Why does the coach occasionally just...not explain why a move was evaluated the way it was?

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Avatar of Fr3nchToastCrunch

I'm not talking about the glitch where he offers no commentary. I mean when it's working as intended and he gives rather vague dialogue on certain moves.

For example, he may respond to a mistake ("?") with "That's an unfortunate error," not at all explaining exactly why the move was not good. Since a move that gets a "?" is generally a not-so-obvious mistake that's a bit more deadly than it appears, it's kind of annoying when the game doesn't tell you the problem. It's hard to learn from your mistakes when you don't know what the mistakes are.

Same goes for good moves. Sometimes the best gets "Right on target!" or "Yes! This is the way," again not explaining the move. This is less of a problem because a good move is usually obviousbut not always. Moves that get a ! or !! also suffer this issue occasionally, and they too aren't always completely obvious.

Avatar of Martin_Stahl
Fr3nchToastCrunch wrote:

I'm not talking about the glitch where he offers no commentary. I mean when it's working as intended and he gives rather vague dialogue on certain moves.

For example, he may respond to a mistake ("?") with "That's an unfortunate error," not at all explaining exactly why the move was not good. Since a move that gets a "?" is generally a not-so-obvious mistake that's a bit more deadly than it appears, it's kind of annoying when the game doesn't tell you the problem. It's hard to learn from your mistakes when you don't know what the mistakes are.

Same goes for good moves. Sometimes the best gets "Right on target!" or "Yes! This is the way," again not explaining the move. This is less of a problem because a good move is usually obviousbut not always. Moves that get a ! or !! also suffer this issue occasionally, and they too aren't always completely obvious.

I know when there's no clear way to explain a move, no explanation is given. It's generally going to be something the engine gives a particular evaluation but the depth it gets to isn't enough to generate why it gives that evaluation.

Avatar of Im-too-small
suparchess wrote:

for me the coach doesn't even say anything?

Happens to me often. Just click the magnifying glass (analysis button) on the top right and look at what the best moves for your opponent are now that made this mistake. Usually you can understand why that move you did isn't good.

Avatar of Im-too-small

This here is an example of "not explain why things are what they are. during my game review my coach didn't say why d5 was brilliant. I check analysis and it showed the best move for white (taking with pawn) which then leads to the sequence shown. Though this is a weak example I hope it helps in a way.

Avatar of davidk67
Im-too-small wrote:
suparchess wrote:

for me the coach doesn't even say anything?

Happens to me often. Just click the magnifying glass (analysis button) on the top right and look at what the best moves for your opponent are now that made this mistake. Usually you can understand why that move you did isn't good.

Exactly. If you use the engine, you can get useful information. If you just stay on Game Review, it's a gimmick and not that helpful. That's why I am a broken record about people who complain about Game Review. Game Review's problem is not a little bug here or there - the whole thing is more about fun than serious learning.