Do intermediate chess players (1500-) still make blunders?

Hi all,

I'm pretty new to this forums and trying to re-ignite my interest for chess. I wonder, what was your ranking when you stopped making blunders in your matches? at least on a regular basis.

Thanks!

P.s. The definition of blunder might be a bit ambiguous, I'm referring to what is classified as a "blunder" in chess.com engine analyzer.

I am 1550+ in both rapid and daily. It depends on the position. If the position is new we could blunder 

Like you wouldn't believe! I probably have one or more blunders, and whole lot of "mistakes", every game and I'm 1700 blitz. I'm certainly much better than I was at 1200 or 800, but a very long way from mastering the game (if such a thing can ever really be said). Good luck with your chess!

A 1500 might make a simple blunder rarely, say 1 in 5ish games, just not seeing that a piece or pawn is attacked. But is more likely to make calculation errors in complex positions or when comparing a few different candidate lines, that leads to a blunder. I frequently seem to blunder a large advantage by selecting an inferior move because I've rejected the stronger move due to a calculation error. This is the sort of thing that post game analysis turns up.

I did like 10 blunders a game!

I think each match I average make 3-4 blunders!

+1 normally my games are 0-1 blunder and the blunder isn’t like say checkmate normally it’s a missed pin on something that losses a minor piece which is in most games for 1500s lost at that point unless they have a massive counter attack.

sound not comfortale to me!

The high level blunders are not like leaving a queen sitting to be sniped. It Is more like they didn't clearly see 3 moves ahead and walked into a trap, or couldn't avoid a double checkmate and enguard from an exposed check. Or only had every piece doing multiple jobs of attacking 2 pieces and defending 2 pieces simultaneously, rather than the requisite 3 attacks and defenses, while simultaneously predicting the other played would sacrifice 3 pieces and a queen to lure you into a honeytrap. But blunders all the same. And occasionally play lousy whence tired.

What I see frequently at 1500 are anti positional moves that make no sense, poorly principled play such as neglecting development or entering into unfavourable trades while behind in material, and overly aggressive play attempting to attack from a weak position. I've won a few games when opponents have pushed too hard, I've held my position together and made simple improvements and trades, then counter attacked on their mistake.

...to the extent that in the absence of a clear target and plan my game strategy is Improve-and-wait.

Yes 1500's blunder. 1500's make "mistakes" every single game, and certainly "blunders" at least every other game or so. sometimes 1500's will blunder 3-4 moves in a game, sometimes none, but its frequent. But then again 2800's blunder so this question is redundant.

If you're a human you will blunder, like someone mentioned earlier, you can't avoid blunders so it just comes down to frequency. higher rated players tend to avoid them more often than lower rated players. To be honest asking if 1500's blunder is like asking if a football player can make a mistake with the ball at their feet during a dribble. It's gonna happen, but the higher the level, the less mistakes obviously. 

even grandmasters make mistakes, everyone does, we're not computers, are we?

1500s most certainly still make blunders, although I will admit when I was 1500 they seemed to play perfectly.

Everyone blunders, so intermediates still blunder as well. However, one move blunders, such as simply hanging a piece like beginners do, is rare at this point. Most of the blunders are tactical, such as overloaded pieces, skewers, and sometimes even simple forks although that is more rare. Though 1500s overall play decent chess at least in terms of not blundering, we are not very good positionally, so that is usually how 1500s lose to higher level players. 

Not my finest moment at this site (reminded me of one of the first things they taught me when I played chess at club level in the 80s: SIT ON YOUR HANDS).

Thanks for the long list of answers! Much appreciated. Just wondering, is there any learning section for improving the checkboard vision? I see there's actually a "Vision" Training mode but it's for learning coordinates. My aim is to cut down the time I spend in checking if one of my pieces is under threat, for example. Thanks

YES

I would suggest simply doing tactics! Puzzles force you to keep track of pieces and their potential ideas for multiple moves ahead, which improves your memory and board vision. 

Just make sure to fully complete puzzle in your head, before making the first move (if you want to improve memory and board vision)