I noticed that some of the knights are trying to use a checklist, to correct their thought process or to eliminate blunders...

I used to try and implement a list like that. Checking for pawn-structures.. Double-checking for blunders.. etc.. In a game, I would start of well-enough.. consistently using my list.. but somewhere, sometime - I would be totally engrossed in the game.. captured by my own schemes.. obsessed by my variations.. that I would invariably forget the list, and once again blunder...

"Checklist #10 Complete, #11 Commencing: Searching for candidate moves"
Did my hero Nezhmetdinov employ such a list? Did the masters really thought in such a way? I had my doubts even then but I really, really wanted to avoid blunders. So I began to search the net. Maybe get some pointers on how to do it. But to my surprise.. I could'nt find any grandmaster that uses such a list.The only prominent figure I found is AJ Goldsby. Now AJ Goldsby is a master so I should take his word for it right? But consider what GM Nigel Davies said

"When you have to think about imbalances, true mastery is not achieved"

Huh!? What!? You dont think about silman imbalances during a game? So how about a blunder check then? How about king weaknesses and pawn structures!?

"Suddenly you feel that one needs to create a little space here and attack there.
But why it is like that, you dont know" - Vladimir Kramnik(*)

This statement from the world champion floored me.. But thinking about it actually made sense. You see the state I described above - being a victim of my own schemes, is actually a good thing.. It is a time when I am cut-off from the world.. a time of outmost concentration.. I could hear my heart pounding from my chest, my hands shaking, and the veins of my temple throbbing.. In basketball terms, I am "In the zone". And to have to think about a list in such a state is preposterous.

Running thru a list in a game is like a guitarist thinking of finger placements during a recital.

Yes, I determined.. It is only natural that I loose track of such a list during a game. The time to implement a list is not during a game but before it.. During practice, until it becomes ability. As tempo would say- I understood what to do, but it is not yet ability. I understand it, but I dont know it.

So then, what I really need is to be able to practice an effective thinking method outside the context of a game. But what would enable me to practice the habit of thinking about my opponents reply? About thinking about effective piece placements? About loose pieces? About not blundering? Yep, you guessed it.. It is during practicing tactical exercises (Expecting anything else from a DLM trainee?). I am convinced solving all possible variations of deep combinations enables me to practice just that.. a good thinking process..

You see, the author of the book I'm using, this Maxim Blokh fellow is a tricky chap.. Most of the time I would find what I thought was a crafty move, only to find out that it will be refuted by a still craftier move.. After a few problems like this.. I began to double check everything. To go thru the variations, no matter how easy the position seems. Because, there has got to be something hidden there. So now I am beginning to have this habit, the "what else" of Mr. Kilgore. I noticed this in my recent play. I hope this continue and that this be deeply ingrained(fingers crossed).

During a game, to just go into the flow - is just about one of the nicest feeling to have.

p.s.
I just read The Day Capablanca died. Didn't know that reading the death of someone I've never even met could make me so sad.