Recognizing your own weaknesses and limits is one of the most effective strategies to improve at chess. It’s no secret that analyzing your own games is a fantastic way to grow chess knowledge and to spot chess openings in a new light. Despite the fact that every world champion and other well-known players have suggested this practice for centuries, it is still not widely practiced.
One may imagine that the development of chess engines has made this procedure easier, but this is far from the case. When club players start the engine, they see their blunders described as numbers (evaluation) and motions, but they have no idea what caused them or what the nature of the situations they’re studying are.
“White is superior since the computer says plus one,” for example, is completely meaningless if the engine is turned off and there is still plenty of game to play. We’ll discuss about mistakes in this post; what are the most typical errors made by club players? Of course, it is not the same for everyone, but there is a pattern, and we can compile a list.
Here are the top ten enthusiasts blunders, according to us.
- Calculation errors
Calculation is one of the most difficult abilities for any chess player to master. It demands regular training and practice, regardless of skill level. A typical blunder made by club players is making an error when calculating lengthy variations.
Avoiding extensive variants might be one solution; make it basic and functional. Support your movements with a solid positional foundation, and only engage in difficult variants if you don’t have any other options.
- Mistaken piece exchange
This is a simple one. In an aficionado’s games, it is highly frequent to observe poor piece swaps. What has to be changed is the absence of right judgment in the resulting situations. Pay careful to if your trades benefit your opponent, such as by modifying the pawn structure or activating his pieces. Pay attention to the pieces that stay on the board rather than the ones that go.
- Ineffective time management
Club players can put up a valiant battle against superior opponents, but when time is running short, they will crumble. Improve your time management.
If you ponder about moves for more than 15 minutes, you will almost certainly make a mistake, and even if you don’t, it won’t matter since the game will continue, and you will have a significant shortage of time for deep thought at critical periods. It’s all about the time.
- Apprehension
The most typical error for a club player, one could imagine, is a lack of awareness of danger or failing to see the opponent’s threats. To some extent, this is accurate; nevertheless, in my experience, the contrary is more typical and maybe more harmful to their performance.
When confronted with a threat, club players are frequently too afraid (in the best meaning of the word). As a result, they become panicked and attempt to thwart the opponent’s intentions at all costs, often at an exorbitant expense. For instance, unnecessarily weakening the position, making a poor transaction, or taking a defensive stance. These blunders are readily profited from by the more experienced players. Make sure that the threat you are afraid of is real before you panic. Then figure out how to avoid or cope with it, but don’t give up other aspects of your position.
- Use unusual openings
Club players are most tempted to use unusual openings to “fool the opponent” in the quest for less study and faster outcomes. The reality is that they are frequently duped and offer the opponent basic advantages. Our recommendation is to stick to the original healthy chess rules rather than following the popular lines of the day.
Dubious openings are only for strong players who can make it work by capitalizing on a tactical opportunity in the middle game.
- Pieces that aren’t attached to each other
It occurs all the time. When John Nunn composed the famous L.P.D.O, which stands for “loose parts drop off,” he was dead on. Pay close attention to the sections that aren’t protected and don’t leave anything exposed. They are vulnerable to tactical blows.
- Attacks that occur too soon
Attacking requires preparation and justification. If your opponent hasn’t done something particularly egregious, such as retaining the king in the center or making too many pawn plays, then a straight attack is unlikely to succeed. You must either wait for flaws to arise or make them yourself. To put it another way, your assault must be justifiable.
- Allowing the tension to dissipate too quickly
There is friction between pawns in most games. The pawn captures (and movements!) are quite important. They have the ability to completely alter the game’s character.
According to the advice, when there is tension on the board, you should move your pieces about, discover the best squares, and define the tension whenever it is in your favor. Club players often do not hold the stress for lengthy periods of time; they like to have things clear as soon as possible. The difficulty with this is that releasing the primary tension too early often advantages the opponent.
- Failure to incorporate all of the necessary components
This one may appear simple, but it is crucial. Even though the attack is straightforward, people frequently neglect to incorporate all of the components. Check to see whether you can bring as many forces as feasible before taking any aggressive moves.
- Pawn moves
The value of pawn moves is sometimes overlooked at the beginning of a game. It’s not a decision to be taken lightly; pawns can’t go back, so it’s a long-term commitment. A bad pawn advance can lead to vulnerabilities and have a detrimental influence on your game.