What do you ask yourself before making a move in general ?(thinking process)

What do you ask yourself before making a move in general ?(thinking process)

what will he do

Who's guarding what, and what's the critical piece to which this entire formation is possible?  What would happen if I take this piece, no matter how dubious it may seem? 

My current screening process as I play tactics puzzles addresses a tendency I have to have considered the correct move, yet dismiss it too quickly based on poor depth in calculation or thinking too much in material values.

What is my opponent's best response to my move? Is his move going to cause problems on my side (ex. can he fork me? start a strong kingside attack? pin my queen?)?

How does my move affect my position?

If I move this piece, am I leaving another piece undefended?

ofc i ask if the move is safe .

well first i ask myself, if touch the pawn do i  die because of an allergic reaction, later i ask myself if i might overextend myself when i pick up his queen for a queen trade and die of a heart attack because my heart can´t supply my body anymore.

I also have to ask myself can i really checkmate the guy or will he beat me up after the game.

all this stuff becomes second nature...

i guess it helps people, i also believe looking for lose people helps people... but its all not my cup of tea it must come naturally in my opinion.

but my rating is rather low so i guess, im wrong but still...

its too late for all that stuff now

Do I need the toilet? Whose turn is it? What am I doing here, anyway?

(Serious answer)

Opening: Do I know this opening? (No.) Oh. Well, just develop stuff.

Middlegame: What does my opponent threaten? What do I threaten? What can I prevent him from threatening? (Prophylaxis/restraint.) Is my move stupid? (Checks move.) (Plays move.)

Endgame: What does my opponent threaten? What do I threaten? What is my long-term plan? What can I do to make it happen? Is my move stupid? (Checks move.) (Plays move.)

Short review of my opponent's last made move, what is he trying to do? If I didn't made myself a game plan already, I'd figure one out. Going for a passive-aggresive play style

lol

What are all the things his move does?

What checks, captures, and threats does he have available?

Tactical thought process: Are there any "signs of tactical destruction" that can be exploited? For example, which pieces of his are unguarded (LPDO)? Which are on the same file, rank, or diagonal? Which pairs of pieces are a knight's move away from the same square (or one square removed from that)? Are there backrank threats or other king safety problems that might be exploitable? Are there any pieces that have limited mobility and might be able to be trapped? And maybe some other tactical questions that I'm forgetting.

Assuming no killer tactics were found, engage in strategic thought process and analyze and evaluate: What are my goals? What are the candidate moves that accomplish those goals? Are any obviously unsafe and can be eliminated immediatley? Then I analyze them until the position is quiet or I'm unable to calculate past a certain point, and I evaluate the resulting positions and compare them with each other, unless I'm short on time or one is just obviously close to optimal (e.g., I've found a mate, even if not necessarily the quickest mate) and I shortcut the process.

Before making the move, I make one last safety check to be sure I haven't overlooked something.

That's my process in theory, but I'm still working on consistently carrying out all stages reliably and in a timely fashion.

The source for this process is Dan Heisman's works on thought process, but there might be some mistakes or deviations in my thought process described above, so see his writings for more information (e.g., A Guide to Chess Improvement: The Best of Novice Nook).

Most of the thinking process becomes unconscious with time.

Here is my latest check list which changes with experience.

1. Is my King or any other piece in danger, or will they be in the next move?

2. Will the move I am thinking of put my King or another piece in danger?

3. If "no" to 1 and 2, look for countering fork attacks/pins by opponent.

4. If I have to ask myself, "Now what?" after the move, it's probably not the best move.

5. Is the piece moving to a protected square?

are me its a quick 5min look at the board and hope ive played the right move.

1. Why did my opponent make their last move?

2. What can I do?

3. What can my opponent do in reply? (if the answer is nothing and the move is not check, then unless I am otherwise losing I will not play the move)

why on earth am I playing this game ?

Unfortunately a lot of what I "think" occurs subconsciously, as pattern recognition kicks in, notifying me of candidate moves. The only thing I really think about would be general ideas (pawn structure, plans, potential tactics, etc) and deciding which of the candidates is best.

What through the next series of moves I wish the board position to look like at the point of putting me in a favorable position in the game.

1. What should he do

2. What should i do

3. Why is snow white?

That's very true, paulgottlieb, and the first two things I think about when asking "what are all the things his last move does?" are what squares/pieces are now unprotected (potential tactics for me against him) and what squares/pieces are now attacked/supported (potential tactics for him against me).

Likewise when contemplating moves myself, I should think about what my move leaves unprotected/unsupported, since that is where potential tactics against me are most likely to occur.