# Week 42: how to stop blundering in chess? Look at my wins

> Week 42 of my chess journey: 1001 → 1009 in 9 rapid games (5–4). One blunder in my wins, twelve in my losses: what that says about how to stop blundering.

- URL: https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/week-2024-w43/
- Updated: 2026-10-22
- Author: Ignacio Soler

Week 42 was small and, for once, fairly clean: **9 rapid games** from October 21 to 27, 2024, **5 wins and 4 losses**, and my rating went from **1001 to 1009**. I made **13 blunders**, about 1.4 per game, my lowest rate since early August. And the split tells the whole story of how to stop blundering in chess, or at least why it matters: **one blunder in my five wins, twelve in my four losses.**

## The week in numbers

| | |
|---|---|
| Games | 9 (#1034–#1042) |
| Wins / losses / draws | 5 / 4 / 0 |
| Rating | 1001 → 1009 (+8) |
| Average accuracy | 77.1 % |
| Blunders (my moves) | 13 (1.4 per game) |
| Most played openings | Queens Pawn Opening Zukertort Variation (1), Queens Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation (1), Reti Opening (1) |

Four of my five wins had no blunder at all. [Game 1040](https://www.chess.com/game/live/120339012502) against Bishop_Goes_PewPew (1029) was the best: 97.0 % accuracy, no mistakes or inaccuracies, and my rating peaked at 1025. [Game 1038](https://www.chess.com/game/live/120304056240) against tomerd9991 (999) was the cleanest game with Black: 96.0 %, not a single inaccuracy.

Then October 27 ended badly. After that 97 % win I lost twice in a row with Black, at 46.5 % and 49.4 % accuracy, both by checkmate, and both from positions where the engine had given me an 80 % or better chance of winning. Same day, same player, two very different games.

## How to stop blundering in chess: what separated my wins from my losses

I looked at what the four blunder-free wins had in common, and the honest answer is: nothing fancy. They were games where nothing got captured without me checking the recapture. Three of them were my usual 1.d4–Bf4 setups with White, one was a Giuoco Piano with Black. My losses came from the same kind of openings (two of them with the same 1.d4–Bf4 setup); what changed was whether I made a capture or a "threat" without asking what came back.

The three key moments of the week are exactly that kind of move.

### Game 1034: a threat that cost my opponent nothing

With White against Sco24 (1003), I was clearly better (+1.93). My bishop on b5 could go to c6 and attack the rook in the corner.

> **Game 1034, move 11: attacking the rook only invited it to move with tempo**
> Position (FEN): `r1bq1rk1/2p1nppp/p3pn2/1B1p4/Q2P1P2/2P2NP1/PP1N1P1P/R3K2R w KQ - 1 11`
> Played: Bc6 — Bc6 — bishop to c6, attacks the rook on a8
> Better: Bd3 — Bd3 — bishop from b5 to d3, clearly better for white

Bc6 does attack the rook, which had no defender. But a rook that's attacked can move, and the engine's reply is Rb8, which "attacks the pawn on the queen's side, which has no defender" — my b2 pawn. The other option for Black, Nxc6, simply trades off my bishop. Either way the advantage was gone (-0.63). The quiet Bd3 kept "clearly better for white". I lost the [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/120213554616), recorded as abandoned.

### Game 1036: the trade that let a pawn hit my bishop

With Black against RED10OUANE (985), the position was about equal (+0.32). White's knight had landed on e5 and I took it.

> **Game 1036, move 18: after fxe5 the pawn would attack my bishop on d6**
> Position (FEN): `r1b2rk1/pp1nqppp/3bp3/1P1pN3/3P1P2/P2BP3/1B4PP/2RQ1RK1 b - - 0 18`
> Played: Nxe5 — Nxe5 — knight takes the knight on e5 and attacks the bishop on d3
> Better: f6 — f6 — pawn from f7 to f6, attacking the knight instead

A knight for a knight looks like an even trade. But White recaptures with the f-pawn, and position.py describes that recapture as "Pawn takes the knight in the center: attacks the bishop on the queen's side", my bishop on d6. The engine's verdict after fxe5 is "white is winning" (+3.77 at the time, +4.83 in its own line). Chasing the knight with f6 kept "about equal". My opponent didn't find the best follow-up, and I won the [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/120290073254) by checkmate, but the trade itself was a blunder.

