I don't play chess, like maybe once every few years at most, so I know nothing about the patterns. But I noticed that pros usually made moves that put their opponent in an equal or worse predicament than their own.

A friend who regularly played speed chess played against me, without time limit of course because that would've been a stomp. I used the simple principle I figured out above and was winning for most of the game.

I basically depth-first searched every single move (the game lasted nearly three hours though).

I only lost at the end because I got tired and stopped doing the exhausting search in my mind.