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how to stop blundering

#1

For some reason I keep doing stupid blunders and major moments otb when I have above 30 mins. I missed many key chances against higher rateds due to this and I. My rating is 1970 current fide live rating 1945 because of my mistakes. I need to improve this as I have many tournaments upcoming in novemberand december and trying to push for nm before feb (I dropped to 2080 uscf from 2100.) What would you all suggest so I dont blunder and calculate all my canidate moves. I can find the correct canidate moves but dont calculate them deeply enough and I just play a worse move bc I did not calculate the correct canidate move much. So what training would help me improve this.

For some reason I keep doing stupid blunders and major moments otb when I have above 30 mins. I missed many key chances against higher rateds due to this and I. My rating is 1970 current fide live rating 1945 because of my mistakes. I need to improve this as I have many tournaments upcoming in novemberand december and trying to push for nm before feb (I dropped to 2080 uscf from 2100.) What would you all suggest so I dont blunder and calculate all my canidate moves. I can find the correct canidate moves but dont calculate them deeply enough and I just play a worse move bc I did not calculate the correct canidate move much. So what training would help me improve this.
#2

Sit on your hands? xxx and when you find a good move , look for a better one xxx

Sit on your hands? xxx and when you find a good move , look for a better one xxx
#3

Puzzles and always blunder check before every move, way easier said than done ofc. I’m a bit above 1900 FIDE myself and I struggle with the exact same

Puzzles and always blunder check before every move, way easier said than done ofc. I’m a bit above 1900 FIDE myself and I struggle with the exact same
#4

The best way to blunder check is to actually visualise you would have played the move right before you intend on playing it and then get a "new first impression" of the position. That way Im usually able to spot those blunders, that you see immediately after letting go of the piece. This recommendation was made in a chess book, I dont remember which.

Also puzzles. Not the difficult ones, that you only solve in 10+ minutes, but the easy ones, that you see in under a minute. Do a set of 14 really easy puzzles right before the game, preferably at the board when you arrive early. This way you are "warming up" your brain, as you would in a physical competition.

When you think about it thats a logical approach: training exactly what you find yourself lacking

Good luck for the tournament!

The best way to blunder check is to actually visualise you would have played the move right before you intend on playing it and then get a "new first impression" of the position. That way Im usually able to spot those blunders, that you see immediately after letting go of the piece. This recommendation was made in a chess book, I dont remember which. Also puzzles. Not the difficult ones, that you only solve in 10+ minutes, but the easy ones, that you see in under a minute. Do a set of 14 really easy puzzles right before the game, preferably at the board when you arrive early. This way you are "warming up" your brain, as you would in a physical competition. When you think about it thats a logical approach: training exactly what you find yourself lacking Good luck for the tournament!
#5

@trallalerocappuccino said in #4:

The best way to blunder check is to actually visualise you would have played the move right before you intend on playing it and then get a "new first impression" of the position. That way Im usually able to spot those blunders, that you see immediately after letting go of the piece. This recommendation was made in a chess book, I dont remember which.

Also puzzles. Not the difficult ones, that you only solve in 10+ minutes, but the easy ones, that you see in under a minute. Do a set of 14 really easy puzzles right before the game, preferably at the board when you arrive early. This way you are "warming up" your brain, as you would in a physical competition.

When you think about it thats a logical approach: training exactly what you find yourself lacking

Good luck for the tournament!
That first bit of advice sounds rlly helpful thx

@trallalerocappuccino said in #4: > The best way to blunder check is to actually visualise you would have played the move right before you intend on playing it and then get a "new first impression" of the position. That way Im usually able to spot those blunders, that you see immediately after letting go of the piece. This recommendation was made in a chess book, I dont remember which. > > Also puzzles. Not the difficult ones, that you only solve in 10+ minutes, but the easy ones, that you see in under a minute. Do a set of 14 really easy puzzles right before the game, preferably at the board when you arrive early. This way you are "warming up" your brain, as you would in a physical competition. > > When you think about it thats a logical approach: training exactly what you find yourself lacking > > Good luck for the tournament! That first bit of advice sounds rlly helpful thx
#6

Blunders often occur because we prioritize speed of play (managing the clock) over the depth and quality of our analysis (making good moves). We rush our decisions to save time rather than taking the necessary time to find the best move. This leads to superficial checks and missed tactical or strategic flaws. The clock forces our attention onto time management, and the fear of losing on time can lead to premature rushing, sacrificing move quality, even when not strictly necessary. This constant pressure to move quickly causes psychological stress. Unless a position is trivial, players are often under-using their allocated time. By spending more time (up to about 67%), players dramatically increase their chances of spotting tactical flaws or finding stronger plans, thus reducing blunders. In essence, a major source of blunders is the failure to use the full time resource available for making quality decisions. A possible solution is to stop playing fast-paced online games. If we need that kind of rush, maybe try a different outlet, like riding a dirt bike. Chess is a balancing act, sooner or later, you’ll fall.

