There is one single most important thing you can do to dramatically improve your chess performance. It is learning how to avoid blunders — or at least blunder less.

Here’s the sad truth about why most chess players get stuck and fail to progress. After losing a game due to a blunder, they often blame themselves for playing too quickly, or they assume they just need to solve more tactical puzzles. But that’s not the real reason they’re losing games.

GM Igor Smirnov has been teaching chess for over 15 years. After coaching thousands of students, he knows exactly what students need to truly improve.

The right way to avoid blunders and get better at chess is by slightly tweaking your thinking system. This not only helps you avoid simple mistakes but also enables you to find the best moves consistently.

3 Tips to Prevent Blunders

In this lesson, GM Igor Smirnov will teach you 3 little-known but highly effective methods to reduce blunders in your games and elevate your decision-making. These universal principles can be applied to any position — no matter your level.

Let’s enumerate these tips:

• Consider your opponent’s forward moves. Often players overlook their opponent’s intentions when they come up with a plan. They think of the best scenario for themselves. However, that way of thinking should be changed to looking for your opponent’s best moves.
• Eliminate opponent’s pieces on your side of the board. This is Bobby Fischer’s golden rule. Pieces on your side of the board might not pose an immediate threat but they might cause trouble down the line. It’s better to be pro-active and neutralize the potential threat.
• Offense is the best defense. Defensive moves are usually passive and gives your opponent the opportunity to continue their attack. The best way to deal with a threat is by countering with a bigger threat of your own.

3 Simple Tips To Avoid Blunders Video Lesson

Watch the video lesson to learn how to apply these tips in your own games.

Below, you can find the examples shown in the video:

Don’t sacrifice your pieces without clear compensation. Instead, sacrifice your opponent’s rating with the help from our Free Masterclass. You’ll learn timeless principles that you can apply in any position. Hence, you’ll be able to improve your game instantly and get closer to 2000 Elo rating.