What do you in a game?

When you don't know what to do?

Throw lit fire crackers at my opponents head as i look up the line in a book.

uh... certainly not the post above me

I break the position down into it's elements and try to find a move that makes sense or I try to find the primary threat / best piece / best idea from the opponent's POV and play against that.

Tactics is what you do when there's someting to do. Strategy is what you do when there's nothing to do. Tartakower, I think.....

Oh.

Well, better practical advice would be to tell you to find your worse piece and work to activate it -- bring it into the game.  Undeveloped pieces especially.  You should never feel lost like there are no good moves if one of your pieces is off in a corner somewhere not helping out with the action.

There's a quote, beginners like to play with their best pieces, masters pay attention to their worst ones.

are you asking what i do or what you should do?  i like to castle and see what my opponent does next, although, it seems this often backfires as they often castle after i do.  perhaps in the same perdicament.  if i have already castled i usually stare at the board for a while and realize there really isn't anything important to do somethimes i will just exchange a piece.  i figure chess is a war simulation, so when nothing else seems approriate you should kill something.  if none of those options are open, i just make a move that looks like it wont get me in trouble. 

as for what you should do, probably listen to one of the smarter guys above.  the firecracker thing sounds fun, but i don't have any chess books and i read really slowly. 

I would think (pyscho-analyze the board!!!) before I make a move. Look at my clock to determine how much time I have to make my move. Move a piece and assess what your opponent would do to counter that particular move. Not happy with that - repeat process until you are satisfied that you have found the right move and then click on the SUBMIT button. If you have plenty amount of time left go on to facebook and play any of the applications before returning to the game. Another words, do not rush into a hasty move!!!

 I guess I got it right accidentaly because I had just pushed a pawn up when I asked this. It's turn based.

"What do you in a game?"  That's barely a question. Me answer? Move uh piece. Win duh game. Try not fart.

 Just before I clicked on here, I noticed I forgot to write "DO" in the question.

Do you mean, in the beginning of the middlegame?

 Yes.

if u have a hanging piece that looks shaky protect it or u see his pieces eyeing ur king position bring ur pices over to patrol

if everything is good look for a weakness in the opponents position and try to exploit it or make yur opponent busy enuf covering it up and then launch an attack on another part of the board.

if ur opp doesn't have a weakness or u can't find it or exploit it i won't say create a weakness cuz thats what everyone says(oops! i just said it lol.), do what u think is best subject the game to analysis no matter u win or lose understand common patterns and the specific reason why u lost.

for eg.: i didn't have the right plan to go after the king.  DO NOT THINK LIKE: ok i lost cuz i din't complete my development. THINK LIKE: ok i lost cuz i wasn't able to use my queen to optimum effect

i won cuz he failed to exploit my weakness of a backward pawn and i managed to cover it up in time while he din't cover his weakness. DO NOT THINK LIKE: ok i won cuz he failed to play better than me. THINK LIKE: ok i won cuz my plan of tying his pieces to defending e4 and then going after the hanging a pawn was successful as he took the sham threat to e4 seriously.

Maby you should read Euwe's old book "Middlegame". 

Or maby the Mentor Course What Now? can help you a bit:

http://www.chess.com/chessmentor/view_course.html?id=302

Good grief! That course is aimed at somebody with a rating of 1800 to 2000. Look at my rating.

Create a concrete problem for your opponent to solve.

Improve your weakest piece.

“When you absolutely don't know what to do anymore, it is time to panic”
- John van der Wiel

 I think every chess player is stumped at one time or another as to what to do next.  After all, the possible chess moves are indefinite.  

orangehonda wrote the quote, " beginners like to play with their best pieces, masters pay attention to their worst ones."

 This is also true when it comes to looking for your opponent's weaknesses. It seems to me that I lose more games being too concerned with my weaknesses and not enough about my opponent's weaknesses.  That old saying, "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link" also applies to strongholds in chess games.  I am not just speaking of pawn chains, but any defense your opponent has built to defend his/her position.

 planeden said, "i like to castle and see what my opponent does next, although, it seems this often backfires as they often castle after i do."  That reminded me of when i first learned to castle.  I thought, "Wow, now my King is safe!"  However, I soon learned while playing against stronger players that there were many ways to penetrate that safe heaven.  I also, learned it is impossible for any single piece to successfully penetrate it without being captured, and that includes the Queen.

There are pros and cons about castling, and one man, Ron Sillars, can't even agree with himself, because he said both, “Only sissies Castle” and “Castle early and often”

Improve your weakest piece.