game if I lose I have no regrets or better moves I found after I moved. 

That's my justification for it anyway, but it doesn't work out, because I have to rush my endgame or through a critical position and I've lost at least a few games because of very poor time management.  If anyone has tips on how to improve it let me know :)

Do you set time goals for the opening for example?  eg a known opening in 5 minutes and reach move 30 by this time, 40 by this time etc?

It may be inexperiance too -- I only go to 2-3 tournaments a year, I want to do more this year, we'll see :)

Time trouble is not present only in blitz. A rapid game (like 30 mins per side), against a roughly equal opponent might often end into a mutual time trouble. Playing under time pressure is a skill which, like any other skill, can be trained. It doesn't help to say "I'm not good at blitz".

How about playing an otherwise good move that you've refuted in the hopes that your opponent wont see the refutation?  I.e. assuming your opponent won't choose the best response you're able to find for them.

Another, related problem:

Not trusting our instincts - over-analysing a move and checking and re-checking, wasting precious time.

I'm guilty of so many of these.