What type of blunders do you make?

Those stupid, embarrassing, dreadful blunders!  I have decided what is my worst and most often kind of blunder.

I am myopic! Or egocentric. I only see things nearest me.

I learned this by playing all those crazy characters on Chessmaster 11. I set it to notify me if I make a blunder. And the notifications keep popping up. My opponant's old rook way up at a8 will zap my pawn on a3 (while i am busy planning something nearby kingside.)  "Lucy's" queen will come sailing across the board all the way from a4 and take out something valuable to me on g4. And bishops are notorious for gliding across the diagonal and getting me... and I never saw it was there before.

I try to look to see what is undefended. But Chessmaster is teaching me that I do not "see" very well. And the pity of it is, I set the time control to infinite where I have all the time in the world, and can force my opponant with ctrl-f to play!

Is there any "cure" for blunders? Do any of you have a problem with them? How are you working on it?  Are there any books out there offering salvation?

Blunders are really keeping me from being a half decent chess player.

stwils

I read this somewhere, you can do a quick safe check just right before moving, you have to "scan" all board and look for these:

1. Checks

2. Threats

3. Captures

That will reduce your number of blunders considerably.

Get used to looking at the whole board and not only a section.

I blunder hidden attacks.  I constently forget about the pieces behind the attacking piece.  The good news is that I know thats my problem and I am working on it.

erixchess is right. You should look around for checks, threats and captures. You can't get so wrapped up in your plans that you forget your opponent also has plans.

When I was learning chess I used to visualize where every enemy pawn and piece could move before I made my move. Yes it takes a lot of time and effort but it gets easier with practice. I haven't played much chess in the last 10 years or so. Now that I'm getting back into it again I find myself making some really stupid moves. I get so wrapped up in my plans, his plans, and other possibilities that I don't notice I just moved my undefended rook in front of my opponents bishop. I have to get back into the habit of scanning the board for the obvious before making my move.

Mine tend to be lack of concentration, i almost always spot them a split second after hitting submit.  The solution is simply to slow down and concentrate more, but knowing that doesn't stop blunders.

This was my most heart breaking blunder of recent times. I was against a player +300 points stronger than me, but in a great position! A piece up, rolling along nicely! What did I think? Pile in. Get that queen up there and smash him to pieces. Alas...

i find the more you play the less you make blunders! just lots of practice and the more more mistakes you make the more you learn! Well obviously try not to make them in the first place! I dont really blunder pieces or pawns really but when thinking long term as in 5+ moves i make a blunder in thinking its ok but then find out later i should have gone with plan b!

"overlooking a simple mating threat when you're five points up"

This. I can't recall doing this over the board more than once or twice, but on this site's correspondence games I've lost both of my games so far ahead material due to a back rank mate or Qxg7#.

There's actually a very nice clearance sacrifice + decoy tactic in this position that will net you an easy win: 1...Rxg2+! 2.Qxg2 Nxd5! 3.cxd5 Qxd5+ 4.Qf2 Rh1+!! 5.Kxh1 Qxf2 (Note: At this point 6.Bf5+ seems to make a checkmating net, but this is not so. After 6.Bf5+? Nd7 7.Rd1? (Indending a checkmate on the back rank) 7...Qf3+! 8.Kh2 (After 8.Kg1?? Qg3+! and then Kf1 runs into heavy material losses after Bc4+ and Kh1 leads to Bc4+ when Rxc4 is killed by Qf3+ which forks King and Rook.) 8...Qf2+ 9.Kh3 (or 9.Kh1) 9...c6 when 10.Bxd7+ Kc7 and the 11th move is 11...Bd5+ which will give Black the winning endgame after 12.Rxd5 Qxe1+.

when i blunder i usually move my queen to a space that is then captured by a knight. i hate it

All of them.

pawn attacks 2 pieces (bishop and knight)

 Salt well and truely rubbed in the wound. I'll look into that though, interesting...