That would be helpful for everyone I think to share the questions before making a move.
My top 3
1 - What's the purpose of opponent's last move?
2 - Any piece unprotected?
3 - Any possibility to mate?
1 What are the possible candidate moves?
2 What happens if I play candidate move #1?
3 What happens if I play candidate move #2?
4 What happens if I play candidate move #3?
5 What is now the best move and why?
6 Suppose I play that move am I sure it is no blunder?
1) What is my opponent threatening with his move? 2) How can I exploit his move, pins, skewers, tactical, positional things etc 3) If I make the move that I am considering what weaknesses have I created that he can exploit, and do those weaknesses invalidate my move?
I suppose I do tpr's candidate move thing instinctively, but I'm usually not calculating too deeply in short online time controls (I do need a 15 second increment in a 5 minute game though, which I guess would seem pretty slow to you 1 minute chess addicts :p ). I will generally know instinctively quite fast which candidate move I am playing, and only consider another if I see some flaw. "Any possibility to mate?" sounds like wildly hopeful chess :p It would be covered by my more comprehensive question two. And if you ask all my questions from move one, there is no need to specifically ask if a piece is unprotected.
1. How is this move going to f me?
2. Can't find the answer, so I'll play it out of curiosity, as I'm certain my opponent knows the answer.
1. Is this a good move?
If yes play it. If no don't play it.
Sheldoncooper: if im an uncareful person, telling me to be careful would be useless .
1.just one Question:
What would Stockfish do?
2 Then turn on the engine
3 copy the move
4 get busted for cheating
5 come and cry in the forums
6 protest innocence
7 be presented with clear evidence by observant forum users
8 act smug and call everyone envious idiots who wish they could play like me
9 Huff glue.
Works 90% of the time every time.
Well there's a difference between being told something and knowing it's true in that moment, and getting that knowledge into muscle memory in the mind. You know the phrase muscle memory? Like a tennis player's muscle will just instinctively know how to play the shot. But that comes after hard practice.
You can get a blunder checking mechanism into muscle memory. And you can train yourself to have a superior thought process, with deeper insights into the game, when you choose a move. But it takes hard practice, it's not simply memorising a list of questions.
"If I'm an uncareful person, telling me to be careful would be useless." That implies human beings can't grow through self-insight, which is palpably wrong :p
I say a last farewell to the drowning hippo, then just play the move.
Bruce Pandolfini (1989, p. 62) recommends the following process in his book "Weapons of Chess":
"(1) make a superficial analysis of move possibilities;
(2) create a mental list of the candidate moves;
(3) arrange those moves in order of preference, eliminating those not worth serious thought;
(4) analyze the firt move on your list as deeply as you can;
(5) if you run into trouble, turn to the next candidate on the list".
