Your mental checklist you run through before each move.

Then you should have an excellent graphical vision of the board in your mind should the opponent's best reply must be answered on a two or three deeper layers.  This is how those who play blindfold chess calculate variations.

Adaptation of the prophylactic style of play can also help.

my mental checklist:

1. Did I remember to run the position through Chessmaster 2000?

ozzie_c_cobblepot wrote:

my mental checklist:

1. Did I remember to run the position through Chessmaster 2000?

You just gave away your 2300+ rating....

Interesting thread.

I think my own weakness is to be more interested in my own plans than in my opponent's.  Sure, I look at his move and see whether it's a threat, but that's only superficial.  If I can make myself look more carefully at what my opponent is up to, I get a better game.

In positions without much tactical urgency, I feel that I have benefited from applying Steinitz's "worst piece principle," i.e., identify which piece of mine is in the worst situation on the board, and then attempt to do something about it.

This is a great thread and something I've thought about several times, but never took the time to create a list, so thanks for posing the question.  

My take is that everyone has different learning and processing abilities - some are more visual and go by pattern recognition and others are very sequential in their thinking.  As for me, I am very visual and my method has "sort of" evolved to look at both sides of the board realizing that no piece in chess is mutually exclusive - meaning there is always a give and take for every move made.  The pieces taken as a whole create a chainmale armour for the king and at the same time provide offensive opportunities. With that in mind, I try to envision how all my oponents pieces are inter-related - "the pawn defends the bishop which defends the N, which... and so on", which gives me a picture of his defensive structure and how it meshes together.  Every progressive move changes this structure on both sides. In the end, this helps me to see where defensive weaknesses may be on both sides.  As for my weaknesses, I ask myself if my oponent has any immediate attacks to expose them and if so, do I need to shore up my defense or press an attack against his weaknesses, which then moves me into the next step which is variation analysis.

The downfall of us all at times, regardles of any system, is to fall in love with our own plan so much that we forget the fluidity with which opportunities change.  I think the important takeaway from this is to have a system that prevents this and there is no right system for everyone.

Cheers!

armchairQB wrote:

The downfall of us all at times, regardles of any system, is to fall in love with our own plan so much that we forget the fluidity with which opportunities change.

Amen.

It's a kind of narcissism.  We are so in love with our own plan that we don't even want to see the opponent's plan.  This is why it's so easy to blunder when significantly ahead in material.  It's also why I never resign simply because I'm -5 or so in material.  I know that my opponent is just as likely to relax his vigilance as I would be.

I have a pre-pre-checklist I often check through before examining my other 2 or 3 calculations/strategy/kick-under-the-table and/or punch-in-the-face checklists.

1. Why the hell did I start this live game? It's been three hours I'm trying to go to bed.

2. Am I sure I've already drank too much?

3. Why shouldn't I go for another drink, this player seems pretty good, I may need inspiration.

4. What were my other checklists for?

Someone tell me please what is Chessmaster 2000?

A very interesting concept. I think a structured approach can do wonders for anyone's game. I think I'll doa formal list/worksheet for myself and use it. For now, here's the things I try to do mentally. I don't always, and I pay for it.

1. Don't move. Sit on my hands.
2. Use a mental trigger to get focussed. I actually stare at the Black Queen and yell at the top of my lungs "Show no mercy!!!"
3. Check vs. my book lines (openings and endings)
4. Technical analyis (Calculate time and space - future blog)
5. Pawn analysis. Pawns define the battleground. What does the pawn structure suggest the various plans are.
6. Piece analysis. What are the strengths and weaknesses. What are the threats.
7. Square analysis. Weak and strong squares. e.g. controlling d5 will decide the game!
8. Position analysis. Tie it all together. How can I improve? How can I weaken my opponent? What are the best plans?
9. Tactical analysis.
   - Write down my candidate moves.
   - Run through basic lines for threats.
   - Assess fit to plan.
   - Repeat until a best move stands out.
10. Sit on my hands. Go have dinner, drink a beer, play some hockey, or have sex.
11. Repeat all steps for sanity.
12. Make move.

