Be your own chess coach!!!!

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Avatar of CONCHESSNESS
Does anyone have a step by step on how to analyze your own games without a chess coach? I have a decent computer and chess engine but my main goal is to learn how to see my bad habits and blind spots. Trophies to all replies!! Thanks 🙏
Avatar of torrubirubi
Perhaps you can have a look at the Hertan Hierarchy. You will find in the internet. It is a long list on things you should consider before making a move. I find it useful for the analysis.
Avatar of CONCHESSNESS
So you want help learning how to think on your own 🤯!
Avatar of CONCHESSNESS
Thanks Torrubirubi I will check that out! I’ll send you both trophies
Avatar of SmithyQ

Take your ten (or more) most recent losses and pick them apart.  Try to find common threads.  Are they all in the same opening, or a certain pawn structure?  Do you enjoy speculative sacrifices too much?  Are you fine in the middlegame but come apart in the endgame, or vice versa?  Try to find prevalent patterns, and then you can try to fix them.

And don't excuse a game because 'it was a blunder and I'll never do it again.'  Okay, sure, but WHY did you blunder?  Was it overconfidence in a winning position?  Did you get careless in an equal position?  Was it pure blindness?  If so, why?  What were you thinking about instead?  Most of my own blunders tend to come after I calculated for a long time, analyze lots of variations, and then I hang a piece.  Opps.  Okay, so how do I prevent that?  I started doing a quick blundercheck after serious calculation and I improved greatly.

Once you have a rough answer, study your most pressing topic.  If you keep losing to the London System, study some ideas, maybe play it as White in a few blitz games, and try something new.  If you keep losing in the endgame, review some endgame books, study a few Capablanca and Rubinstein games, and then try your luck next time.

Finally, do what Botvinnik suggested and publish your analysis.  Post a loss in hte forums with your commentary, where you think you went wrong, and see what others say.  It's not the same as having a coach, but a fresh pair of human eyes can help.  Good luck.

Avatar of SeniorPatzer

I don't have the book, but Dan Heisman has a book where he annotates his own games beginning when he was a low club player to master.  He helps us see how his analysis improved along his climb up the rating ladder.  I believe it's called The Improving Thinker or something like that.  

Avatar of RussBell

The Improving Chess Thinker by Dan Heisman...

https://www.amazon.com/Improving-Chess-Thinker-Dan-Heisman/dp/0979148243/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1522709956&sr=1-5&keywords=dan+heisman+chess+books

Avatar of kindaspongey

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708101955/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review717.pdf

Avatar of kindaspongey
SeniorPatzer wrote:

I don't have the book, but Dan Heisman has a book where he annotates his own games beginning when he was a low club player to master.  He helps us see how his analysis improved along his climb up the rating ladder.  I believe it's called The Improving Thinker or something like that.  

Maybe: The Improving Annotator by Dan Heisman

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708234314/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review786.pdf

Avatar of kindaspongey
anamorphosis64 wrote:
Does anyone have a step by step on how to analyze your own games without a chess coach? ...

Maybe consider: The World's Most Instructive Amateur Game Book by Dan Heisman

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708092834/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review872.pdfor

and/or A Fresh Look at Chess by Lev Alburt ("40 instructive games, played and annotated by players like you")

Avatar of breakingbad12

It's important to notice that the Hertan Hierarchy is only good for analysis. Don't use it during an actual live game.

Avatar of SeniorPatzer
breakingbad12 wrote:

It's important to notice that the Hertan Hierarchy is only good for analysis. Don't use it during an actual live game.

 

That's a helpful observation.  Does Hertan provide a hierarchy list specifically for use during an OTB chess tournament game?

Avatar of CONCHESSNESS
Trophies for all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks everyone I will get those books 📚
Avatar of kindaspongey
SeniorPatzer wrote:

... Does Hertan provide a hierarchy list specifically for use during an OTB chess tournament game?

I imagine that FishEyedFools would be happy to provide some thoughts on the subject. It might be of interest to ponder this passage from HTRYC#4: "In the third edition of How to Reassess Your Chess, I gave a thinking technique that I had personally found useful over the years. ... However, the passage of time (which always brings new experience and insight) drastically changed my view about the practicality of any complex system of planning. ... Though I no longer have faith in convoluted planning systems, I have retained the firm belief that fully understanding the imbalances is 100% attainable for players 1400 and up. ..."

IM Jeremy Silman was writing about planning systems, but perhaps similar feelings would be appropriate for any general list of things to consider before every move.

Avatar of torrubirubi
anamorphosis64 wrote:
So you want help learning how to think on your own 🤯!

Very kind, thanks. 

Avatar of torrubirubi
breakingbad12 wrote:

It's important to notice that the Hertan Hierarchy is only good for analysis. Don't use it during an actual live game.

You are right. Playing with such a list in your head will just disturb. I think that good players have such "hierarchies" in their heads when checking candidate moves, although their "hierarchies"  were acquired through experience (going through hundreds of games).

Avatar of Bfighter4935

I cannot help you much as my elo is rather low compared to you, but I was given more or less the same advice by different friends of mine.

1-Replay the game trying to find your blunders or advantages you missed. Write down everything, even if you have doubts on some variations.

2-Use a chess engine to confirm or discover the missed points. Take the time to compare with your own analysis.

3-Identify the weeknesses in your game (doubled pawn, discovered attack etc.) and do some thematic training. If find this page very helpfull: Tactics Stats

4-Come back to thoses games after a while and try to remember major moves of the game.

 

My friends said this method should work regardless of the level.

I try to stick with it, and I must admit I slowly improved my game.

Avatar of CONCHESSNESS

Great advice all around! Thanks 

Avatar of Iguana-on-a-stick

A decent computer and chess engine is not needed until very high skills. Just use any average chess engines to check for obvious tactical mistakes.

Avatar of me_roma

Here's a way. Pick your last game and re-play it from your opponent's view point, i.e. if you had white pieces in the game, consider yourself having black pieces in this replay. It generally works like a mirror and you get to identify your own strengths and weaknesses. Repeat the procedure for as many of your own games as possible in future. Good luck.