Blunders often occur because we prioritize speed of play (managing the clock) over the depth and quality of our analysis (making good moves). We rush our decisions to save time rather than taking the necessary time to find the best move. This leads to superficial checks and missed tactical or strategic flaws. The clock forces our attention onto time management, and the fear of losing on time can lead to premature rushing, sacrificing move quality, even when not strictly necessary. This constant pressure to move quickly causes psychological stress. Unless a position is trivial, players are often under-using their allocated time. By spending more time (up to about 67%), players dramatically increase their chances of spotting tactical flaws or finding stronger plans, thus reducing blunders. In essence, a major source of blunders is the failure to use the full time resource available for making quality decisions. A possible solution is to stop playing fast-paced online games. If we need that kind of rush, maybe try a different outlet, like riding a dirt bike. Chess is a balancing act, sooner or later, you’ll fall.
#7

@Toscani said in #6:

Blunders often occur because we prioritize speed of play (managing the clock) over the depth and quality of our analysis (making good moves). We rush our decisions to save time rather than taking the necessary time to find the best move. This leads to superficial checks and missed tactical or strategic flaws. The clock forces our attention onto time management, and the fear of losing on time can lead to premature rushing, sacrificing move quality, even when not strictly necessary. This constant pressure to move quickly causes psychological stress. Unless a position is trivial, players are often under-using their allocated time. By spending more time (up to about 67%), players dramatically increase their chances of spotting tactical flaws or finding stronger plans, thus reducing blunders. In essence, a major source of blunders is the failure to use the full time resource available for making quality decisions. A possible solution is to stop playing fast-paced online games. If we need that kind of rush, maybe try a different outlet, like riding a dirt bike. Chess is a balancing act, sooner or later, you’ll fall.
Yeah I play quite a bit of ultra on this acc and my main

@Toscani said in #6: > Blunders often occur because we prioritize speed of play (managing the clock) over the depth and quality of our analysis (making good moves). We rush our decisions to save time rather than taking the necessary time to find the best move. This leads to superficial checks and missed tactical or strategic flaws. The clock forces our attention onto time management, and the fear of losing on time can lead to premature rushing, sacrificing move quality, even when not strictly necessary. This constant pressure to move quickly causes psychological stress. Unless a position is trivial, players are often under-using their allocated time. By spending more time (up to about 67%), players dramatically increase their chances of spotting tactical flaws or finding stronger plans, thus reducing blunders. In essence, a major source of blunders is the failure to use the full time resource available for making quality decisions. A possible solution is to stop playing fast-paced online games. If we need that kind of rush, maybe try a different outlet, like riding a dirt bike. Chess is a balancing act, sooner or later, you’ll fall. Yeah I play quite a bit of ultra on this acc and my main
#8

"... For many people with little time for chess the default option is internet blitz, in which the players have five minutes or less for the entire game. I cannot warn too strongly against taking this route if you want to improve, the problem being that playing too many games at a fast time limit will corrupt the decision making process. Instead of playing good moves, a player honed on blitz will look for moves he can make quickly and perhaps bring himself closer to a win on time. ...
... you need to keep to time limits in which the chess position is more relevant than the thinking time, and, ideally, much more relevant. I actually believe that only Grandmasters (2500+) should play five minute blitz, ... 1500 players should have at least 25 minutes thinking time for a game -- or a rough equivalent if they are using an incremental time limits. ..." - GM Nigel Davies (2010)

"... For many people with little time for chess the default option is internet blitz, in which the players have five minutes or less for the entire game. I cannot warn too strongly against taking this route if you want to improve, the problem being that playing too many games at a fast time limit will corrupt the decision making process. Instead of playing good moves, a player honed on blitz will look for moves he can make quickly and perhaps bring himself closer to a win on time. ... ... you need to keep to time limits in which the chess position is more relevant than the thinking time, and, ideally, much more relevant. I actually believe that only Grandmasters (2500+) should play five minute blitz, ... 1500 players should have at least 25 minutes thinking time for a game -- or a rough equivalent if they are using an incremental time limits. ..." - GM Nigel Davies (2010)
#10

#1: If you are certain that you have found the correct move, do not play it; calculate everything again. Think like this: 'Everything is bad until proven otherwise. Nothing is good until proven to be so twice (at least).' Humans seem to make the joy of finding good decisions take over and do not double-check them.
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#7: I advise against quoting posts, as it unnecessarily takes up space in the forums.

#1: If you are certain that you have found the correct move, do not play it; calculate everything again. Think like this: 'Everything is bad until proven otherwise. Nothing is good until proven to be so twice (at least).' Humans seem to make the joy of finding good decisions take over and do not double-check them. - #7: I advise against quoting posts, as it unnecessarily takes up space in the forums.

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