How does one use chess bots/engines?

How do bots/engines work exactly? How does a player actually interface with an engine to inform their movements/decisions? And how do you know if someone's using them?

I’m new to the chess world and am learning more about the different tools people are using in online chess. Thanks for the help!

using engines is cheating 😲😲😲

At the end of a game , you have the possibility to do a game review. Stockofish gives you indications like ?? which means gaffe for example and simple you see the mistakes you made, those of your opponent and Stockfish also gives you solutions.

Then, when you want to know more you can play (a bit like a video game tester) against Stockfish to understand why this why that.

Example with my  last part :

1) d4 you see picture book, that means is a theoretical opening move. You can see the Coach who gives info etc. d5

2) c4-e6

Now for the example I would not understand why not take the c4 pawn directly. So before 2)...e6 I play directly on the chessboard 2)...dxc4, then I see thinking Stockfish and notably a book picture. Stockfish would have continued with 3) Nf3 but you want know why not 3. e4 so you play this on the chessboard. This move has picture book but you see why Stockfish prefer first 3. Nf3 because 3)...e5 and this can be awkward because of the history with the Queen exchange. 

In clear you have gained knowledge from the program by working with it and you know that if a player plays after 1) d4-d5 2) c4-dxc4 you don't play the logical move 3.e4 because exists 3...e5 but you play first 3) Nf3 to prevent 3...e5  (and you also know that it is not a mistake or a bad move to play 3. e4 but 3...e5 can be awkward)

@Alchessblitz - super helpful! Thanks a ton for your thoughtful response. I've noticed quite a few people siting bot/engine usage in real-time. Could you use Stockfish in real-time to do just that? Playing as your opponent with the engine, and then following the engine's moves in your actual game?

I think what you are referring to is cheating. Otherwise, if you want to play against a bot, this site has plenty of them for you to play against (go to Play...Computer).

@Mikewrite- exactly. It's definitely cheating, and to be clear something I'm not interested in using myself. I've been hearing that a lot of players on chess.com do this, so was curious how people are actually doing it. I'm working on a small project to try eradicating this behavior atm.

Engines like Stockfish can be downloaded and run in a chess GUI. This is already integrated in the chess.com analysis if you just want to review the moves that you and your opponent made during the game. 

I don't know if it would help 'eradicate this behavior', since this website can detect cheaters better than us normal folk ever could. You can watch the gothamchess channel to see cheaters getting banned in realtime.

I never understood how anyone could get much satisfaction from cheating anyways. How can someone feel good using a computer to play against honest players, rather than having any real skill of their own?

thanks... so much! I get frustrated a lot losing my hard-earned points on players who cheat... and mostly they didn't pay for membership... they do it out of stupid fun.  I did have a chat with a friend of mine who left chess.com because of that.... and I downgraded myself from a diamond member... it's no fun anymore when you have to face an engine and then lose your rating. if there would be a choice that gives me the option to play just again paid member I would definitely choose that option.

For chess against humans there is banter blitz with notably Magnus Carlsen and it is much more interesting to watch banter blitz than a strong AI beating humans.   

A human cannot calculate 3 million positions per second (or more) and therefore cannot use the same method as Stockfish in blitz.  And the basic problem with AIs is that even if they can be strong they can also play stupid, bad or illogical moves. Example  :

1) e4-d5  

2) e5-e6  is stupid, bad or illogique move. AI has just transposed in a French Defense variant of advance. So AI won't be able to find something concrete that indicates that 2)...e6 is a bad move but for a human (normaly) it's a stupid move because he has the choice to take out his white-squared Bishop first before playing e6 and thus play a French Defense variant of advance without the white-squared Bishop problem. 

3) d4-Cc6 can be or seems illogique move because normaly the strategy is to explode or put pressure on the white center with c5 and f6 so when AI plays 3...Cc6, AI prevents himself from playing c5. 

Clearly what I'm trying to say is that AI is not necessarily a good teacher because AI can play bad strategic move or weirdly. 

Exactly! I can cheat at golf too and write whatever score I want.  What use is that? 

Agreed. I get a few scenarios where the engine doesn't seem right or gives terrible advice. Analysis sometimes recommends losing a piece for no apparent reason. Or it says I made a bad move (when I'm setting up for an attack), but on the next turn it praises me for making a great move as a result of that setup.

Dude is "trying to eradicate cheating" without knowing what a chess engine is. I wish I could write bad words here.

And when that happens, do you bother to check what the engine's recommendation is, and why does it think that your move is bad? Or do you just shrug and go on with your life? That is not the way to get better at chess.