What do you think about when choosing your next move?

Hello,

I remember reading some time ago from a chess player about the benefit of making a 'tactical inventory' as you play.  It means to look at all the pieces on the board and see how well-defended they are, to find pieces that have the burden of defending multiple other pieces at once, to see which pieces of mine are being attacked, which ones are pinned, looking at all possible checks, and other considerations.

Is there an established, common line of thought that good players run through in their mind when they see their opponent's move, or when deciding what their next move is?  I would imagine that everyone has their own mental routines and habits, but there are probably some considerations that are essential, or just valuable for anyone.

When my opponent moves, here are some things I ask myself.

- Does that piece now attack something of mine?  Am I defending that square?
- Did that move create a discovered attack?
- Did that move open some room for another piece to move next?
- Was that piece responsible for defending anything before it moved?
- Does it now defend a square that it didn't before?
- Is that piece being defended by anything in its new position?
- Are there any opportunities for check? (From either player)
- Can I attack the opponent's queen on the next move?
- Are there any possible exchanges / sacrifices I can do now that will remove a defender?
- Are there any exchanges / sacrifices that will allow me to set up a fork / discovered attack / skewer / check?
- When I move, will I be leaving another piece undefended or less defended?
- Can I move more attackers towards any good squares to create pressure?
- Is my next move going to leave me vulnerable to an easy tactic? (Like a pawn fork or something)
- Is there anything familiar about this position? (Familiar checkmate scenarios, trapped queen, etc.)
- Is the opponent preparing to do something devious / diabolical / despicable?

I found someone writing about the tactical inventory, on their blog.  http://caughtinthefire.blogspot.co.uk/2007/03/chess-iv-tactical-inventory.html

I'm not a super player, so I'd like to know, is there a set of considerations to make, each time the position changes?

I probably should but I don't. My thought process is usually something along the lines of:

• Is there a way to sacrifice a minor piece for an attack? It doesn't have to be sound.
• If not, is there a way to sacrfice the exchange for an attack? It almost certainly won't be sound.
• If not, is there a pawn that I can sacrifice for piece activity? This definately won't be sound.
• If not, is there a way to prepare a piece for a later sacrfice? Setting up for a later unsound move.
• If not because it is already an endgame then centralise my King and if not for another reason go and cry.

Usually,

Do I need another beer? And, do I have enough time to go get one and go to the bathroom before this joker moves?

I like to watch for obvious tactics and and making sure my pieces are okay, but mostly I look for all my opponents plans, then try to find a plan that looks like the one he wants to play, then take it in an unobvious direction. Basically, I want my opponent to think I'm falling into his plan and then flip his world upside down.

Hi,

Once I read somewhere that you always have to aim to create a double threat on every move. It seems obvious, but sometimes we move systematically without much thinking. When you stop for a while, and think about creating a double threat in the next move many times you find a very good move.

Regards.

Most of my chess thinking comes naturally and I really don't ask much to myself. I try to understand my opponents plan and how did his move change the position (squares that were protected and are no more etc.) and then I look at ALL checks and captures. That's really all I can say, I'm a too automatic player

Oh, I forgot: another thing that helps me a lot is trying to think in terms of computer evaluation. I mean: I look at the position and, say, evaluate it as +1 for White. Before my next move I always ask myself: if there was a computer analyzing this position, would the evaluation be greater than +1 or less than +1? In other words I try to find out if the move improves the position in my favor or not.

Each time I lose a game, it's because I move a piece without realising that I'm setting the opponent up with an opportunity to do some tactic that results in me having one less piece, or sometimes I just move a piece without realising that it leaves another piece with less defenders than attackers, and the opponent has a favourable exchange.  Of course, it's down to me to notice those vulnerabilities and to get into the habit of checking the safety of everything before moving.

When the opponent moves, before even thinking about potential tactics of my own, it is important to ask myself whether the piece they moved is now attacking anything new, or if it has created a discovered attack.  And before I move a piece, it's important to ask whether this piece has a responsibility for defending something, and in the same way, whether this piece is pinned or skewered.  These sound like elementary baby steps, but I still have to remind myself of them at this stage.

There will come a time soon when these considerations are just automatic, and then it will become a different game.  Then I will be free to look around the board for good tactical opportunities, without fearing that each move is a gamble that could bring the game to an end because of an oversight.

Here's where I was remembering the 'tactical inventory' concept from.

http://home.earthlink.net/~pdjoseph/id13.html

Peter Joseph (not the Zeitgeist man, but rather, the chess player).  It appears to be an excerpt from a book, Chess Tactics for Amateurs, which may or may not exist.  He offers to send the rest through email.  I don't know whether he's still around these days.

Someone told me that the same concepts might also be present in Cecil Purdy's book, The Search for Chess Perfection.

If I need to choose between two moves that are seemingly equal, I will look for the tinyest, tinyest possible difference between them.

Sometimes, that small difference turns huge later.

Jennifer Shahade makes the same recommendation about twenty seconds into this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEL9acB3ujM.

Just f**king attack and avoid mate. It seems to work for me.

I use analyze. 

analyzing is for real stuff. this, is a game.

Just the best game ever invented.

still, a game. you don't need to be so serious about it.

A game?  Just a game?

Is the pursuit of enlightenment just a game?  Is Hungry Hungry Hippo just a game?

That's what I thought.

I rest my case.

"What do you think about when choosing your next move?"

Dinner. Usually.

I always think, ok why did he make that move. And respond based on that.