How to Analyze Games - Improve Your Mistakes

When reviewing a game you lost first look for mistakes and blunders. Try to figure out why this is a bad move and what you could have done better. Below I will list a few common mistakes or general errors:

Cramped After Opening

Some players have bad openings that put them in a situation where lots of pieces are inactive and can not contribute to attack or defense. To fix this do these two things:

1. Find a game that demonstrates it well then either talk to someone better than you about it or analyze that game with the Chess.com game review feature.
2. Then find an opening that solves the problem and that you like. For this reason, I will not suggest any specific openings but will remind you that your opening should: allow your pieces to develop, control the center, and protect the king.

Losing Lots of Pieces

I recommend reading the following:

• https://www.chess.com/blog/AJ109932/swott-make-better-moves
• https://www.chess.com/article/view/make-the-most-of-your-pieces
• https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-10-most-common-mistakes-among-chess-beginners
• https://www.chess.com/article/view/training-yourself-to-avoid-hanging-stuff

Not Finding Mating

Some players don't really know how to attack or mate, I have played against a few friends who have this problem. I recommend doing these things:

1. Try to keep your opponent occupied. This will allow you to develop a good attack.
2. Look at professional games and learn mating patterns.

I also recommend reading the following:

• https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-win-a-chess-game
• https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-fastest-possible-checkmate-in-chess
• https://www.chess.com/article/view/move-by-move-chess-improvement-cashing-in-on-your-advantages

Not Getting Positional Advantages

Obviously, you won't have a positional advantage in every game, but reading these things will help you have one more often:

• https://www.chess.com/blog/AJ109932/best-positional-players-ever
• https://www.chess.com/blog/AJ109932/magic-with-your-knight
• https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-build-winning-chess-positions
• https://www.chess.com/article/view/pawn-structures-that-win-1
• https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-play-positional-chess

Hope this helps you stop blundering and helps you win more games.

Here are some extra articles about the same topic:

• https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-avoid-mistakes
• https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-learn-from-your-defeats-like-karpov
• https://www.chess.com/article/view/fixing-your-weaknesses