Stop Studying Grandmasters. Start Studying Yourself.

Most players study everyone’s games except their own. They binge YouTube recaps, grind opening theory and analyze Grandmaster positions they’ll never face. Then they wonder why their rating hasn’t moved in six months.

It’s simple. You don’t get better by memorizing someone else’s decisions. You get better by understanding your own.

Every game you play already contains the blueprint for your improvement. Every blunder, every missed tactic and every time you panicked under pressure are your lessons. Yet most players skip the most valuable training exercise available to them: structured self-analysis.

When I started taking my own post-game reviews seriously, my improvement curve changed fast. I stopped guessing what to study and started seeing patterns in my play, including time trouble habits (still working on this!), recurring positional blind spots and bad psychological triggers. That awareness alone was worth more than any course or opening book.

Here’s a small example. I once reviewed a game where I blundered in a completely winning endgame. It wasn’t tactical but instead it was psychological. I rushed because I thought, “I should already be winning this.” When I wrote that thought down afterward, I saw the same mindset in a few other games. It wasn’t an accident. It was a habit. Once I spotted the pattern, I worked to fix it. That’s what real analysis does because it reveals you.

But here’s the real reason most players avoid it: they have no system.

They finish a game, maybe glance at the engine, feel bad for five minutes and move on. That’s not analysis. That’s just you beating yourself up.

Engines don’t teach you how to think. They just tell you what’s wrong. Without reflection, you don’t learn why it happened or how to prevent it. You outsource your thinking to the machine, which is the exact opposite of improvement.

If you want to improve, you need a repeatable process. Something that forces you to think about your decisions before the mighty Stockfish does. Something that transforms chaos into structure.

Here’s how I approach it now:

1. Review without the engine first. Reconstruct your thought process. What did you see? What did you miss? Why?
2. Ask key questions. “What was my plan here?” “What was I afraid of?” “What did I overlook in my opponent’s idea?”
3. Find the recurring issues. Are you overconfident in sharp positions? Do you underestimate endgames?
4. Write down one actionable takeaway per game. That’s how you create deliberate improvement.

That’s the framework I teach my students. It’s not complicated, but it’s consistent. You don’t need hours of study or deep engine prep, just a solid post-game habit.

The effect compounds. After 10 or 20 games, you’ll start seeing consistent themes emerge and suddenly your study time becomes laser-focused. You’re not working on random tactics anymore, you’re fixing the exact weaknesses that cost you points.

And that’s where most players break through. Not from new openings. Not from more blitz. From clarity.

I’ve built a process that makes this kind of analysis fast, clear and brutally honest. It takes about 15 to 20 minutes per game. This is especially tailored for players who prioritize rapid or longer time control games. You don’t need to be a grandmaster. You just need discipline and a structure that makes self-reflection automatic.

This is the same framework I use after every OTB game and training session and it pairs perfectly with Chessalyz.ai, the tool I helped build for guided self-reflection. The goal is simple: make analysis fast, honest and repeatable.

How It Works
Each review takes 15 to 20 minutes total. You’ll move from human reflection to assisted analysis, never the other way around.

Step 1. Think first.
Fill out the template manually. Describe your thought process and identify three moments you didn’t fully understand.

Step 2. Reflect deeply.
Answer three questions for each moment:

1. What did I believe was happening?
2. What was I afraid of or overconfident about?
3. What alternative plan would I find now?

Step 3. Upload to Chessalyz.ai.
Paste your PGN into the site (or connect your Chess.com/lichess.org account if the game was played online) and let the AI prompt you with follow-up questions. It doesn’t just tell you the best move. Instead, it asks why your reasoning broke down and then gives feedback based on your answer. That’s where the real insight happens.

Step 4. Summarize key patterns.
Use Chessalyz’s tag feature (or your own notes) to track issues across games: time pressure, missed prophylaxis, poor pawn breaks, etc.

Step 5. Write one actionable takeaway.
Example: “When defending, check forcing moves before positional ideas.” Keep it short and measurable.

Example in Practice
Here’s a quick snapshot from one of my own sessions:

Game Summary: Ruy Lopez, had a winning endgame but didn’t convert.
Critical Moment: Made a threat that actually ended up helping my opponent.
AI Prompt: “What was your plan with the move …Nf6?”
Realization: I didn’t have one. My move was hollow and not thought through well.
Takeaway: Before making a threat, identify what you’re actually looking to accomplish with it.

That’s the difference between a normal engine check and a guided analysis. One gives you evaluation. The other rewires your thinking.

You don’t need the template to start. Just visit Chessalyz.ai and connect your online chess account(s) or upload a recent game. The platform will guide you through AI-driven questions that reveal your blind spots and decision patterns. You’ll start seeing why mistakes happen, not just where.

If you analyze and review your games consistently, even once a week, you’ll start thinking like a coach reviewing your own games. That’s how you get better faster than anyone stuck memorizing theory.