Thought Process

What is everyone's thought process when playing standard or online chess?

I usually don't answer these, because it's never like a numbered list, it's more like recursive looping list of what to check for based on what you see and when you see it.  But at the moment at least, I feel like there is a bit of a system for the faster time controls.

After they move I look at what they threaten.  Usually I imagine it's their move again, what can they do to the position?  If I'm OK with that then I ignore their move and try to improve a piece/my position.  Improving my position is always in reference to an overall idea or plan usually based on the pawn structure.  So sure a knight likes an outpost and a rook likes an open file, but which furthers the overall idea of the position?

The "overall idea" includes what my opponent wants to do.  So I then imagine my intended move as if it were played, note what my opponent will try for in general, and make sure my move still looks good after my opponent will try for their ideal position.  So sometimes a rook on an open file is good, and on the side of the board you're attacking, but the opponent's idea is to open the center, and they can do it right away, and after they do it your rook isn't very useful, so you chose the knight outpost afterall.

That's if their move has no threat.  If they can do something worrisom then I check to see how I can ignore it.  First maybe again I give them the move, calculate to the position I don't like, and imagine if I could put a piece anywhere (my first move I ignored) can I find a tactic.  If not I check to see if I can create a bigger threat so their threat doesn't matter.  Moves that improve my position white dealing with these threats get top priority.

If they have no threats and my pieces are relatively well placed, I make sure to stay patient.  Sometimes moveing a piece just one square puts it in contact with 1 or 2 more useful squares.  Nothing strictly necessary, but slightly improving harmony is like saving away for a rainy day.  After complications happen your opponent will have a smaller chance of generating tactics.

I guess this isn't really a process, but different things I do during a game.  This of course takes certain details for granted, like how to interpret the pawn structure in the first place, what does harmony look like, or when to calculate this or that.  That comes from experience and practice.  And of course sometimes I get the wrong idea or choose a move that turns out to be bad... and that's when chess players lose games :)

Thanks a lot.

In general I like to keep my thought process loose and flexible, open to strange ideas, trying to keep myself from making prejudices.

The most important thing is the direct threat the opponent has; everything else comes later. Sort of like wafflemaster, I have recently started to ask myself how "important" my opponent's threat is. For example, if my opponent is threatening a pawn, I might ask myself if I can do something more powerful than that, like allowing my opponent to capture that pawn in exchange for getting time to bring pieces into a kingside attack. Or maybe I will simply attack one of my opponent's pieces instead, to not give him time to take the pawn. Or of course I may find that I do need to prevent the threat. The point is, this way of thinking tries to avoid the zombie like idea that "I automatically have to defend the pawn just because it's attacked," and avoiding this may allow me to find more creative ideas when they are there.

If my position is safe enough, I will look for things to do of course, but I do it in a very general way: I just ask myself "how can I create problems for my opponent?" "Problems" could mean literally anything: attacking a weak pawn, making a tough threat of checkmate, securing an outpost; the point is I want to keep myself open to every one of these possibilities, so that it's less likely for me to miss any of them. A problem could be as narrow as simply making a pin on my opponent that would be difficult to break. To determine if an idea creates a problem, ask yourself if you were in his position, would it be bugging you, or would it be easy to ignore? I usually try to find the most forcing ways to create these problems, using tactical calculation to back me up. Even if I do play a slow move, like a pawn storm, I always keep in mind what forcing move it may lead to, and what problem it will give my opponent!

And that's really it! I feel that having a thought process that is too structured takes you out of it -- you might be in such a trance you just miss a simple tactic. For me, simply using this vague idea of "problems," starting from most forcing moves to least forcing moves, eliminates that scenario and gives me the best chances of creativity.