The thought process of chess

I am a beginner in chess. There was only one game that I lost because I was not able to defend. Every other games I've lost was because I didn't see the next move coming, which is called a blunder.

I am starting to develop a thought process to eliminate such blunders. 

The first thing I look at is wether the piece last moved is attacked by my pieces or not, then look at positional changes to find his possible next move. If there are no serious threats, I would take the piece if it's free(if he made a blunder), or I would try to apply tactics.

so are you asking for help or are you telling us how you are improvingÉ

Aww man, if only I'd tried that. He's doing us a favor & letting us know that he's found the solution. We can rest easier now, just follow his lead. Thanx & good luck with all that. 

By the way CP6033, did you play in that tournament yet where you had to score at least 50%?

He played, but unfortunately he scored 49%. In his last round he drew against a 400 because he accidentally stalemated him in a K+Q+R vs K endgame.

I thought I could post it here so people could see if there's something wrong with my thought process :)

Could you post a game with annotations showing your thought process? It is easier to analyze something practical. Generally it sounds good.

Hi! Thanks for replying. Good luck with chess!

Yes I will in the future, as I am still working on it now. Good luck in chess!

Eco, it sounds like what you're thinking is a good basic mental list to go through. I would have saved many losses by just doing that. Have you studied anything yet as far as tactics, strategy, endgames?

not yet, i still have a few months! lots of time to study.

ok so your idea is good, but this is what i would do i I were you. Once you have played enought games you think chess. For me i instantly see a hanging piece, and study more complex positions. For a beginner i usually think the problem is they don`t see everything right away, try working on this.

Okay, look at checks captures and threats first.  You described hope chess which is not thoroughly analyzing to see if your move can be refuted.  Careful with taking en pris, ask yourself if it's safe first or else you may take a poisoned pawn on b2 and lose your queen.

Positional and material elements aid in an assessment, then you evaluate as better, worse, equal, or unclear.  Here you forumulate potential plans based off what you've read.  Maybe you want to strike at the neck of their pawn chain and make what was once the body the new base?  Ask yourself if it's sound or even best, then your plan will drive the analysis.  Kotov's Think Like a Grandmaster goes over this process and Heisman's Improving Chess Thinker is good too. 

Thank you so much for the comment. I figure from your comment that the thought process has so much to do with positional analysis and plan forming. Also being able to calculate 2 plies ahead is important. And thanks for the book recommandations.

I've studied some tactics and strategies which improved my playings a lot, but making blunders really kept me from being better, so I figured I should solve this problem first. 

Thanks! I figured I should practice my thought process after I formulate it so I will be able to go through it quickly.

Interersting. I am going to play in a OTB tournament in February, and I have to score over 50% or I will stand on my rooftop, with dynamite strapped to my back, and yell "Purple bananas are not heavy in the same way that bricks don't fly."

aaaalrighty......... I know how ya feel.