How Do You Select Your Next Move?

I'm looking at what goes into selecting a move. How do you go about the process of selecting your next move? I've tried to create a mind map of the process. Take a look here https://www.chesstech.info/2022/04/finding-best-move.html. What do you think of my effort. What would you change or add? 

I just wing it

How is that working for you?

Check's, captures and attacks, if there are none look to improve your worst placed piece.

further your plans while crossing his.

I select my next move by clicking the piece I want to move then clicking the square I want to move it to. Are you new to chess.com?

I like it.

Some interesting ideas. Thanks.

calculate each candidate move a few moves ahead & choose between them.

this can be studied under 'candidate moves' title. check forced moves first, if there is any they are the most important ones.

then check for simple tactics, check for advantageous positions, try to put your pieces there.

you usually stop thinking and play one of those, but many players do some simple mistakes in the process.. like they think too deep on a line and play another line without thinking enough.

this is a deep subject. do some research with 'finding candidate moves in chess'

I didnt read but found this here

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/candidate-moves2

IM Jeremy Silman has a course called "Roots of Positional Understanding" here in Chess.com Lessons. I have found it very helpful.

GothamChess talks about checks, captures, and attacks - in that relative order. And together with the concept of danger levels that's immensely powerful advice to create and win dynamic attacking positions.

There's also Seirawan's continual advice to keep checking how 'happy' every piece is before playing anything - its mobility, its aim, its control of center squares and/or those around the opposing or own king.

Myself I also aim to improve 'square hotness'. It relates to your idea of key squares. And it's also what's missing from those chess visualizations that show arrows - they should also show which of the squares the pieces are controlling are the hottest/juiciest. Sure you can highlight key squares, but it's more subtle: a temperature range. I like to picture it as a border around each square colored in a gradation from blue to red - blue being zero control, red being ultimate checkmating power.

For example, in many openings, f7 becomes the hottest square as it's the target of several pieces combined toward the ultimate checkmate. Bobby Fisher's b3 bishop is probably the most famous example at superstar level for that - the whole game becomes a progression towards a checkmate that the GM has in mind right from the start!

That's what starting players often forget - they think there's all this stuff before checkmate - but no: chess is entirely a checkmating pattern.

So the thing with the hot square concept is that several pieces combined create the temperature / tension level on all these different squares. This is often where they intersect or get near the enemy king. And by transposing them, you can create these miraculous new arrangement of other hot squares. And the opponent can only follow their changes if you keep initiative. This is what tricks and tactics are all based on.

And sometimes you create these ghost squares - something almost invisible, like sacrificing a piece for a pawn to create a new pattern of hot squares that are more likely to lead to gains or checks, or checkmating patterns.

So yeah, analyze those key squares and do lots of switcharoos. I believe, like Kasparov, that creativity is key to winning.

Thanks @zone_chess. I've added a couple of branches to the mind map. Check it out at https://www.chesstech.info/2022/04/finding-best-move.html.

I have written a comment, at the end of my blog article... 

Good Chess Books for Beginners and Beyond

The comment is actually a brief review of the book....

"The Six Power Moves of Chess" by William G. Karneges

The book is all about how to choose chess moves.

The comment/book review is in the comments section at the bottom of the web page, immediately following the main text of the blog article

Thanks what did you think of my mind map project? https://www.chesstech.info/2022/04/finding-best-move.html