Chess.com for Tigers: 5. The online analysis tool that is allowed in rated games

Updated: Mar 9, 2021, 12:53 AM | 12

It has been a while since I have posted my last "Chess.com for Tigers" blog – I have been pretty busy here, yet mainly with tasks in my club Chess House Cafe (and its partner club Team Match Chess).

Nevertheless, I had always a continuation in mind, mainly because of one tool that is so helpful in Daily games, but which I had not mentioned yet here, because I still had not even detected it while I wrote these blogs. And that’s the analysis tool.

I think I am not utterly wrong if I say this analysis tool is one of the main reason that allowed me to boost my rating over the last year.

Some of you may scream now: But wait, analysis is forbidden in Daily games! (And also shorter formats.)

Well, yes. Engine analysis. Which of course is forbidden in (rated) games here. But I am talking about the manual analysis, which is a kind of testing board with a scrapbook.

However, there is a reason for this confusion – and also the fact that many (like myself) detect it pretty late: Because chess.com – in it’s unfathomable wisdom – has decided to give acess to that via the very same icon (even the same signal word “analysis” that pops up once you hover over it) like is used for engine analysis.

You find that weird? I would not object.

Yet in fact, if you know what it is hidden behind this (identical) icon in different settings, there is no real danger to activate the (forbidden) engine analysis by accident.

Because if you click on that analysis-icon (the reading glass, with four chess-squares inside, below the box with your moves) in a Daily game, you will just get to the manual analysis: Your board will stay the same, it just will suddenly look foggy, yet when you make a move, it will be noted down on the right, in a new box, which works like a scrapbook. I.e. you write into that scrapbook first by moving, and then you can edit these moves with another tool. (I come back later to that.)

If you already use the opening explorer (described in previous blogs), you have the same icon. If you click on it there, it would lead to the engine analysis then, but in a daily game, that should be blocked automatically. (It happened to me sometimes about a year ago, that the engine analysis started to open nevertheless. But that was clearly a bug, and it did not happen to me lately anymore. Yet I do recommend NOT to go back some moves in your game, access the explorer and click then on that icon. Because then you risk that the position is not blocked, and you might get to the explorer engine, which is forbidden of course in rated games, particularly if you would proceed then again to your present position … And this is not meant as a description of a hack – who wants to cheat would find other ways – but to make clear what you really should avoid.)

But what is this manual analysis about?

Well, you can just test lines, like in the explorer. But other than in the explorer, when you go back and try a variation, your previous attempt still will be be noted (whil in the explorer it just will disappear). It even will stay the main line, and your new attempt will become second line, and so on, until you edit it.

Editing works by right-clicking on the specific move – then a small (narrow) box opens, and by chosing options there, you can add comments, evaluations, or “promote” a move (thus making it main line, while the previous one becomes second line). If you have more than two lines, and you want to re-sort them, that may become a bit tricky, as there is just this promotion-tool, but you will find out pretty soon how to do that. (Sometimes, however, it is easier to delete a variation and start it anew …) And you are able to edit and re-edit these comments, annotations and variations over and over again.

Which is helpful particularly if you save them, and wait some time, before you come back to that game and think about it again.

Sadly, saving the manual analysis is only available for premium members. But maybe an alternative for non-premium members could be taking a screenshot and saving that either on your computer, or let’s say, a personal group on chess.com you create just for such a purpose …

I also find it helpful not only to evaluate and save good moves, but also errors and blunders – that warns me once I come back, and helps me from considering that move again next time (maybe without identifying it again as a bad one …)

I admit, sometimes, I nevertheless relied a bit too much on my previous analysis, and thus overlooked something, before I moved. But more often, checking a game not only once, but maybe twice or even more often before moving, helped me to very often to avoid mistakes, or really to detect the best move eventually. (Which I learned only after the game by the postgame analysis, of course.)

Another benefit is, that if you post these lines, make your move, and your opponent indeed answers as expected, your line will be reproduced then on your next move, so you do not have to re-create long lines over and over again. Even if your opponent choses another answer, seeing your old analysis - and your previous ideas - might help you finding an answer on that as well. (Without that tool, it would be much harder to remember always your previous ideas.)

However, since chess.com has created this continuity (which was not there from the beginning), it may be necessary to reload the analysis (your game) from time to time, as if you edit a lot, the analysis may get stuck. Also do not forget to save from time to time, and mainly before you simply exit that tool to go back to the real board. Because without saving, all the hard work will be gone.

Just try not to confuse saving the analysis with confirming the move on the real board – that has happened to me as well (even if both boxes look a bit different), but I think that is an acceptable risk.

I also know some members prefer using a real board for a analysis, particularly, if they cannot save the analysis here. However, I think using the manual analysis here at least has the advantage that it avoids misplacing pieces while re-arranging the board after having followed a deeper line. (Is there anybody who does analysis on real board and did not make such a mistake yet? )

Of course, the explorer and the manual analysis can be also used alternatively here (and in the beginning I switched often between the two, which can lead to an erronous click on the engine icon in the wrong setting ...) Howver, meanwhile, I use the explorer just during the opening, and once the archived games become less and less, or disappear completely, I switch to the manual analysis. (You can also access the explorer directly from the manual analysis board, just by clicking on the name of the opening; only to the other way you have to go via the normal board.)

And there is another benefit: Your manual analysis line will be transferred to the postgame analysis once you do that after the game. So if, sadly, you had detected a better (maybe even the best) move in the manual analysis, yet just not chosen it, you will find it there again, and see how you would have done with your alternative line.