blocking

@mister-moggy removed their quoted post

At your level, your problem is probably just board vision as well as leaving pieces unprotected.

@eladar said
At your level, your problem is probably just board vision as well as leaving pieces unprotected.

You have a good point there....Neither you or I would see the board like an expert player would. We have a lot of blind spots when looking at a game until they are pointed out to us.

-VR

@very-rusty said
You have a good point there....Neither you or I would see the board like an expert player would. We have a lot of blind spots when looking at a game until they are pointed out to us.

-VR

A thing that improved my game was to take a moment to consider what function a piece was performing before moving it. For example, was it covering a pawn or preventing my opponent from advancing something nasty? Sounds obvious, but sometimes moving or advancing a piece can leave a flaw in our own defenses.

@very-rusty said
You have a good point there....Neither you or I would see the board like an expert player would. We have a lot of blind spots when looking at a game until they are pointed out to us.

-VR

When I say board vision I mean looking at all the pieces not simply the immediate 3 by 3 or 4 by 4 region of interest.

Check all files, ranks and all diagonals as well as checking all checks. Do that and you will stop making as many mistakes and see more targets.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
A thing that improved my game was to take a moment to consider what function a piece was performing before moving it. For example, was it covering a pawn or preventing my opponent from advancing something nasty? Sounds obvious, but sometimes moving or advancing a piece can leave a flaw in our own defenses.

I often will get too many games going at one time. Lets keep in mind I play on 3 different chess sites. I am cutting back my games for starters. I know one of my blind spots is my diagonals which was pointed out to me by my friend who is close to expert and has beaten experts.

I also sometimes will make a move which actually helps opponent more than myself. Most embarrassing is leaving my Q hanging. I try to sometimes think too many moves ahead and move the wrong piece first. I've been told I should sit on my hands and when I see a good move make sure it is a good one and try to find a better one before making a move.

My rating was once 1669 over the board which I know is only average, but I am now well below it. I think mostly to game load and moving too fast. One thing you were right about is I do play too many games at once. Also you are just seeing the ones on this site, not the other two sites I play on.

-VR