Of course I can't do all of this for every move. Move #6 in a Spanish will get a look in my ECO and that's it. A R&P vs R endgame will get a quick lookup in BCE, play some lines, and a move.

what i mainly think if i realy think before making my move :P

attacking questions:

is there a way to force win?

is there a way to gain a slight advatage such as position or pawn grab that is usefull for me?

is my plan realy flawless?

defending questions:

am i in danger?

if so. can i get out ?

is there a flaw in my opponents attack?

opening questions:

tic tac toe...

do i know the mainline?

is this gambit safe to accept or create?

middlegame questions:

can i do something usefull?

endgame questions:

draw,win,or loss?

prophohilitical (if there is even a word like that):

am i going to be in a mess if i don't make this seemingly not progressive move?

I always am thinking about which piece is my favorite and how can I keep it on the board longest. Then I consider which piece is my second favorite, then figure out how I can keep it on the board too. As you can see, I am a very serious player.

P.S. Knights are cute.

ubizmo wrote:

We are so in love with our own plan that we don't even want to see the opponent's plan. 

yeah... I've been doing a lot of this lately... I see some perhaps nice tactical opportunity and then I don't  look hard for refutations ("oh, my opponent will grab the pawn, he won't see the trap...") ... this has not worked out well for me... it seems my opponents aren't as blind and greedy as they're supposed to be!

Queenie wrote:

Someone tell me please what is Chessmaster 2000?

 It's an old version of the Chessmaster series (latest is 11th, Grandmaster Edition).  I remember playing Chessmaster 2000 way back in 1992.

Our National Master friend is obviously joking around.  I think his rating is legit.

And then in 2002 I bought Chessmaster 8000.  I noticed that there were chessmaster personalities included.  I played my very first game in CM8k against a personality named Queenie.  I lost.  Hmm, Queenie, was that you?

I play the best when I follow a strict checklist as well.  Depending on the situation, I may add to my checklist (eg when ahead, I will often insert 'how can I force him to trade?' near the bottom).  In general, I ask:

1. what is he/she threatening?

2. what am I threatening? (seems redundant, but helps me see if I made a miscalculation, or if a seemingly innocent move has devastating consequences to my attack)/what is 'free'?

3. what pawns are crucial to him/her and which are undefended? (even if I cant reach them anytime soon)

4. where do I want to sink my knight?  where does my opponent?

5. what squares can I attack with my bishop in 1 move? (sets up forks/skewers)

6. what squares can I attack with my knight in 1 move?

I would say that the first two questions are the absolute must for improving one's game at the novice level, but all of these questions are designed to not just cut back on my mistakes, but force my opponent to do the same.  Plus they're specific questions I can answer definitively, and they usually reveal a plan when answered.

First and foremost just look at where my pieces are and where I would like them to be.  Where are my opponents pieces and where would he like them to be.  Can I prevent him from getting his pieces to play and get my pieces to where I want them

Is there a forcing variation to trade down to a winning position(endgame, middlegame whatever).

Is there a mate

Is there a sacrifice that wins material by force. 

Whose pawn structure is better.  Who has more space, if I have less space are there any holes in the space that the opponent has.  Whose minor pieces are better.  Whose major pieces are better.  Is there any way I can trade off the opponents best piece(relative-not necessarily by point value).  If I am down a piece can I trade off all the opponents pawns or even get a large amount of pawns rolling.  And finally why am I out of time;D

I look through all of the tactical considerations considering piece sacrifices etc, and then from their I look at how I can make my pieces reach their full potential, how I can limit his, ways to gain space, and ways to maneuver myself into a winning endgame.

I don't really have a checklist though. I just read the board more or less.

I always make a list of candidate moves that I feel are bettering my position somewhat, compare them all, (pros and cons) and come up with the move I feel is best.  =]

Mine is very simple:  I ask myself "Is this a blunder".  Then, immediately after I hit "Submit Move", I smack myself on the forehead with the palm of my hand.