[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: The cure for chronic blundering

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
The cure for chronic blundering
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1214865981.shtml


   An anonymous reader writes:

     [I've noticed that]...more than half (60% or more!) of my losses
     are the result of an outright blunder. Things like mate in one when
     it can easily be defended, hanging pieces for nothing, and dropping
     pawns like nobody's business. It's easy to do some tactical puzzles
     or study some rook and pawn endgames, but as for the blunders it's
     simply a matter of doing it or not doing it. If this were simply
     affecting my blitz games I wouldn't care so much, but I've done
     some really stupid things in OTB games too. I know to look once
     more at the position before finally making your move and
     everything, but for some reason it doesn't seem to matter. I was
     wondering if there is any input you have on the subject, and more
     than the cliche "look at the position like a beginner" stuff I see
     everywhere. Maybe this is a (serious!) problem with other people
     too, and maybe they have found a way to fix it! Thanks[.]

   Here's my advice: quit.

   ([1]show)

   Not forever, of course. But sometimes one needs to take a little break
   from the game to regain one's freshness. There was a stretch of
   tournament games over a 1-2 month period where I blundered something
   in every game, seemingly no matter what I did. Fortunately, after
   taking a few months off of tournament chess, everything returned to
   normal.

   There are other possible explanations as well. Depending on how strong
   you are, it may be that your basic tactical skill needs to
   strengthened. Other possible culprits include general fitness and
   mood. If you're out of shape and getting tired during tournaments,
   that could certainly contribute to blunders. Do you get enough sleep
   during tournaments? Are you sufficiently free of outside stress to
   focus on your games? If not, maybe work on that as well.

   Another idea: develop your concentration skills. That's the flip side
   of the negatives given above. A lack of sleep generally undermines
   concentration, but instead of settling on our normal, default levels
   of concentration, we can cultivate it by, among other things, gamelike
   training.

   Other ideas, readers?

   ([2]hide)

References

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   2. file://localhost/var/www/powerblogs/chessmind/posts/1214865981.html