### Game 1037: the Englund Gambit capture that opened lines

With White against jie_naphie313 (1011), in the Englund Gambit (1.d4 e5), I was a pawn up and better (+1.15). Black's pawn on f6 was attacking my pawn on e5.

> **Game 1037, move 9: taking on f6 let Black's knight develop with a capture**
> Position (FEN): `r3k1nr/pppbq1pp/2p2p2/2b1P3/5B2/2N2NP1/PPP1PP1P/R2QK2R w KQkq - 0 9`
> Played: exf6 — exf6 — pawn takes on f6 and attacks the queen on e7
> Better: Qd3 — Qd3 — queen to d3, attacking the bishop on d7

exf6 attacks the queen, but Black simply recaptures with the knight, developing it with a capture, and the engine rates that "slightly better for black". The game's analysis preferred Qd3, a queen move that attacks the bishop on d7 (when I re-ran the position, the engine put the similar Qd2 on top, "slightly better for white"). In the [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/120290227104) it got worse: after 9...Nxf6 I grabbed a pawn with 10.Bxc7 and the evaluation went to -5.31. All four of my blunders in that game came in the opening, and I abandoned it after 30 half-moves.

## The lesson of the week

This week gave me the clearest evidence so far that, at 1000, blunders decide games: 1 in my wins, 12 in my losses. Two of the three key blunders were captures where the *recapture* was the problem: fxe5 hit my bishop, Nxf6 developed Black's knight for free. The third was a "threat" that let the attacked rook move with a threat of its own. My rule from week 42: **before I capture, I look at the recapture; before I threaten, I look at where the threatened piece goes.** It's not a cure for blundering, but it would have removed all three of these.

## All games this week

| Game # | Date | Colour | Opponent (rating) | Result | Opening | Accuracy | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1034 | Oct 21 | White | Sco24 (1003) | Loss | Queens Pawn Opening Zukertort Variation | 61.6 % | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/120213554616) |
| 1035 | Oct 21 | White | alfonsogarces (981) | Win | Queens Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 95.3 % | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/120218702640) |
| 1036 | Oct 25 | Black | RED10OUANE (985) | Win | Reti Opening | 89.3 % | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/120290073254) |
| 1037 | Oct 25 | White | jie_naphie313 (1011) | Loss | Englund Gambit | 63.8 % | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/120290227104) |
| 1038 | Oct 25 | Black | tomerd9991 (999) | Win | Giuoco Piano Game | 96.0 % | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/120304056240) |
| 1039 | Oct 25 | White | Charlie57-1 (980) | Win | Queens Pawn Opening Horwitz Defense | 95.2 % | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/120304144976) |
| 1040 | Oct 27 | White | Bishop_Goes_PewPew (1029) | Win | Indian Game | 97.0 % | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/120339012502) |
| 1041 | Oct 27 | Black | nyerges73 (1040) | Loss | Bishops Opening | 46.5 % | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/120339667750) |
| 1042 | Oct 27 | Black | flowern75 (1008) | Loss | Kings Pawn Opening | 49.4 % | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/120341951010) |

Previous: [week 41](/journey/week-2024-w42/) · Next: [week 43](/journey/week-2024-w44/) · [Journey hub](/journey/) · [Review your own games like this](/features/ai-chess-analysis/)

## FAQ

### How do I stop blundering in chess?

My week 42 games point to one habit: before each capture, look at your opponent's recapture and what that piece attacks afterwards. Two of my three key blunders were captures whose recapture hurt me.

### How much do blunders decide games at 1000?

In this week, almost completely: I made 1 blunder in my 5 wins and 12 in my 4 losses. Four of the five wins had no blunder at all.

### Is it normal to play well one game and badly the next?

It was for me. On October 27 I won at 97.0 % accuracy and then lost twice in a row at 46.5 % and 49.4 %, both from positions where the engine gave me at least an 80 % chance of winning.

## Related

- [From 631 to 1385: my chess journey in 2,117 games](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey.md)
- [Week 41 (Oct 2024): pins, pins and hanging on at 1001](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/week-2024-w42.md)
- [Week 43 (Oct 2024): 12–5 with White, 3–12 with Black](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/week-2024-w44.md)
- [Free AI chess analysis of your games, explained](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/features/ai-chess-analysis.md)