“After beginning to learn chess a few years ago, both friends and coaches have suggested that I analyze all of my games, whether lost, won or drawn. What’s the best way to analyze games to learn the most from them?”
This question is relevant to every chess player, from amateur to Grandmaster. It is a good thing to think about, for if one doesn’t learn from defeats, how does one ever improve? You will keep making the same mistakes over and over again, whether it be a faulty opening variation, a lack of ideas in the middlegame, or a dislike of endgames. As is obvious by now, I analyze tons of games for this website’s content, so I have a word or two of advice here.
First things first: do not rely solely on the computer. Yes, the “metallic assistant” can provide very constructive criticism at times, but there are many situations where it just does not think like a human, judging one variation to be better than another due to a long, impossible to calculate variation. If your idea was sound in practice, I would not worry too much about it. I’ll give you an example from top level praxis:
So, that’s the first step: don’t necessarily take the computer’s word in every situation. Next, I have an age-old suggestion that no one seems to follow anymore. I suggest playing out the moves on an actual board. After getting a first impression of the game, I would also suggest showing it to a higher rated friend or coach for a second opinion. After that, it is finally time to feed the game into the computer.
Now that you are at this point, I wouldn’t simply discredit the move you played or thought was right because the computer says so. Look at the computer’s recommendation. See why your move or suggestion doesn’t work. Often there is a tactical or positional logic behind the engine’s recommendations. And if not, as mentioned before, don’t worry about it. If your opponent has no chance of finding a resource, it may as well not be there.
One last point: when I analyze a chess game on Chessbase (the preferred analysis software for the majority of good chess players), I always assess the position along with the computer. If it offers two lines, I tend to choose the continuation that is most comfortable for us humans, even if there is a .30 difference. It doesn’t matter. Chess is a fight between two people, not engines. Perfection is not possible!
I hope that this helped answer your question, and that you can now commence your analysis! As always, feel free to submit your questions using the button below.
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