Tips for not missing REALLY stupid moves?

For some reason I get hyper focused and will miss really bad moves.  Usually I'll be focusing on a mate strategy or something that gains me a material advantage a few moves later and I'll do something like move a piece that leaves my queen hanging.  I know the short answer is, "uh, look before you move".  I'm wondering if anyone has a mental checklist they go through before they finalize their move to make sure they aren't making an insane blunder.

So here's a motto from a old chess book. After your opponent makes a move look at the piece. Ask yourself, Is that man threataning any of my pieces? If not, where can that man go next. After you run through that, play a move to prevent it.

check, capture and threat

Thanks Next.  Royal, can you elaborate?

Another prime example is I was playing my brother and had a huge material advantage so I'm moving in for mate and all the sudden I look at the board again (AFTER I moved) and he has put his rook in a place to force a back rank mate.  I could have prevented it by doing something different on the move I already made (UGH!)

Track your opponent's move carefully and strike him if you  find a weakness. I'd recommend not to strike early as silly mistakes may prevail...Be super cool and always try and improve your position. If at all u wanna take a piece make sure u trade off your less active piece with his active one.

imahawki wrote:

I'm moving in for mate and all the sudden I look at the board again (AFTER I moved) and he has put his rook in a place to force a back rank mate. 

You are playing too quickly. Slow down and take a good, long look at the board.... even for the "obvious" moves.

Can you all recommend any good books?  I'm basically going through ALL of the Chess Mentor lessons but sometimes I struggle with the solution because I don't see it and then the hint will use some term I don't understand (I tought myself chess decades ago).  E.g. I don't fully understand active vs. inactive or sometimes the lesson will refer to a piece being passive.  I feel like I could learn better if I understood more of the language.

check, capture and threat

This one comes under threat. All look to see if your opponent can mate. First look to see if they have the option to check and what is move they will play after that. This tempo which in this case be in their advantage.

By Capture more so with new players. Look to see if the next move your opponent can capture your queen or try to capture your queen. If not then check for your rooks also. If they can not do this they most likely try for your rook next.

Yes, you are playing to quickly, there is no book on how to not hurry. A lot of not so good chess players biggest mistake is that, they are playing to quickly, and dont see if they make a wrong move. (but usually you will see it after the move right now :D) You will play much better, if you think before your moves at least some minutes, moving right away is not good.
Always check that what your opponent wants with his last move, in your case, you should check if your opponent can take any of your pieces, if he cant, then you should just play.

The good news is that you should find your board vision improves over time so that you miss things less often.  

I play mostly turn-based games, and I find it can help if I click “Flip Board” to see my opponent’s view, as I tend to spot things easier playing “uphill”. Not sure if you can do this in “Live Chess”, though.

Check list

What is his King's best move?

What is his Queen's best move?

What is his Rook's best move?

What is his Bishop's best move?

What is his Knight's best move?

What is his Pawn's best move?

Perhaps you're trying to bite off more than you can chew when playing (and learning?).

Your first priority should be to get through any game without hanging something.

A great endgame book is Silman's Complete Endgame Cousre.

None of this stuff will help you stop making simple blunders.

How much?

I truly appreciate the advice guys.  I have been playing through chess.com for years but only that.  I had not previously utilized any of the other resources.  I like the "check, capture, threat" checklist and looking at my opponent's pieces next best moves starting from king and working down to pawn.  I think working through that more methodically will help.  I actually am learning to develop much better.  I looked through my old game history and I would almost always be down material after the opening, for the rest of the game.  Now the opposite is true, I am usually up material AND positioned better... until I make a blunder.  If I can stop making blunders I would win a lot more games.

Blunder is my favorite tactical trick too :) Josh Waitzkin adviced to close your eyes for a second after choosing your move and look for opponent's reply after that. This blinking is used as a switch trigger between searching for your move and searching for opponent's move. It usually helps me then I don't forget to do so.

@imahawki: http://www.chesscafe.com/text/real.pdf

IMHO, it sounds like you are too focused on your own pieces. Look at the opponents pieces to see if (s)he is on the move to either take your pieces or mate.

In OTB play, my method of avoiding silly blunders is to reverse the usual order of keeping score.

Instead of deciding on my move, making it on the board, and then writing it down; I first decide on a move, then write it down... and then sit back and relax, as if I had already made the move on the board. Quite often, during that moment of post-move relaxation, I will suddenly realize that the intended move is a blunder. Then I just erase it off my score-sheet, and choose a new move. Only if the move still looks good after I have written it down, sat back, and spent a few seconds relaxing will I actually make the move on the board.