How to stop blundering in chess: a 5-question checklist

To blunder less, slow down and ask five questions before every move: what changed, what's loose, is my square safe, what stops being guarded, and what's their best reply.

Updated 6 November 2026 · 5 min read

To stop blundering in chess, ask the same five questions before you let go of a piece: what did their last move change, which of my pieces are loose, is my destination square safe, what does my move stop guarding, and what is their best reply? You won't catch everything, but this routine is built to catch the everyday blunders: pieces left hanging and threats nobody looked at.

A blunder is a move that badly worsens your position: it loses a piece, allows mate or throws away a win. Often it isn't a gap in knowledge. You'd have seen the problem if you'd looked, so the fix is a habit of looking.

The checklist

1. What did their last move change?

Don't go straight back to your own plan. Ask what the piece that just moved attacks now, and what line it opened behind it.

Here's the classic case: 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Qh5. Black sees the queen and wants to chase it with 3...Nf6, which looks like a good developing move, but 4.Qxf7 is checkmate. The queen came out to attack f7 together with the bishop, and only asking what it was doing would have shown that. The right reply is 3...g6, which blocks the line to f7 and hits the queen anyway.

2. Which of my pieces are loose?

A loose piece is one that nothing defends. It may be safe this move, but it's what double attacks aim at, because a fork or a queen move can hit it and something else at once. Take a quick look round the board, then defend or move anything that's about to be in trouble. Our lesson on hanging pieces practises exactly this.

3. Is the square I'm moving to safe?

Count who attacks that square and who defends it. If they have more attackers than you have defenders, or a cheaper piece attacks it, you're probably about to lose material. This applies to captures too: before you take a "free" piece, ask why it's free.

4. What does this piece stop guarding?

Every piece has a job, and when it moves the job goes with it. Before you move, ask what it was defending and which line it was blocking. Many blunders come from a piece that was doing two jobs, which is the idea behind overloaded pieces.

5. What's their best reply?

Now imagine the piece on its new square and look at the board from your opponent's side. Go through their checks, then captures, then threats, the same order you'd use when calculating your own moves.

Here's a trap this question catches. After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4?! 4.Qe2, Black's knight is attacked, and 4...Nf6 looks like a safe retreat. But 5.Nc6+ is a discovered check from the queen on e2. Black has to deal with the check, so the knight on c6 can't be captured, and it takes the queen on d8 next move. A look at White's checks would have saved the queen.

How to use it without running out of time

• Slow games: ask all five on every move that isn't forced.
• Blitz: keep only questions 1 and 5, the two that look at what your opponent is doing.
• Sit on your hands: when you find a good move, don't play it yet. Run question 5 once more first.
• When you're on a losing streak: stop for a while. Rushed moves after a loss are where the checklist gets skipped, so we wrote about taking a break.

How to practise it for free

1. Play slowly in Coach mode against a bot near your level. One short video unlocks Coach for 24 hours, and if no video is available it unlocks anyway. When the coach says something like "This hangs your knight", take the move back and work out which question would have caught it.
2. Run a Game Review after every game, and for each blunder ask the same thing: which question did I skip? If it's always the same one, that's your weak spot. New to reviews? Start with how to read one.
3. Drill your own errors in the Mistake trainer, which brings your blunders back with spaced repetition until you find the better move.
4. Train your eye with puzzles by theme. Forks, pins and discovered attacks are the patterns you're scanning for in questions 2 and 5.

Play a coached game now →

Questions and answers

Why do I keep blundering in chess?

Usually because you play the move you were already planning without checking what your opponent's last move changed. Speed, tiredness and playing on after a loss make it worse. A short routine before each move, plus slower time controls, helps.

How do I stop hanging pieces?

Before you move, check that the destination square is safe by counting attackers and defenders, and check what your piece stops guarding when it leaves. Then look at your opponent's checks, captures and threats after your move.

What is a blunder check?

A last look at the position before you play your move: imagine the piece on its new square, then go through your opponent's checks, captures and threats to see whether any of them hurts you.

Should I use the checklist in blitz?

Use a shorter version. Ask what their last move changed and what their best reply is. Learn the full checklist in slower games so that it becomes automatic.