Chess journey

Lesson 16 – How to analyse your games

Learning how to analyze your games is like becoming a master detective of the chessboard. It’s how you discover your strengths, spot your weaknesses, and learn awesome new tricks for your next adventure!

Let’s break down how to be a chess detective, both with and without a super-smart robot helper!

Part 1: Being a Chess Detective (Without a Computer – Your Super Brain Power!) 🧠

This is the most important part! It’s like going on an adventure and then writing down what you learned in your trusty detective’s notebook. It helps you think for yourself!

Step 1: The “Wow! What Happened?” Moment (Your First Feeling!)

  • Immediately after the game (or very soon after): Before you even touch the pieces, just think about the game.
    • What felt really good? Were there any moves you made that felt super clever, or where you saw a cool attack? These are your “Hero Moves”!
    • What felt really bad? Were there any moments where you thought, “Uh oh, I just made a big mistake!” or where you felt confused? These might be your “Blunder Spots”!
    • What was the most exciting part? The most confusing part?
  • Goal: Just get your first feelings and remember the big moments.

Step 2: The “Piece by Piece” Investigation (Replay the Adventure!)

  • Set up your actual chessboard.
  • Carefully replay the whole game, move by move, from memory. Try to remember exactly what you and your opponent did.
    • If you can’t remember all the moves, that’s okay! Just go as far as you can.
  • For every single move, ask yourself these questions:
    • When it was your turn:
      • “What was I trying to do with this move?” (What was your plan? Were you attacking, defending, developing a piece?)
      • “Did my move actually help my plan?”
      • “Did I miss anything obvious?” (Like a free enemy piece I could capture? Or a powerful check I could give? Or a sneaky Fork/Pin/Skewer I could have done?)
      • “Was my King safe after this move?”
    • When it was your opponent’s turn:
      • “What was their plan when they made that move?” (Were they attacking my King, threatening my pieces, trying to control the center?)
      • “Did I see their plan or their threat?” (If they moved their Queen and suddenly it attacked your Knight, did you notice it?)
      • “How did I react? Was it the best way to respond?”
  • Now, let’s look at the different parts of your adventure (the phases):
    • The Opening (The “Launchpad” Part):
      • “Did I get my Knights and Bishops out quickly?” (Were they sleeping?)
      • “Did I control the center squares (e4, d4, e5, d5)?” (Did my Pawns or pieces land there?)
      • “Did I castle my King to safety early?” (Is my King safe in his fort?)
      • “Did I move the same piece too many times without a good reason?” (Did I waste time?)
    • The Middlegame (The “Big Battle” Part):
      • “What was my main plan here?” (Was I attacking their King, protecting my own, or trying to win a piece?)
      • “Did my pieces work together like a superhero team?” (Or were they wandering around on their own?)
      • “Did I spot any cool tactics (Forks, Pins, Skewers, Discovered Attacks) that I could use, or that my opponent used on me?”
      • “Did I leave any of my pieces hanging (unprotected) where they could be captured?”
      • “Was my King still safe, or did he start to get into trouble?”
    • The Endgame (The “Grand Finale” Part):
      • “Were there fewer pieces on the board?”
      • “Did my King become a hero and join the fight?” (Or was he hiding in the corner doing nothing?)
      • “Did I push my Pawns towards promotion to make a Queen?” (Were they racing to the finish line?)
      • “Did I know how to checkmate with the pieces I had left (like King and Rook vs. King)?”
  • Mark those moments! Put a little piece of paper or a tiny toy next to moves where you felt confused, where you made a big mistake (a “blunder”), or where you found a brilliant move!

Part 2: Being a Chess Detective (With a Computer – Your Super Smart Robot Assistant!) 🤖

Now that you’ve used your amazing brain, it’s time to let a super-smart robot help you see even more!

Step 1: Input Your Game (Tell the Robot Your Story!)

  • Go to a chess website (like Chess.com, Lichess.org, or ChessKid.com).
  • Find the “Analysis” or “Game Review” section.
  • Carefully input all the moves of your game. It’s like telling the robot your whole adventure story.

Step 2: The “Mistake Finder” (Let the Robot Point Out Oopsies!)

  • Use the website’s “Game Review” or “Blunder Check” feature. The robot will go through your game and show you where you or your opponent made big errors (called “blunders” or “mistakes”).
  • Don’t just click “next”! This is super important:
    • Stop at YOUR mistakes: When the robot shows you a move you made that was a mistake, stop and really look at it.
      • “Why was this move bad?” Try to understand your thinking process and where it went wrong.
      • “What move did the robot recommend instead?” Look at the move the computer says is better. Try to understand why that move is better. Is it attacking something? Defending something? Setting up a plan? This is how you learn!
    • Look at your opponent’s mistakes: See if you missed a chance to punish their mistake! Did you miss a free piece? A checkmate?

Step 3: The “Deep Dive” (Ask the Robot’s Super Brain!)

  • Turn on the “chess engine” or “Stockfish” (that’s the super-smart brain inside the computer!). You’ll see a score, like “+1.5” or “-0.8”.
    • What do the numbers mean?
      • A positive number (like +1.5) means White is winning by that many pawns.
      • A negative number (like -0.8) means Black is winning by that many pawns.
      • 0.00 means the game is perfectly balanced (a draw).
      • “M1”, “M2” means Checkmate in 1 move, Checkmate in 2 moves!
  • Let the engine run on the moments you marked earlier (your “Blunder Spots” or “Confused Moments”).
    • “Did the score change a lot here?” If it changed from +2.0 to -3.0, that was a huge mistake!
    • “What was the computer’s ‘best line’?” See the super clever moves the computer would have played. Sometimes it shows moves you would never have dreamed of! Try to understand why those moves are best.
  • Use the robot for your phase check-in too:
    • Opening: Did your opening moves get a good score? Did you develop well? Did you castle safely?
    • Middlegame: Where did the game score change the most? Did you miss a tactical chance? Was your plan a good one?
    • Endgame: If you had a winning endgame, did you know the best way to checkmate? Did the computer show a quicker way? If you were defending, did you make the best moves to try and draw?

Super Detective Tips for Both Kinds of Analysis:

  • Learn from ALL your games: It’s super important to analyze the games you lose too, not just the ones you win. You often learn the most from your mistakes!
  • Focus on Understanding: Don’t just look for mistakes. Try to understand why a move was good or bad, and why the suggested move is better. This builds your chess brain!
  • Don’t Analyze Every Game (if you play a lot): It takes time! Pick the games where you felt confused, or where you had a big win/loss, or where something exciting happened.
  • Keep it Fun! Think of it as solving a puzzle, or figuring out a mystery. The more you analyze, the smarter your chess brain will get for your next adventure!