The most important question in chess.

The most important question in chess: When you play chess against your opponent, you should ask yourself this question: "What does my opponent want behind this move?" This is a question you should always ask yourself behind your opponent's every move. This keeps you always focused and helps you read your opponent's mind.

Even more important: 'what move can my opponent play after I play my intended move?'

I agree with both posts (#1 and #2) above me.

It's also important to be able to recognize when a move might not serve any useful purpose.

Sometimes our opponent might make a move that has no real reason behind it - as they themselves might not know what to do. So they might push a random pawn just to "do something". Or they might retreat a piece because they can't think of a plan yet.

So it's okay sometimes to look at a move and think, "Well ... that move doesn't really do anything" - because sometimes, that's exactly the case.