Playing in chess tournaments is a completely different thing from studying chess or playing friendly casual games at the club with your pals. While we can do pretty well during our lessons, training sessions with friends or coach, an official competition forces you to make your best effort and put to work your best competitive skills and character. Of course, usually, there are hundreds of other colleagues doing exactly the same. And, as if this didn’t sound hard enough there is the time pressure.

Improving at chess has to be one of the most mysterious things in all sports. The training of the mind is not as easily measured as the physical training, for example. While running, lifting weights or swimming will transform you and you will see results in a short amount of time after doing it, it is not that simple with chess. There is one phrase by the great Viktor Korchnoi that can resume this: “Chess you don’t learn, chess you understand”!

You'd be surprised to know that the majority of amateur games end the way they do because of a blunder from one or another side. If your rating is below 2200, the chances are you are in the same boat. By simply reducing the number of blunders you can grow significantly as a chess player. In today's article, I will give you 7 easy to follow tips that will dramatically reduce your blunder rate.