Blunders

I figured out why I stink at chess, I down right blunder games, especially in the late middlegame, when the queen or any peice has a lot of freedom for example, in won positions. My opponent's position looks so bad, that I don't see the threats of desperate moves he may attempt, and sometimes I even miss a checkmate, with a simple defense. I play great, then all of a sudden, a flash in the pan of noobness, huge mistake, and all the efforts I put into that game are ruined.

Obviously this doesn't happen in correspondance chess, so I am safe there, but in any games with a time clock of 10-30 mins, this happens. Don't say I move too quickly, as I spend more time thinking then my opponents, many times these players I play against move in only a few seconds, but they don't seem to make any FATAL mistakes. Yes, they make bad positonal moves, and even lose pawns here and there, but they don't downright blunder a peice or miss a simpleton checkmate, like I do.

What can I do to avoid this? I am a CHOKER, I just choke games up. I know when I don't do these blunders I can beat/draw players in the 1600-1700 range, heck, even on Yahoo blitz, if I don't blunder, I win against such players, but it's these foolish noob blunders I do against weaker players that really screw me, and drop my rating down the bucket. Especially because weak players never seem to resign, and I am forced to drag out a long game were I have nothing to win, but everything to lose, and the fear creeps in, the clock ticks, and it happens.

Of course this is not a problem with correspondance, other then the fact you have to wait forever against newbies who don't resign, and you have more then enough time to reflect and catch a DESPERATO tactic, but in blitz. . .

Well, I just dropped two pieces in two different games, a queen and a rook for absolutely nothing. All i do is tell myself to check for captures before punching the magic button. The funny thing was, when i dropped the rook, i realized it immediately after hitting the move button without the board being in front of me. It was a sort of intuitive realization in my mind's eye that the rook and queen were lined up. It took me a few minutes to get the board back on the screen and lo and behold, the rook was hanging. Ouch! My feeble excuse is i made the move right after waking up. As for losing the queen, i have no excuses. I only realized that after seeing the board without the queen, and a black knight squatting where the queen used to be. Ouch again.

In my opinion, one of the major things that keeps noobs noobs is the blunder factor. It's generally more significant than any other level once a certain point is reached.

I do the same thing, by the way, so don't think I am putting you down.

The problem with that analogy is, quite simply, there is no way to train yourself on how not to blunder. I work my butt off, read chess books, but I haven't ever found a title, "how to avoid blundering" on the book shelves. I don't honestly think there is a magic formula or practice that can prevent it, other then years of chess experience, which I do not have. Often, when I do blunders, I realize a MILLISECOND after it's done, that it is a mistake. This happens 100% of the time, although it's rare it happens to me in correspondance, it did happen in one game I got checkmated in 10 moves, I noticed the simpleton mate a millisecond afterwards. Other 1590 rated players wouldn't do this, but then again, I am not a normal person. Chess is a funny game, you can play better 95% of the game, and still lose.

This is my problem, and I cannot find a solution. Why I notice all these blunders 1 sec afterwards, I dunno, I have a theory that when I am busying draging peices across the screen, I lose my focus, perhabs I would have better luck in OTB chess?

I think there are ways to train onceself not to blunder. I've gotten much better at it, especially when I am trying to play well and not getting too casual.

Number one is the sit on your hands rule. Literally. Sit on your hands until you are sure of the move you want to make. Correspondence chess here at RHP allows you to take your move back as long as you didn't hit [Move], but you still need to learn not to hit [Move] until you're good and ready.

Second is to conciously check for blunders. Once you've decided on a move, take an additional analytical moment - a new phase in your decision making process - to check where all his pieces are attacking, to see if you will drop something by making that move. Now, it's still possible to make blunders of greater tactical complexity than you can handle, but that's just general skill and experience, which does take time. It's hard not to appreciate a tactical attack that you couldn't see coming if you tried. The blunders that suck - the real blunders, as opposed to being outmatched - are when you aren't careful to check for blunders.

Also remember the potential to drop pieces is always there. It's being in too much of a hurry to move once you see a "good" move that causes it.

Originally posted by buddy2
The funny thing was, when i dropped the rook, i realized it immediately after hitting the move button without the board being in front of me. It was a sort of intuitive realization in my mind's eye that the rook and queen were lined up. It took me a few minutes to get the board back on the screen and lo and behold, the rook was hanging.

Out of curiosity, is there an agreed-upon definition of 'blunder'? At my level of chess (beginner), I suppose it is making an unforced move after which the opponent can respond by immediately winning a pawn or piece for free, or can immediately take a piece with an inferior piece that I can then capture with net loss in value to me. At the master level, maybe a blunder is an unforced move which allows the opponent to make a three-move combination which results in the player having an isolated pawn or something like that.

A crap move that throws away an equal or winning position :-)

Hm it should also include the missed move, not taking advantage of the other players blunder.



Heres a good example.


1. c4 b5 2. b3 bxc4 3. bxc4 c5 4. g3 Nc6 5. Bg2 d6?? 6. e3?? Bc8b7
😵

Phew !!


Game 703575

Originally posted by Grayeyesofsorrow
... it should also include the missed move, not taking advantage of the other players blunder...Phew !!

Making a move which is disasterously and catastrophically worse than a good move resulting in a dramatically worse game than the good move would have given.

Originally posted by mateulose
I figured out why I stink at chess, I down right blunder games, especially in the late middlegame, when the queen or any peice has a lot of freedom for example, in won positions. My opponent's position looks so bad, that I don't see the threats of desperate moves he may attempt, and sometimes I even miss a checkmate, with a simple defense. I play great, ...[text shortened]... n, and you have more then enough time to reflect and catch a DESPERATO tactic, but in blitz. . .

Game 701760

31. ... Bxd5?? throws away a winning position and material advantage.

Originally posted by mateulose
Don't say I move too quickly, as I spend more time thinking then my opponents, many times these players I play against move in only a few seconds, but they don't seem to make any FATAL mistakes.

Mateulose--
Maybe you should try to figure out if there's a pattern to these blunders. Do they resemble each other at all? Do they tend to occur at a certain juncture in the game? Do they tend to occur as you are attacking or defending?

Also-- try playing the role-playing game where you put yourself into the shoes of your opponent after your move, and do your darndest to refute it. I think often we see an adversary's blunders more readily than our own, so if you make yourself your own adversary, perhaps your blunders will become apparent more readily.

Admittedly, I don't often follow the advice I just gave you-- that's probably one of the main reasons behind my mediocre play.

Originally posted by mateulose
The problem with that analogy is, quite simply, there is no way to train yourself on how not to blunder. I work my butt off, read chess books, but I haven't ever found a title, "how to avoid blundering" on the book shelves. I don't honestly think there is a magic formula or practice that can prevent it, other then years of chess experience, which I do ...[text shortened]... raging peices across the screen, I lose my focus, perhabs I would have better luck in OTB chess?