Week 114: 46 blunders, +9 rating, and how to stop blundering in chess
How do you gain rating in a week where you blunder 46 times? From April 13 to 18, 2026, I played 12 rapid games and went from 1219 to 1228: six wins, five losses and one draw. My average accuracy was 73.0%, lower than in any of the three weeks before, and Stockfish marked 46 of my moves as blunders. That is close to four per game. My opponents were blundering too, which is the only reason the number at the end went up. If I want to learn how to stop blundering in chess, this is the week to dissect.
The week in numbers
| Games | 12 |
| Wins / losses / draws | 6 / 5 / 1 |
| Rating | 1219 → 1228 (+9) |
| Average accuracy | 73.0% |
| My blunders | 46 |
| With White | 3 wins, 1 loss, 1 draw |
| With Black | 3 wins, 4 losses |
| Most played | Modern Defense with 1 e4 (2), Zukertort Variation (2), Modern Defense with 1 d4 (2) |
Where the 46 blunders came from
They weren't spread evenly. Four games account for 30 of them: eight in game 2048, eight in game 2050, seven in game 2046 and seven more in game 2044. At the other end, game 2053 had none and games 2043 and 2047 had one each.
Game 2047 against Somisiji (1245) was the best of the week: 95.3% accuracy, a single blunder, and a checkmate on move 62. Game 2054 against lmpkess (1252) was the worst: 44.9%, four blunders in a Pirc Defense, checkmated on move 22.
The strangest result was the draw, game 2048 against playChessWithMeGG (1232). The evaluation swung all game long: −6.22 after my 12th move, +3.79 before my 36th, and +10.11 before my 50th, which my move then turned into −3.40. By then I was moving with less than a minute on the clock. From move 42 to move 50 I blundered four times. Chess.com recorded it as "drawn by timeout vs insufficient material", with 9 seconds left on my clock after my last move.
Moment one: a knight with no defender
Game 2043, Black against balonsd (1211), King's Indian Defense. On move 26 White was a bit better (+1.08). My bishop on f5 had to decide where to go.
I played bishop to d7. White's answer, according to the engine, is bishop to f3: it attacks my knight on d5, which has no defender, and behind it my rook on a8, on the same long diagonal. That is a double attack I can't meet, and the evaluation went to +3.95. Bishop to e6 would have protected the knight. I lost the game (game 2043).
Moment two: defending when I could hit back
Game 2044, Black against Escravoprudente2023 (1217), East Indian Colle System. On move 13 I was clearly better (−2.87). My knight on e4 was attacked by White's f3 pawn.
I defended with pawn to f5. The engine prefers pawn to e5, which attacks White's knight on d4. Its line: if White takes my knight, I take theirs, and then my queen gives check on h4. Black stays winning. After my f5, the line starts with White simply taking on e4, and the evaluation went to +0.49. A plus sign for White in a position where I was clearly better. This was the first of seven blunders in this game, and I still won by checkmate on move 61, because my opponent also made seven (game 2044).
Moment three: the queen left hanging
Game 2045, Black against mbinwang (1238), Modern Defense with 1 e4. On move 13 I was a little better (−0.96), with my queen in the center on d5 and my bishop deep in White's camp on b2.
I pulled the bishop back to g7. White's best reply, bishop to c4, attacks my queen, which has no defender, and after the queen moves White's rook takes on b7. The engine jumped to +3.52. Bishop to d4 attacks White's queen first and keeps me slightly better. I won this one too, by abandonment on move 37, after my opponent made seven blunders (game 2045).
The lesson of the week
Loose pieces drop off. In game 2043 my knight had no defender; in game 2045 my queen had none. Both times the engine's punishing move was a single piece move that attacked the loose piece. So my blunder check, before I touch anything, is now: which of my pieces has no defender, and which of their pieces could attack it next move? It takes a few seconds, and in game 2048 I didn't have those seconds, which is a separate lesson about the clock.
All games this week
| Game # | Date | Colour | Opponent (rating) | Result | Opening | Accuracy | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2043 | Apr 13 | Black | balonsd (1211) | Loss | King's Indian Defense, Normal Variation | 84.7% | game |
| 2044 | Apr 13 | Black | Escravoprudente2023 (1217) | Win | Indian Game, East Indian Colle System | 81.4% | game |
| 2045 | Apr 14 | Black | mbinwang (1238) | Win | Modern Defense with 1 e4 | 74.8% | game |
| 2046 | Apr 14 | White | EvgeniyMar42 (1235) | Win | Queen's Pawn Opening, Zukertort Variation | 76.0% | game |
| 2047 | Apr 15 | Black | Somisiji (1245) | Win | Indian Game, Knights Variation, East Indian Defense | 95.3% | game |
| 2048 | Apr 15 | White | playChessWithMeGG (1232) | Draw | Modern Defense with 1 d4 | 58.1% | game |
| 2049 | Apr 16 | Black | Sam10ne (1241) | Loss | Grob Opening | 45.8% | game |
| 2050 | Apr 16 | Black | Chessmaster197711 (1242) | Loss | Modern Defense with 1 e4 | 52.5% | game |
| 2051 | Apr 16 | White | Thomas180804 (1236) | Loss | Queen's Pawn Opening, Zukertort Variation | 79.7% | game |
| 2052 | Apr 17 | White | Suneesh777 (1222) | Win | Queen's Pawn Opening, Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 88.9% | game |
| 2053 | Apr 17 | White | WISIN0825 (1218) | Win | Modern Defense with 1 d4 | 94.0% | game |
| 2054 | Apr 18 | Black | lmpkess (1252) | Loss | Pirc Defense | 44.9% | game |
Before this: week 113. After this: week 115. The whole series lives on the journey page, and the same blunder check can run on your games: review your own games like this.
Frequently asked questions
How do I stop blundering in chess?
My week 114 suggests starting with loose pieces. In two of the three key moments below, the piece that came under attack had no defender, and the engine's punishing move went straight for it. Before each move, find your undefended pieces and ask what can hit them next.
Can you gain rating while blundering a lot?
For a while, yes. I made 46 blunders in 12 games and still went from 1219 to 1228, because my opponents blundered too: in game 2044 we made seven blunders each and I won by checkmate.
Does time pressure cause blunders?
It did in game 2048. From move 42 on I had less than a minute, and I blundered four times in nine moves, including one that turned a +10.11 position into −3.40. The game ended in a draw.