How To Analyze Your Games

Nov 20, 2024

2 min read

I usually ask my students to analyze their games right after they play. In this newsletter, I want to dive into the best ways to approach game analysis.

Why we analyze our games

To find our weaknesses and strengths
To fix holes in our opening and endgame knowledge
To fix gaps in our positional and tactical knowledge

How to annotate a game

Most chess platforms have a way to write notes on a game you played. So whether you use Chess.com, Lichess, or Chessbase, you can annotate your games.

Download the game you want to analyze by either importing a PGN (or inputting the moves on an analysis board) or just clicking on the game if it was played online. You can make a study or a library folder depending on what platform you use to save your games that you annotated and keep them all in one place!
When you find a move that you want to comment on, right-click the move. There should be a section to add text. You can also create variations by just moving around the pieces. Variations are useful if there were other lines you were calculating or to show a different way a position could have developed.
Make sure to save the game!

What to look for during analysis

At what move were you out of book in the opening? Did you fall into any opening traps?
While it's usually better to analyze without engines first, looking for moments when the evaluation swings can be helpful! For example, if the evaluation swung in your favor for one move, that usually means you missed a tactic or opportunity. Without looking at the correct lines, try to find the best move, then check it. If you blundered (even if your opponent didn't see it), try to figure out why and what the correct move would've been.
Look for moments when yours or your opponent's position felt uncomfortable and why.
Try to continuously ask yourself what your plan is in the position and what your opponent's plan was. Did either plan get carried out? How?

You don't always have to annotate your games in order to analyze them. Sometimes you can just go over these questions in your head as you look through the games.

Good luck 😉