The Sad Truth ~ Game Analysis is Useless

I had this sad realization today. Unless you're a mega brain like Magnus or Gotham, all it really accomplishes is showing you a mistake you made in a position you've never had, nor will you ever have again. Analysis is helpful for the opening, yes. And that's because the game hasn't grown to crazy exponential possibilities yet, but openings can be studied and memorized outside of game analysis. So many people harp on 3 main points to improve play. 1) Tactics 2)Study(openings, reading books, practicing board vision, counting, blindfold chess etc..) and 3) Game Analysis

I'd really love for someone to explain to me how game analysis has helped you(not in the opening). I analyze probably around 50% of my games, and if it was a useful resource, I'd be getting better but I'm not. To take it a step further...when I analyze, I take the opportunities to try to find best/better moves than the ones I made...sometimes succeed...sometimes not. And even when the engine suggests the best move is something that looks like it makes no sense...I'll go deeper and take it to the analysis board and play it out till it makes sense and explore other outcomes. Pattern recognition is helpful, but this is best obtained by doing puzzles and is seen far more rarely in actual games. Memorization is super useful in openings, but is impossible elsewhere in the game. If there actually is a way to study analysis to help correct mistakes, it is beyond me. If you don't approach it with a memorization mindset then what else is there? If your knee jerk response is to say something like "ohhh board vision and positional play" just....🤦🏻‍♂️...just save it ya know. Analysis doesn't do anything but show you similar mistakes made but with different pieces in different positions that will never again be repeated. Don't believe the hype. My username has never been more true than it is right now. I freaking despise these 64 squares. Have a good day all!! 😂

So, analysis of a single game has never struck me as particularly useful, exactly for those reasons you mentioned. However, if I ask myself things like, “Ok, now that I see the correct move, why didn’t I see this before?” Or, “I feel like I’ve made similar types of mistakes, is this an aspect of my game I should work on?” Those tend to be more useful questions.

For example, lately in a couple games, I’ve been making moves that lead to a draw instead of to a winning endgame. The thing I need to work on, then, is probably understanding more about theoretically drawn endgames vs theoretically winning endgames.

Also in a couple games, I’ve been missing my opponent’s ideas for pawn breaks, and I’ve been misevaluating my own pawn breaks. So, I know that in the future, I need to work on those aspects.

But yeah, I think for me, it’s that two step process. What type of mistake did I make, have I been making this mistake over several games.

@1

"showing you a mistake you made in a position you've never had" ++ You had it

"Analysis is helpful for the opening, yes." ++ No

"1) Tactics" ++ Yes

"2)Study(openings" ++ No,

"reading books" ++ Study good books but not too many

"practicing board vision" ++ No

"counting" ++ No

"blindfold chess" ++ No

"3) Game Analysis" ++ Yes !!

"I'd really love for someone to explain to me how game analysis has helped you"
++ Learn from your mistakes, so as not to repeat them in similar circumstances and so as to exploit similar mistakes by your opponents

"I analyze probably around 50% of my games" ++ Analyse lost games only

"I'd be getting better but I'm not" ++ Blunder checking is important too

"when I analyze, I take the opportunities to try to find best/better moves than the ones I made" ++ It is no about finding better moves, it is about avoiding bad moves.

"Pattern recognition is helpful, but this is best obtained by doing puzzles"
++ No. In a puzzle you know there is a tactic and for which side.

"far more rarely in actual games" ++ No, it is abundant in actual games but often unnoticed

"Memorization is super useful in openings" ++ No, is completely useless

"If there actually is a way to study analysis to help correct mistakes"
++ The trick is to remember the mistake from the loss.

"with different pieces in different positions that will never again be repeated"
++ Similar positions will lead to similar mistakes

Shocking. Chess.com also has free Stockfish analysis. What is your point exactly?

@tygxc

Like why even take the time to write a response? You might as well have written...

On your 1st point...yes...2nd...no...3rd no 4th no 5th yes 6th yes 7th 8th and 9th no no no. Gee thanks bruh. Super happy I didn't miss what you had to say! Next time just write, "hey everyone just letting you know I exist, am a person, and hope you notice me."...it will accomplish the same thing.

@busterlark

You're the only who really said anything helpful. I think you're right. Maybe I can get more out of it if I change my perspective and what kind of questions I'm asking myself. My biggest problem right now is blowing the advantage. At my rating level, I can usually obtain and hold the advantage 80% of the time with white or black, but then, sure enough, I give the game away. I just don't know how to convert the advantage for a win. But using game analysis to try approaching this problem is it's own freaking puzzle! And yeah ok...let's say I'm able to determine.."noticing useful pawn breaks for myself and my opponent" are a weak area for me...how does one go about improving in such a specific area like this? My head is spinning just thinking about it 😵‍💫 feels hopeless

I couldn't help myself. I saw this thread, clicked on your profile and you were playing so I watched. Wow...

https://www.chess.com/game/live/56604570205

Playing a half hour game. The last 15 moves were played in 58.4 seconds. For a while you were plus 2.7 but that slowly went away, and the switch from playing classical to Bullet resulted in a transition from winning to -21 to -#6 and resignation...

