Tutorial continued...
After pressing continue, you're presented with a screen like this:
Here's where it gets fun. The arrow keys just below the move list are like the arrow keys in the normal game screen. You can scroll through the moves or click on a move where you want to insert a comment or explore an alternative variation. At that point, type your comment in the comments after move (or before move if desired). When you leave the move the comments are remembered. To enter an alternative variation, start moving pieces -- the moves you make are preserved in a different color. Want to make another choice at that move? Go back to the previous move and make a different move, and another variation line is started. You can move back and forth through the moves, entering comments and variations till you've put in all your analysis.
When it's like you want it, press 'next step' if you want to do things like change the colors or pieces. If you want the default blue/white board, just press insert in the lower left corner. Don't forget to press 'flip board' if you want it analyzed from the perspective of the black pieces. But don't worry, others will be able to flip it if you forget.
If you don't have a PGN file and started with a normal starting position, then you enter your moves the same way you would do analysis -- just drag pieces and it saves it in the move list.
OK, so you've got a game and you'd like it to be analyzed. Here are some step by step instructions to getting the game into a forum thread.
First, either create a thread using the "Post New Topic" link at the top of the page, or choose an appropriate thread to post your game and go to the bottom. You'll be presented with the standard chess.com post entry page. Type any text you'd like to introduce the game and ask for the analysis. Then it's time to insert the actual game.
To post the game you need a move list. If it was a chess.com game then you can get the move list from the database by downloading the PGN file. Open the game and click on the move tab. One of the options on the right hand side is the Get PGN option.
This will download a Portable Game Notation file to your computer. Open the file in a text editor program like notepad. At the step you need the PGN file, you'll select all text and copy it to the clipboard.
If it's not a chess.com game, or you don't have / don't want a PGN file, don't despair -- you can also enter the moves manually.
Back on your forum post, choose the "insert game" icon, which looks like a mini chessboard.
This will open a dialog box to post the actual game. Pick the middle option, post a game or sequence of moves. Then click continue.
The next step is to choose what kind of game it is. The main choices here are blank chessboard (if you're going to enter the moves yourself), or PGN file if you have one. The FEN string one is most often used in vote chess (inside the team's notes) to analyze starting from the current position in a game -- do NOT use that to get help in an active individual game! But if you want to examine a critical position you can scroll through the moves to get it, and copy/paste the FEN entry on the game screen.
We'll continue with a PGN file for now... paste the file you put into notepad earlier into the PGN box on the form, and press continue.
Don't know if this site has a post size limit, maybe I'd better end this one and start another post.