Hanging Pieces?? NO MORE!?

Imagine playing an intense game for four hours with high concentration and excellent moves. Victory seems within reach, but then, in a split second, you make an intuitive move and lose a piece. All your hard work goes to waste. Frustrated, you leave the playing hall, wondering how to stop blundering. The answer lies in implementing a simple blunder check, which I’ll explain in this article. But first, let's understand why blunders happen.

Defining Blunders

I disagree with Chess.com's definition:
“In chess, a blunder happens when a player makes a move that negatively affects their position significantly. It can cause a player to lose material or be checkmated, or lead to a strategically lost position.”
To me, this describes a big mistake, not a blunder. Big mistakes happen to everyone and can be minimized with practice. Blunders, however, are a specific subset of big mistakes.
A blunder is a significant mistake that this particular player would usually avoid under normal circumstances. That's what makes them so painful—you realize immediately that you've blundered and wonder, “How did I miss this obvious move?”
Blunders are subjective. A beginner won't "blunder" a checkmate in five moves because it's unreasonable to expect them to spot it. However, a grandmaster missing a mate in five in a winning position would be considered a blunder.
My definition of a blunder: “In chess, a blunder is a big mistake that this specific player would not make under normal circumstances.”

Why Blunders Happen

To understand why my blunder check works, we need to know why blunders occur. There are countless reasons for big mistakes, from not knowing the rules to miscalculations and lack of positional understanding. Blunders, however, have fewer causes.
Blunders happen when we don’t focus on the right things. Most blunders occur due to a lack of focus—you get distracted or don't calculate properly. Your hand moves a piece before your brain fully processes the decision, and suddenly, your queen is gone.
Sometimes, you're focused but not on the right things. We tend to concentrate on our own plans so much that we forget our opponents have plans too.
Identifying the problem leads us to the solution: we need to focus on the critical aspects of the game with every move. Most blunders are easy to spot if you focus correctly, taking just a few seconds and saving you countless points.

The Chess Blunder Check

My sports psychologist, James, suggested a simple habit to help spot blunders before making a move. He said, “Create a habit that helps you spot easy blunders before you move.”
In over-the-board (OTB) chess, the easiest way to do this is by writing down your opponent’s time before making your move. While doing this, ask yourself, “What happens if I play (my move)?”
This quick check often helps spot potential blunders. Here’s how to use the chess blunder check to avoid blunders:

1. Write down your opponent’s move after they make it.
2. Consider your next move.
3. Mentally decide on a move without executing it.
4. Write down your opponent’s time and ask, “What happens if I play (my move)?”
5. If nothing is obviously wrong, play your move. If something is, reconsider and go back to step