What do you do when you blunder?

I just recently blundered very early in a game resulting in the loss of a knight and then my counter play has been sub par as well (pretty much today I shouldn't be playing chess at all)

 I had some potential counter play which has been defended against and now its just looking like watching my opponent beat me.  (its only like move 15)

I have a strong desire to just quit, yet I believe that I should keep playing until I see a forced mate.  This is partially for learniing purposes and also just because I always prefer to execute my attack rather than have people just resign. 

 But then on top of my desire to just resign - I remember reading all the posts about people complaining about people not conceding as soon as the position is such that it is a "clear" victory for one side. 

So anyway, this is just a long winded post asking the question - what do you do when you blunder? in the opening? in the middle game? in the end game?

I always try to wait it out to see if a tactical posibility arises and if it does that is great. And if a tactical possibility doesn't arise in the game then you should try to divert all of your energy into trying to get a draw by forced perpetual check or by putting your opponent into a stalemate trap. And about people getting mad for you not resigning when you have significant material losses I have one thing to say. If they can't beat you or don't have the patience to play a game they are winning maybe chess isn't the right game for them. I have to admit though that sometimes I lose interest and resign a game because I either have a headache or don't want to commit so much energy for the slim possibility of a draw. The general rule is that you should play as long as you have interest in the game and are enjoying it. Playing is better than not playing.

if i blunder more then two pawns then usually i resign. if i dont think i can win then i resign. the higher you go in the ranks the less chance you will servive a mistake. in fact chess is all about taking advantage of mistakes.

I usually curse and kick myself when I blunder. When it looks like I have lost, then I resign.

Once I look at the board and I'm down on material and probably position and I think to myself, "I have no idea what move to make." That's usually when I just resign.

First, conduct a ceremonial burning and burial of the offending chess piece

Then take stock and play on as hard as you can, some positions can still hold promise even if you are material down. Once you get the depressing feeling that you cannot turn the tables, then it may be appropriate to resign.

Now the most critical step, go back over the game and really work out how you came to commit the blunder in the first place. Once you have correctly attributed the cause, then buy another chess set and start another game.

I honestly get mad at myself for falling for something so stupid. But i fight it out for a while untill position is just a waist of time fight. then i learn from it so i dont make that kind of mistake again. I hate losing because of stupid errors on my part!...

look for counterchances. complicate the game. look for swindles. Resign if there is no chance of either of these.

suggested reading:

the art of defence in chess - andrew soltis -relevant parts

"swindles  book" [forgot the name, out of print] - larry evans

chess catechism - larry evans - relevant parts 

We all hate those stupid mistakes. But it is those stupid mistakes that are the mileposts of your chess career. I can still remember learning to play chess at home, thinking that I was destined to be the next world champion because of the ease with which I could beat those at home. Then I went to a chess club, got smashed in around 10 moves and thinking, "Wow, I still have a lot to learn."

Even nowadays, the mistakes may not be of the same magnitude, but I still experience those moments of "Wow, I still have a lot to learn."

 

It depends at what level you are playing. I would generally tend to resign if I lost a piece for little compensation. However, if it is early in the game, my opponent is not very highly rated, or I have a siginificant time advantage, I may play on.

 

In a game between grandmasters, playing on with such a disadvantage would be something of an insult. However, I advise those relatively new to the sport to play to checkmate.

The annoying thing about my current situation is the blunder doesn't teach me anything... I know better than to do what I did.  But for some reason I did it anyway.  Like I think I have said elsewhere... I think I should have just taken the day off of chess today.

exiledcanuck wrote: The annoying thing about my current situation is the blunder doesn't teach me anything... I know better than to do what I did.  But for some reason I did it anyway.  Like I think I have said elsewhere... I think I should have just taken the day off of chess today.

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Good idea. Everybody need a break every now and then.

blunder in the opening? resign immediatly.

blunder in the middlegame? complicate for possible compensation, resign if immediately if hopeless.

blunder in endgame? resign immediately. 

i feel there isn't much to learn after a blunder :)

I've been blundering all over the place lately.  It's been from a combination of bad insomnia, being overworked by my jobs/life, and game overload from tournaments relative to the amount of time I've been able to spend considering my moves recently.  I just shrug it off and play on unless it's something immediately losing, in which case I'd resign.  Just yesterday I blundered after completely failing to notice that one of my opponent's knights was attacking my unguarded bishop.  Blunders in my opinion are no big deal, after all it's just a game!

I blunder in one game out of three. And that is when I see it positive ... or when I actually see that I am blundering. But I always try to play until there is  no possible way to make something out of my position in the game. So I stop boring my adversary and myself. Resigning is in my opinion a sportive way to stop a lost game. But you have to see it when it's lost off course.

Ahhhrgg! I just now blundered and lost my queen..... 

My attitude is:
1. I am weak enough to make major blunders
2. My opponent is weak enough to be playing me
3. Ergo, my opponent is weak enough to blunder right back. 

I tend to resign when I can see - concretely - how my opponent can beat me (i.e. mate, queening a pawn, or forcing big material exhanges and simplifying when I am, say, a whole piece down for no compensation) and they have played some moves that demonstrate to me that they are aware of what needs to be done to bring home the win. In the meantime, I try to make life hard for my opponent, complicating as much as possible, trying to make threats, hoping for a blunder. Don't, however, be tempted to just launch a sacrificial barrage - unless you can see how it actually works it will make things worse and then you really can resign. You might just have to play stodgy defence for a while and wait for your chances.
As for opponents getting riled and feeling insulted when you don't resign - this is a good thing. An angry opponent or an impatient one is more likely to make mistakes, and that is what you are counting on. Don't EVER resign out of respect for an opponent.

I am so bad early on in games, that I usually make some sort of blunder.  Its just sheer complacency and lack of concentrantion.  Strangely, once I have done this, I play better for the rest of the game.  There was one game in which I was struggling to avoid being checkmated, and resorted to trying to force three fold repetition, using my knight.  But when I came to repeating the move for the third time, I moved my knight to a different square to uncover a discovered attack on my opponents queen.  My opponent probably saw this as a casual attempt to keep the came going a bit longer and, not seeing the danger, lost his queen and the game.  So, although I am a poor player myself, I suggest that you keep trying until the situation is obviously lost, because never mind how good your opponent is, they are human and can make mistakes.

 

When I blunder I get a little frustrated for falling for something or just moving a piece in a bad place. But when I blunder I usually make wack random moves killing his pieces and throwing any strategy he had.. Out. And since you are doing what he does not expect hes more prone to make a mistake.. Evening the game out. It also makes him think that you have the game under control and you know something he doesnt. It works.. :P

It depends on the severity of the blunder and whether or not I can see myself recovering in the near future. A blunder that immediately gives the game away I will usually resign. Less severe ones I will try to play out for at least a few more moves to see if I can recover.