Blunders

How do you start to eliminate blunders?

I am about 1300 rating and most of the time I defeat myself my making monumental blunders.

So is there some kind of mental discipline I can practice that will enable me to slowly eradicate blunders?

All polite advice welcome :)

Hmmm...I've never been able to eliminate blunders, so thanks for posting this. I never even thought to ask. In fact, I've befriended the blunder

I would say force yourself to Triple-Check each move and go through a mental
checklist.  Is my king safe?  Is my queen safe?  Are my rooks safe?  Are my bishops safe?  Are my knights safe?  Are all my pawns safe?  Until you bring your ranking above 1500 take special care not to give away even a pawn.  Good luck.

i am rasing my member points by comenting in every thing!!!

On this site I'm rated ~1900 (inflated) and I still make blunders!

I don't think there's a real way to avoid it completely, although I think minimizing the amount of times you do blunder is achievable. Most games I now only blunder 1 or 2 times...someday...

i feel the more you focus on the game, the more you are able to avoid making a blunder. when it's your opponent's turn, it's a good idea to keep a mental note of where your opponent's pieces can move to, so that you have an idea of what squares are potential no-nos. other than that, just slow down your moves as many blunders happen for playing too fast. my main problem is really the first one. i play a lot of 5 and 10 mins blitz and i tend to play natural-looking moves without looking too hard.

Biggest blunder issues that happen to me is not looking at where the opposing  knights and bishops are, in relation to my pieces.  Double and triple checking that before moving, have helped me a bit.....

You really just need to discipline yourself to ask, what will my opponent play in response to this move.  You do your planning your calculation, you have a move.  You can even write it down, but then just imagine the move look at your opponents side and think what will he play.  As long as you don't skip this step it should eliminate a lot of blunders

In turn based chess, with no time pressure and the ability to use the analysis board, it is easier to prevent blunders. After choosing your move, you can check each of your opponents responses...most of these you'll be able to discount in half a second or less, some will take a little more thought, and one or two you might need to calculate a few moves ahead. If you find a problem, then you can think of another move.

Over the board you need a somewhat different approach, but i wouldn't be the best to give advice on that as i blunder all the time in fast games (probably MOST of my fast games have a significant tactical blunder).

We all blunder, that's for sure.  I even stopped playing as my concentration at age 47 is so bad. 

There are three types of error in chess.  One can make blunders, mistakes, or
inaccuracies.  Triple-Checking should eliminate most blunders(really bad moves)
and some mistakes.  However, some mistakes will be due to poor strategy so
one can only hope to reduce them.  Inaccuracies can never be eliminated.  It
takes a lifetime of playing and studying chess to reduce them and improvement
is slow so one must try to enjoy the game of chess along the way.

Thankyou all for your kind replies, they are much appreciated.

I have been trying to do some self observation as I play to try and determine the source of the blunders and I have noticed these tendencies in myself:

1) Tunnel vision - an over preoccupation of one part of the board where I feel the action is focused at the expense of the rest of the board. This results in me forgetting the opponents long range pieces.

2) Moving instinctively, mechanically or too quickly.

3) Playing the first move that I think will be a good one instead of examining candidate moves.

4) Being so focussed upon my own plan that the opponents becomes almost inconsequential with the result that I do not properly think about what he/she is trying to do.

Together these four are formidable opponents - this apart from the person I am playing!!!

Now the question is - all together - this is too much to try and correct whilst playing a game. So what strategy have you found helpful in eliminating one of the above four? Which is the best to work on at first?

Again any advice welcome.

Thanks Estragon for the sagely advice - I will endeavour to put it into practice :)

The main difference from where I am now ( 1400 in live chess ) and when I was 100 points lower is that I stopped hanging pieces. Here's what I think helps:

- keep track of the unprotected pieces and make sure they aren't threatened after each move

- watch out for discovered attacks; whenever a piece moves, try to look at the empty space it has left and how that changes things

- look for the opponent's answer, and also keep track of its major threats; that means just that when you see a possible threat, you say to yourself: "I'll have to watch out for..."

- play a lot; over time, you'll start making less and less blunders

-when you think for a long period of time, when you have decided your move, just think about something else for a second then have a second look, make sure you haven't missed anything

Hope i could help.

Tarrasch much appreciated - I will endeavour to put some of your advice into practice.

everone blunders. Kramnik missed a one move checkmate against a computer.  All you can do is minimise them.  Some ways that have worked for me:

1. practice and practice and more practice.  then you will spot the blunders more easily.

2. each move analyse all captures and checks that your opponant could play on his next move - even silly ones that at first site seem to lose.

3. Pay close attention to enemy knights near your position.

4.  Be wary if your queen or king are on the same file or diagonal as an enemy rook / bishop. particularly if there are no pawns in between.

The one thing that has helped my game recently is just slowing down enough to make sure I'm not hanging a piece.  It seems very simple and obvious. What also goes along with that is not falling in love with a plan to the exclusion of anything else. If my opponent has countered my plan then I have to try something else. When I try to proceed with a plan that has been stopped is usually when I will hang a piece.

I am no grandmaster, and my games are certainly not blunder free. But i do have one piece of advice that helps me, not just to eradicate blunders, but to lift my game altogether.

I talk to myself. Meaning i have a monologue in my head, as if i were talking out loud. I state the objective realities of the position ahead of me, down to the glaringly obvious. "This piece is here, those pawns are doubled, this file is open, his bishop is defending that" etc. Not just calculating "if this, then that".

This perhaps seems obvious, but hearing the facts out loud (in your head) might remind you of something you missed. And of course "If you see a good move, sit on your hands and look for a better one".

My game certainly suffers most when i depart from this method.

Blunders happen... so bad so sad. :8..!!!

Blumenfeld's rule:

"It often happens that a player carries out a deep and complicated calculation, but fails to spot something elementary right at the first move. In order to avoid such gross blunders, the Soviet master B. Blumenfeld made this recommendation:-
When you have finished your calculations, write down the move you have decided upon on the score sheet. Then examine the position for a short time 'through the eyes of a patzer'. Ask whether you have left a mate in one on, or left a piece or a pawn to be taken. Only when you have convinced yourself that there is no immediate catastrophe for you should you make the planned move."

-- KOTOV

In the interest of better time management, shouldn't you check those things before carrying out the deep and complicated calculation?