I enjoyed this one: I wasted years losing at chess, until I learned this.

Focus on solid moves. Don’t attack, wait for opponent to blunder. Try to avoid pushing pawns unless you have to. You can develop C, D, E pawns. Open by putting a pawn in the center. Castle early.

After the castle we’re into the mid-game. Then every move we have to look for:

• Checks
• Captures
• Threats

If there are no checks/captures/threats we go for Optimization. So develop any pieces still on the back rank or the C, D, E pawns.

So it’s Checks, Captures, Threats, Optimizations.

Note: just because you have a check or capture doesn’t necessarily mean you have to play it.

Bottom line: avoid blundering and wait for your opponent to blunder.