when to look for tactics

i have been doing a lot of tactics trainers and have made alot of progress however when i play games i cant seem to have the same amount of tactical skill as i do in tactics trainer.  How do i smell blood, when do i LOOK for tactics?

tag for interests. It seems like a stupid question but some of the puzzles just look like a game in process, if I wasn't forewarned I would have never found the move. It makes me wonder how many moves I've missed.

The first move you should always consider is the thematic sacrifice Qxh2+. It happens more frequently than you'd think.

The seeds of tactical destruction:

https://web.archive.org/web/20131006111441/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman05.pdf

And revisited:

https://web.archive.org/web/20131006052235/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman24.pdf

Ok, here's a simple way.

1. Is the King very exposed? Go on.

2. Is a piece hanging (besides pawns)? Go on.

3. Is a piece very loosely guarded? Go on.

If you have come across at least 2/3 of these, including exposed king, then you can start looking for tactics (if you have the time)

(p. 9)

    The first thing we must learn is that combinations, and especially those

that lead to checkmate, do not materialize out of thin air. We have to cre-

ate the conditions for their successful introduction. We must establish an

advantage. The easiest type of advantage for us to understand is when we

are ahead in force. Our favorite living condition. From a position of su-

preme material superiority we can afford to be magnanimous. Yes, combi-

nations come easily when we are ahead in material. Imagine a position

where we may be a pawn or two to the good with only a few pieces on the

board. From a situation of material and positional superiority we sacrifice

a pawn to introduce a combination that forces the trade of all the remain-

ing pieces. Then our superior King's position motors through the oppo-

nent's position vacuuming up the remaining pawns for an easy win. Sheer

(p. 10)

happiness carries us through the rest of our day. Our combination to force

the trade of all the pieces worked!

   A second obvious advantage is being ahead in development. We have

activated our pawns and pieces, taking them from their original squares,

castled, connecting our Rooks, controlling the center, doing all the right

things according to the rules of strategy while our opponent has been dab-

bling about squandering tempi. In such situations our superior, well-

mobilized army overwhelms the defenders. To quote Reuben Fine, "Com-

binations are as natural as a baby's smile."

   What I hope this book will teach is how to set the table for a successful

combination. You must learn to recognize the advantages and disadvan-

tages in every position. Combinations spring from advantages in force,

greater mobility, more space, better pawn structure, safer King, a serious

weakness in our opponent's position, a misplaced piece, occupation of a 

vital outpost, a stable pawn wedge, better coordination of our forces, and

so on. Something has to be in our favor for a combination to be sound.

Chess is a game of supreme logic. It only stands to reason that we must

have some advantage if our combinations may actually be correct. Yet

even this is not all there is to combinations. There is a lot more, including

psychology, temperament, time pressure, mood, tiredness and even lazi-

ness. Chess combinations are tactical short-term opportunities. A back-

rank mate no longer exists when our opponents create luft. A better devel-

oped army may yield a combination but if we dither the opportunity will

pass us by. when we do go for it and uncork a sacrifice we immediately

put pressure on our opponents. To accept the sacrifice or deftly decline the

offer? It is not everyone's pleasure to be under pressure, constantly having

to find the only move to satve off defeat. Many of Tal's sacrifices were

unsound but time and time again his oppponents cracked under the pressure

of his relentless initiative. In a lecture Tal explained his approach: "I like

to take my opponent for a walk in a dense forest. One where the path is

obscure and easy to miss. I feel comfortable in such wild places." how 

cool is that! Sometimes we cannot be sure of the correctness of our sacri-

fice and we have to trust our fate to the chess gods. So be it! Let us de-

(p. 11)

velop our chess noses and learn the conditions that we need to become

combinative super-stars. When we have developed the confidence of fear-

lessness our opponents will feel our radiating aura of confidence and they

will become afraid.

Seirawan, Yasser. 2006. Winning Chess Combinations. London: Gloucester Publishers plc.