Yes the analysis is useless. I wouldn't bother wasting my time having the computer tell me what was the best move. Just continue with the qh5 Botez Gambit and you'll be getting better in no time.

 

In my experience, it helps show me common patterns or motifs that  I overlook in games. For example, I often have trouble seeing tactics that attack things from 8 squares away horizontally and vertically. When I analyze games without an engine, this helps me to really think about why I keep missing these tactics, and it could be because of many reasons. I could be not checking tactics every move (like you are supposed to), I could have overlooked something while calculating the tactic, or I could have just completely missed the tactic. Analyzing games helps you find the root of the problem and guide you towards fixing it.

 

One common problem I have in my games is that in winning positions, before I blunder and make the losing mistake, I often play inaccuracies where, while still winning, the game becomes much harder to play and I have to play only-moves to keep my advantage. Analyzing games helps me find how come up with better moves in these types of positions that give me an easier win.

 

Another specific problem I have is that I often lose endgames that are equal according to the engine. Since this has repeatedly happened, when I analyze these games I really try to internalize patterns in these endgames so that I can more easily see the correct moves/plans the next time I play an endgame.

 

I would just like to say that while openings obviously need memorizing, don't tactics, strategy, and endgames need them too? I just watched an Andras video where he showed the best hiding spot for a king that can't castle, and his student was completely unable to see that plan. Theoretical endgames almost never occur in even grandmaster games, but grandmasters still analyze and study them because it helps them come up with plans. You need to think for yourself while playing chess, just because you aren't getting an identical position to you favorite opening video doesn't mean that you can't learn from your mistakes.

Personally, I love the chess.com Game Reviews, in the context of playing only 15/10 Rapid. I have learned:

- That I am too timid moving my Queen out

-That I can fail to scan the board after a flurry of exchanges and see the new opportunities that have emerged

- That I can miss opportunities in the opening to claim space in the centre

- That I can be too impatient to resolve a position through exchanges

- That during an attack on the King's side, I can miss opportunities that open up on the Queen's side as my opponent responds to my King's side attack

- That a lot of the above weaknesses are connected to failing to continually scan the board as a whole

I could list more if I really put my mind to it. I find the Game Reviews really open my mind to new possibilities in the context of my own actual games.

When I started analysing games my rating went from a struggling 1500 to a struggling 1700.

It wasn't just analysing, it was a combo of tactics, analysis and opening prep.

 

But.. saying it's useless.... I guess depends on how you use it.

If you finish your game and dedicate atleast the amount of time playing to analysing it might be alot better than just clicking game review and going over a 30 min game in 4 minutes. Also consider how you are using the tool.. is it the main source of analysis or is it there to assist you?

Personally, I won't go over the review until I have at minimum gone through the critical moments (or atleast what I think were the critical moments) of the game by myself.

Game analysis is like checking the answers to the math questions you have answered, it's only useful if you couple it with learning how to approach a position (analogous to learning how to solve a math question). For example, you might think that a tactic works, but upon checking the engine you find that you've missed a defensive idea by your opponent. This will help fine tune your thinking process to similar tactics in future because you will know to spend time to check if the defensive idea works. In my opinion, there are many things game analysis can't teach you, like positional thinking, but it's definitely a bare minimum thing you should do to get feedback for your games. 

Numbers are one thing, explanations another. Try a coach who can explain the numbers if you don't understand them, good luck!

Analysing games is not equally helpful at every stage of your development. If you are still making beginner blunders ( e.g. putting your pieces en prise all the time), you can safely skip game analysis. It would be much more important to reach a certain level of "fluency" in chess, i.e. knowing immediately, without looking at the board, that a queen on g4 can be taken by the c8 bishop, or the f8 bishop can reach c1 via a3 or h6.

You can get this by playing through a lot of annotated games on a real chessboard. (By lot I mean hundreds.) That will help you internalize where the pieces can move from certain squares, so instead of thinking about it, you simply see it. It is like getting fluent in reading: you don't have to put the letters together one by one, you just see the word.

#6

Yeah, I don’t usually find game analysis as useful for actually helping me fix the problem, it’s just more useful for me to identify the problem. Actually fixing the problem requires finding out resources that help. So, if you’re shaky in converting the advantage to a win, I would specifically look for resources on how to convert an advantage into a win. I know that Ben Finegold has a lecture on YouTube on doing exactly that. I also know that Jonathan Rowson has a chapter in Chess for Zebras that addresses exactly this. Jacob Aagaard just released a book earlier this year on endgame technique, and next year he should have a book out on middlegame technique.

