Recently I haven't been able to play any games without blundering material and it's really getting to me. No matter what the position is I always manage to just blunder something and lose the game. It's getting to the point where I don't even want to play anymore because if I keep blundering advantages away then what does it matter if all the other moves weren't terrible?
Okay I can play well for a while but if I inevitably blunder and lose it all then what was the point of playing all the other moves? It just seems like I'm wasting time putting all that effort into playing for it all to be swept away sooner or later by a blunder that makes it all just pointless.
I don't even care about winning and losing anymore but just stopping blunders. If I win even after a blunder it means nothing to me anyway. It's just really hard to stay motivated to play anymore if I can't fix this but I really don't know what to do about it and honestly it makes me not even want to play anymore. What should I do?
Just don't play anymore.
I know what you mean. I seem to blunder more when playing much lower rated players. I may go to sleep mentally after subconsciously thinking i have won. It may be that weaker players use unusual and even stupid openings that I should punish easily but i don't for some reason. Stronger players don't seem to play this rubbish and stick to known openings that I know the response for. The least innacuracies, mistakes and blunders happens when I am playing someone between 100 points below and 50 points above. The best centipawn loss was 11 over a game of 30 or so moves. It is frustrating to make blunders but it is a point to concentrate on and analyse my games thoroughly to get a handle on thinking processes, move times and effective use of your time.
Ask yourself if there is a pattern to blunders such as does it happen when you are well ahead, in complex positions, with time trouble, not seeing discovered checks, not counting multiple exchanges properly, not seeing potential skewers, not seeing back row mates, not seeing pins or sacrifices. Just go over your games and keep a tally of the category that your blunders fall into. I improve by doing the training puzzles and I have broken through my flawed thinking process recently. That is, I could not get past my tendency to intuitive decision making rather than proper process of calculating the best move or a mating sequence. I have to force myself to stop choosing a move that looks right and properly use a decision making tree to decide on candidate moves and also go through an opponents options to eliminate threats that can cause blunders. I used to beat myself up every time I made a blunder. You know, slapping forehead, DOH, why are you playing chess you dimwit, don't you ever learn? Don't give up on yourself. We can do it!
You could try a slower time control. I used to play 10+0. I recently started using 15+10. I'm still getting used to the idea that I can and I should move much slower. I need to slow down because I still make mistakes but I will get there.
I suggest don't worry about losing. Just study the game to find what you did wrong and let stockfish help you do that. Eventually you will start winning again.
Also, you might want to thank goodness you're playing chess at the best chess website in the universe.
Everyone blunders, see Spassky vs Fischer game 1.
en.lichess.org/oP23sZWD#0Yeah I know blunders happen sometimes but I make them every game and it's just getting old at this point. I could play other time controls but I really don't like to go over 5 minutes online.
It's just hard to stay motivated to find strong moves anymore.
#5 Fischer knew Bxh2 was bad, and would lose him the game. Chess has a long, proud history of psychological warfare, and this was one of the first of many instances during the 1972 match meant to put off Spassky. That kind of move would freak me out too, if my opponent was 2800, no matter if I knew it was bad or not.
Every game end by one Blunder or two... if its not a Draw dooo :)
I know exactly how you feel, I blunder a lot as well...
I see almost no point in analyzing either, as I know the moment I lost was when I hung the piece at move X...
In my case, I think this is more due to 'Kotov syndrome', I look at some moves, don't like then (or even have no idea which move to make), and then I say to myself "Ok, time is running, just make a move", and exactly after I move, I see: "Oh, Wait... He can simply take that..."
Another thing that happens is situations like this:
[It was a friendly OTB game, I was black and had a knight in f6 defending an invasion on e8 and he had a knight on g5]
Me thinking:
- Ok, I can't move the knight because it is defending e8..
- Hmmm, what I do if he plays Nxh7? Oh, of course, I can just play Nxh7.
Totally forgetting what I had just thought about the knight's job defending e8... This happens very often that I will think about something, then thing about something else, and in the end I will simply forget what I had thought in the beginning, no matter how obvious it is.
To avoid blundering potential backrank mates, skewers, etc. I think it's helpful to think "If it was my opponent, and not me, to move now, what would he do?" Then you at least will know what he is threatening. Although this is a bit difficult to do in fast games.
This post is probably not very helpful lol But at least you know you are not alone in your suffering. :D
Thanks for the replies. I don't really know what to think about it. Maybe I should just play longer time controls or something. Idunno.