Playing chess is all about having a good solid strategy developed in your game. In order to develop and carry out your strategy you need to be able to look at the board, the pieces, and the situation in order to determine the best strategy to use. Most strategies will fail if you do not plan ahead. Planning ahead, at least two moves, is critical to becoming a winning chess player. You can do this by carefully analyzing the board and where the pieces are situated. A more experienced player may even be able to see likely scenarios that his opponent is attempting to execute.
To plan ahead a couple of moves in chess means that you look at your available options as well as your opponent's available responses to the moves that you intend on making. If you are able to do this you are on the path to becoming a great chess player. Some people have a tendency to simply react to the moves that their opponent makes. These are the same people who wait to see their opponent's strategy without trying to implement one of their own. All of us are probably guilty of doing this at some point, but taking control of the game and being the one implementing strategies, instead of the one reacting to them, gives us an advantage in our games.
Being able to plan ahead a few moves and to see what the next few moves your opponent may make takes a great deal of practice and generally comes with experience. Being aware enough to try and look for possible scenarios though will help you to progress quicker in your game development. Spend time during the game looking for those scenarios and it will pay off for you.