That said, you might be able to find additional resources by asking around in the Books and Equipment subforum, I would guess. User RussBell(?) also has a list of books that might be useful for various topics. And I wouldn’t underestimate YouTube resources either

Hi! I agree with some replying posts in that Game Analysis-especially lost games- is worth the time spent. This way you will know where you have to improve first. Basically the reason of losing a game could be failure in:  openings, middle game, endgame, tactics, strategy, and time management. Once you identify your weaker points then you should focus on them in a training program. You can do it all by your own, or you can have the help of a teacher or coach to guide you.

Good luck!

maafernan,  Chess.com coach. 

 

I'd just like to add this to a few comments. Saying I mostly play speed chess is just false. I mostly play 30 min. Time control or 10 min time control. You could consider 10 minutes on the EDGE of speed chess but not really. And yea you can view some of my games and see where I didn't take my time. Those are games usually when I'm in a "screw it" mood already and aren't a good representation of my best efforts. If you want to see what I'm actually talking about. Take a look at my 30 and 10 minute games where I use most of my time, hold the advantage most of the game, and then lose it when a better player would convert.

Also Thankyou everyone for the helpful input. Some of what was said gives me some hope and ideas moving forward!

As someone mentioned earlier in the thread, game analysis isn’t for everyone. I did participate in a simul against the infamous blitz master, Asa Hoffman where a Grand Prix was played against my Sicilian and I couldn’t wait to have it analyzed. I found an improvement to my middle game and researched it online by reviewing other games in similar positions using Fritz. I went back and played and although it was my second loss to a master, it sparked my interest in this opening. I am now familiar with both sides of the Grand Prix Sicilian and have written blogs on my games against this NYC Legend. Look for ideas (not moves) in the analysis that you may not have considered and then research them with annotated games.

"I claim that nothing else is so effective in encouraging the growth of chess strength as such independent analysis, both of the games of the great players and your own." - Botvinnik

 

To figure this out you need to think about chess as you would for anything you want to improve at. The are three main things that influence your ability in almost anything. Knowledge, practice and talent. The only two you can work with are knowledge and practice. Practice is tricky, because just doing a thing over and over can be very inefficient particularly if you just keep repeating mistakes. That can also be tricky because because it is often difficult to identify your own mistakes. That's why in so many things we want to improve at, coaches, trainers and teachers are so valuable. Even Improving your knowledge can be difficult, because we often just don't know what is is we don't know, or what knowledge we need most and in what order. So most of us need help with both knowledge and practice. Game analysis can solve both problems amazingly well if you use it as a diagnostic tool.

In sport, a coach will spot your mistakes and point them out and work with you to correct them. Without access to a coach the analysis tool will identify your mistakes. You can then classify them in two ways, how bad of a mistake was it, and what type of a mistake. That way you can focus on your big mistakes and on the type of mistake you make most frequently. That will help you produce the most improvement in the shortest time.

Having identified and classified the type, magnitude and frequency of your mistakes you can learn from the errors in your thinking, or deficiencies in your knowledge that caused you to make them and you can then acquire the knowledge and use deliberate focused practice to improve. Used like that, the analysis tool is like having a GM by your side 24/7.

Even when you do it right, it is still easy to become frustrated, because for most of us learning, even when optimal, is still difficult and slow and requires a sustained and concerted effort over time.

Without analysing your games you deprive yourself of the essential knowledge required to identify your mistakes and fix them. You won't be able to focus on the biggest and most frequent mistakes so you can optimise your learning and personal growth. In the worst case you just condemn yourself to playing games where you continue to repeat the same mistakes with minimal gains and improvement that is little and slow.  Of course if you do a thing often enough and for long enough you will still improve, but it may well be a slow, vague and haphazard process, I wouldn't wish that on anyone. 

Of course many people are enjoying their chess and are happy playing with others at their level and are not motivated to improve. For them, enjoying their games is the primary goal. However for anyone who genuinely wants to improve, that long slow graft can't be avoided and the analysis button is for most of us, the first and most important tool we reach for. 

It doesn't even end there, I haven't even scratched the surface of the many and varied ways that game analysis can be used to improve your knowledge and focus your training and ultimately greatly enhance your ability and the pleasure you get from the game. 

It really is worth the effort figuring this stuff out because while it may not be the best way to improve, for most of us it is the most available and most affordable method and a very effective path to improvement.

Like almost everything in life... The more you put in, the more you get out.

 

I was going through my old blogs and thought this one would be instrumental in explaining how analysis (and annotating our own games) can help to realize new ideas and concepts.

https://www.chess.com/blog/JCQuinones/ruy-lopez-archangelsk-defense-c78

Hope That Helps!

PS.  I reviewed a few games of @IHateThatILoveChess and would suggest a slow down because the time between moves seemed at blitz rather than rapid speed.