I have a rigid procedure I follow for each move in my correspondence games here on chess.com:
Repeat until position is hopelessly lost.
--Cystem 
I have a rigid procedure I follow for each move in my correspondence games here on chess.com:
Note my opponent's move. Take a swig of coffee. Push the cat off the keyboard. Take another swig of coffee. Push the other cat off the keyboard. Make some random legal move.
Repeat until position is hopelessly lost.
--Cystem
HAHAHA very funny lol
For our young chess students, it is "every capture, every check, every time".
Being conscious of the captures and checks (that is actually looking at each one) is enough to kick everything else they've been taught.
Now if only I would use that myself!
As one learning chess, I'm curious if you have a consistent thought process for most (every?) move when you're playing a game. Like, do you first look for pieces of yours that are threatened, then think about what square would be better for some piece, etc.?
Most players (myself included) will tell you they don't have any specific thought process during a game, that being said though most would say they don't have a thought process almost everyone does, the problem is that by now our brain does the checklist automatically while we look at the board suring our turns. When we make a mistake it is usually because our brain assume the checklist is fufilled...It is dificult to actually put the checklist into words but this is what you want to basically look out for in this specific order>
1. Can I immediately checkmate my opponent on this move or do I have forced mate? if so then go ahead and win!
2. Is my opponent threatening mate on his next move? if so defend somehow
3. Do I have any checks I can perform? does my opponent? what are their consequences?
4. Does my opponent have any threat to either win material or get a good position?(what did my opponet's last move do? or threaten?) Can I win materiel or get a good position? if so what can I do about it?
those "four" steps are basically what goes through the head of any chess player during every move of a game, as stated before we usually don't do a checklist but our brains automatically do those steps in a flash. There are a few other things to look out for but they get pretty complicated from there.Remember>"Practice makes perfect" but there is no such thing as perfect so why practice? >To get as close to perfect as humanly possible! good luck! hope this helps!
Hmm, mine may not be as ridged as csystem's (lol) but in general I look at what advantages and weaknesses I have, then I look at the same for my opponent. Then I look at what each side wants to do because of it... so I'll be playing for this and he'll be playing for that. Then considering what I've just seen I try to find a move that makes sense.
In a tactical situation I first note what the primary threat is (if it were their move what can they do type of consideration), check to see if I can ignore the threat (if it's meaningless, or if I can create a stronger one, if I have a check to play, etc) and then considering what I've seen try to find a sensible move, each move in the tactical variation I find what the primary threats are -- if you have options make sure the things that change (material, pawns, king safety etc) makes sense in terms of what's going on in the game (strengths, weaknesses, and what's being played for).
Being aware of the primary threat every time there is one sounds extremely simple, but being able to do it (every time) is something I don't think even 1500-1600 uscf players do.
This is all very general of course -- Often the way we play involves a lot of non-verbal assessments gained through experiance and are hard to explain.
In my games, I always predict my opponent's move first and every time the opponent goes out from the line, i reevaluate the position. Usually I reevaluate according to these checklist
1.King safety
2.Pieces under attack
3.My attacking pieces
4.Space I have to maneuvre
5.Counterplay or defensive measures I can make.
I think it depends on the style one plays. For me, I'm a positional player, so defense comes first.
I just remembered, I used to have a more simple one that I really would go through mentally -- maybe not every time but many times.
1. Was his last move a blunder (do I have a forced mate or forced win of material)
2. What does his last move threaten (is he threatening to force mate or force a win of material)
3. "Can I make his last move look silly" -- I'd try to prove it was a mistake somehow, either by directly punishing it or maneuvering around it.
4. Can I completely ignore his last move and continue with what I was doing in the first place.
Years before that my checklist went something like:
1. What are my best (most active) pieces and can I use them tactically?
2. What are my pieces that I can improve their activity by moving them somewhere better?
3. What are my opponent's best pieces and can I trade them off.
Both lists may look good, but each of my checklists (if you want to call them that) has been better than the last and represented an increase in playing strength. Not that I ever stopped considering my best pieces or tactics of course, but that became more non-verbal and automatic, the things I have to verbally ask myself now have to do with strengths, weaknesses, and the plans for both sides... your post is interesting, I'd never thought of the idea of a "progression of checklists" until now.
As one learning chess, I'm curious if you have a consistent thought process for most (every?) move when you're playing a game. Like, do you first look for pieces of yours that are threatened, then think about what square would be better for some piece, etc.?