Week 47: why do I keep blundering in chess? Forty reasons in thirteen games
Week 47 is the week the slide continued. From November 25 to December 1, 2024, I played 13 rapid games, won 4 and lost 9, and my rating went from 1105 to 1074. The engine counted 40 blunders of mine, 3.1 per game, and my average accuracy was 69.0 %, one of the lowest of this whole period. Why do I keep blundering in chess? This week I went looking for an answer in the three worst moments, and they turned out to be the same kind of move.
The week in numbers
| Stat | This week |
|---|---|
| Rating | 1105 → 1074 (-31) |
| Games | 13 (#1144–#1156) |
| Wins / losses / draws | 4 / 9 / 0 |
| Blunders (my moves) | 40 (3.1 per game) |
| Average accuracy | 69.0 % |
| Most played openings | Indian Game London System (2), Queens Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation (2), Pirc Defense (2) |
The blunders were not spread evenly: 36 of the 40 came in my 9 losses, four per lost game. The week opened with another loss, my eighth in a row counting the end of week 46; after two wins I then lost seven more in a row, from game 1147 to game 1153, and dropped to 1067. Five of the nine losses were recorded as "game abandoned".
The openings were a mix of old and new. With White I stayed with my 1.d4–Bf4 setup and went 2–5. With Black I kept experimenting with ...d6 setups: three Pirc Defense games (one win, two losses), a King's Indian (lost) and my best game of the week, a win Chess.com files under "Nimzowitsch Defense": game 1146 against pshihn (1137), 90.0 % accuracy and no blunders.
Why do I keep blundering in chess? Three moments, one habit
When I lined up the key moments, the pattern was clear: in each one, something of mine was under attack, or about to be, and I played a move that did something else.
Game 1144: counter-attacking while my queen was hanging
With White against tommytatws20 (1151), in a London System, I was completely winning: +6.65. Black's rook on b2 was attacking my queen on b7, and I attacked Black's queen with my rook.
Raf1 attacks the queen on f2, which looks like a strong reply. The engine's answer is a desperado, a piece that is lost anyway grabbing something on its way out: 24...Qxg1+, the queen takes my rook with check, and after I recapture, the rook on b2 takes my queen on b7. The evaluation swings from +6.65 to -4.87. Moving my queen first, Qc7 (or Qe4, Qd5 in a fresh engine run), kept "white is completely winning". My opponent missed it and played 24...Qd2, and I stayed winning for the rest of the game. Then I lost on time: on my last move I was still +4.20, with 12 seconds left.
Game 1145: two attacked bishops, and the queen move that saved only one
With White against Brugnon (1087), I was at +4.46. Both my bishops were under attack: the one on b5 by Black's bishop on d7, the one on e5 by Black's bishop on d6.
Qa4 protects the bishop on b5, but the engine's reply Bxe5 takes the other one and, as position.py says, "attacks the pawn on the queen's side, which has no defender, and behind it the rook in the corner". The score dropped to +2.01. The engine's choice was to capture first and with check: 11.Bxd7+ Qxd7 12.Bxf6, "white is winning". My opponent blundered a move later and I won the game by resignation, but the logic is the same as in game 1144: I defended one thing and ignored the other.
Game 1147: a quiet bishop move that let Black open the c-file
With White against vinioliveirah (1144), in a London System, the position was equal (+0.07). I moved my bishop from e2 to d3.
This one is less obvious. The engine's reply is 12...cxd4 13.cxd4 Nxd4: the knight takes a central pawn and attacks my queen, with Black's rook on c8 now looking down the open c-file at it too. All of White's best answers are queen moves, and the verdict is "clearly better for black" (-2.51). The game analysis preferred h3; a fresh run also likes simple rook moves (Rac1, Rfe1) that keep it equal. In the game Black played 12...Nh5 instead, but by move 15 the engine had me at -4.43, and I abandoned.
The lesson of the week
Why do I keep blundering? Because when something of mine is attacked, I answer with whatever feels most active, and I don't list all the opponent's captures first. In game 1144 that meant a counter-attack while my queen was hanging; in game 1145, defending one bishop and losing the other; in game 1147, not seeing that a pawn trade would open a file onto my queen. The fix is boring but specific: when I'm under attack, first list everything my opponent can capture next move, then choose. And, from game 1144 again: when I'm +6 with less than a minute, the simplest move is the best move.
All games this week
| Game # | Date | Colour | Opponent (rating) | Result | Opening | Accuracy | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1144 | Nov 25 | White | tommytatws20 (1151) | Loss | Indian Game London System | 60.9 % | game |
| 1145 | Nov 25 | White | Brugnon (1087) | Win | Indian Game London System | 84.9 % | game |
| 1146 | Nov 25 | Black | pshihn (1137) | Win | Nimzowitsch Defense Declined Williams Variation | 90.0 % | game |
| 1147 | Nov 26 | White | vinioliveirah (1144) | Loss | London System | 67.1 % | game |
| 1148 | Nov 26 | White | cazoulevrai (1109) | Loss | Queens Pawn Opening Krause Variation | 63.6 % | game |
| 1149 | Nov 26 | Black | kchotupriya (1090) | Loss | Van t Kruijs Opening | 77.2 % | game |
| 1150 | Nov 27 | White | Turno_Zero (1102) | Loss | Queens Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 54.9 % | game |
| 1151 | Nov 28 | Black | quangdu1234 (1078) | Loss | Pirc Defense | 51.1 % | game |
| 1152 | Nov 28 | Black | TheRealDeal1399 (1105) | Loss | Kings Indian Defense Normal Variation | 66.0 % | game |
| 1153 | Nov 29 | Black | Kevin2271 (1096) | Loss | Pirc Defense Modern Defense Geller System | 73.0 % | game |
| 1154 | Nov 29 | White | Tomnoshop (1050) | Win | Queens Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 83.0 % | game |
| 1155 | Dec 1 | Black | HillyBij (1046) | Win | Pirc Defense | 82.7 % | game |
| 1156 | Dec 1 | White | ahmedi8888 (1073) | Loss | Queens Pawn Opening Horwitz Defense | 43.0 % | game |
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Frequently asked questions
Why do I keep blundering in chess?
In my week 47 games the pattern was answering a threat with a counter-threat without checking the opponent's captures. In game 1144 my queen was attacked and I attacked Black's queen instead; the engine's reply wins my queen.
How many blunders per game is a lot?
For me, 3.1 per game was one of my worst weeks: 40 blunders in 13 games, 36 of them in the 9 games I lost. In good weeks I was closer to 1.5.
Can you lose on time while winning?
Yes. In game 1144 I was still at +4.20 on my last move, with 12 seconds left, and lost on time.