Understanding analyses

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James314159

I need help reading the analyses provided in the Tactics Trainer. I pasted one in below as an example. There are many symbols here I don't understand; is there documentation anywhere on how to read them?

 

Problem ID: 0102366

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[Event "Online Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2007.10.04"]
[Round "1"]
[White "LukeSuarez"]
[Black "darac"]
[Result "1-0"]
[FEN "2kr3r/2p3qp/1pBp1p2/p7/2QPPpp1/3P3P/PP4P1/R3K1R1 b Q -"]
[DELTA "-996.65"]
[SCORE "Mate"]
[FULL "22. ... gxh3 23. Qa6+"]
[MOVES "Mate1"]

22. ...gxh3

({12:Mat02} 22. ... gxh3 23. Qa6+ Kb8 24. Qa8# $18)
({12:+6.04} 22. ... Rdf8 23. Qa6+ Kd8 24. Qb7 f5 25. Qb8+ Ke7 26. Qxc7+ Kf6 27. Qxd6+ Kg5 28. Rf1 fxe4 29. Qd5+ Rf5 30. Qxe4 gxh3 31. gxh3 $18)
({12:+6.15} 22. ... Rd7 23. hxg4 Rf7 24. Rf1 Rff8 25. Rxf4 Qg5 26. Qa6+ Kd8 27. Qa8+ Ke7 28. Qb7 Rc8 29. g3 Kf7 $18)
({12:+6.41} 22. ... Rdg8 23. Qa6+ Kd8 24. Qb7 Qf7 25. Qb8+ Ke7 26. Qxc7+ Kf8 27. Qxb6 gxh3 28. Qd8+ Kg7 29. gxh3+ Kh6 30. Rxg8 Rxg8 31. Qxd6 $18)

23. Qa6+

({4:Mat02} 23. Qa6+ Kb8 24. Qb7# $18)
({4:+3.35} 23. O-O-O Rdg8 24. Qe6+ Kb8 25. Qxh3 $18)
({4:+2.96} 23. Qe6+ Kb8 24. Qxh3 Qg3+ 25. Qxg3 fxg3 $18)
Azukikuru

Not exactly sure what the numbers 12: and $18 mean, but Mat02 means mate in 2, and numbers such as +6.04 and +6.15 means that white has an advantage worth about a rook plus a pawn (5+1 points). The move sequences in parantheses are alternative lines, each denoted by its point value. Mat02 is, of course, the best alternative.

Now that I look at it again, that "12:" could have something to do with the depth of analysis, i.e. how many moves into the alternate lines the analysis go.

LlordLlama

$18 is how much the computer suggests you bet on the game, if you are playing white, to get a good return.

James314159
LlordLlama wrote:

$18 is how much the computer suggests you bet on the game, if you are playing white, to get a good return.


Really? So it's an assessment of your odds of winning from that position?

Azukikuru

I'm thinking "not really".

I have six chess.com analysis PGN files on my drive, and half of them have $18 after each analyzed line and the other half have $19. If I had to guess, I'd say it's the number of the processor used in making the analysis, although if they have at least twenty of them, I can't figure out why only two of them would have done all of mine.