I have an idea for chess.com

I want to start personally analyzing my games, primarily my turn-based games.  I have heard that you should write down what your thought processes and ideas were at particular points in the game, but if you don’t record them as they happen they can be difficult to accurately recall in hindsight, especially considering how long some games last (14 days per move ?!).  As I was using the Analysis board to run through some possible continuations for a game I realized that these were what I should be recording for post-game analysis, my personal considerations of a position.  This led me to the idea of a game analysis log that allows you to save the combinations you’ve considered while playing (maybe also with notes?) helping you to better analyze your games after they end.  I know this is something I can do manually, but I thought it might be a good addition to the site.  A combination analysis & note board that saves the continuations you considered from move to move.  I know it’s something I would use.

Do I have the book for you. "The Amateur's Mind -- Turning Chess Misconceptions Into Chess Mastery" by IM Jeremy Silman

sorry to sound brusque, but with a mindset like that you should be studyin' philosophy or accountancy, or anythin' that allows you to put results into nice neat little boxes chess don't quite work like that - thank f

Isn't collinsdanielp's approach essentially the same as the one used in Opening Databases: track the subsequent moves from any position and assign them a percentage based on whether it was a winning move or as losing move?

One immediate difficulty though is that a single theme will occur is a myriad of different positions. e.g. your queen is in line with your king: on all subsequent moves, you have to guard against this being converted into a pin.

However, if you restrict yourself to the opening 5..10 moves, another way of tackling this would be the facility of being able to annotate the Opening Database. 

These threads may be of interest ...

how-to-introduce-quotstructurequot-in-the-learning-method

how-do-you-analyze-your-games-on-your-own

going-over-your-games-error-flagging-approaches

(The option to annotate games while in progress has been requested on most of the wishlists.)

Too much analysis becomes a goal in it's self 

I got the impression collinsd___ was simply talking about recording his logic at various points so he could look at it later.  I do that for all my correspondence games, recording my thoughts and potential moves I'm considering, and I've got a file for every game I've played on chess.com.  Lots of moves have no comment, some moves have 3 or 4 paragraphs and several lines I've worked out, but for every game that wasn't aborted within the first few moves, I've got a record of just how stupid my thought process actually was.  If a post game analysis shows I missed a great move or made a huge blunder, I like to see whether I was even on the right track in what I was thinking at that point in the game.

My approach might sound too cumbersome or anal to most players, but the analysis aspect is one of the things I particularly enjoy about correspondence games.

--Cystem 

Nothing wrong with your approach if you are comfortable with it.

I support the idea. I use the analyzis board a bit and scribble possible lines into my notes all the time. It's not that much trouble really, but if the lines could be saved straight to a PNG file, it would make it a bit easier and more organized.

I want to do pretty much exactly what Cystem does, and for the same reasons.  I agree that its something I can do on my own, but i feel that chess.com has the ability to make the process easier and more organized (to steal from bjazz).

I love chess.com. 

Do you use a spreadsheet, a word processor document or pencil & paper?

It's all on computer.  When I'm going through my games I have 4 windows open: my browser for interaction with chess.com, chesspad (I keep a single pgn file with all of my current games updated, which I also use for running calculation lines), Word, and Excel.

My games notes are in a Word file, with all my current games in one file.  I have a template with entries for game info, the first 30 moves, and built-in anchors for the top of the game and every 5th move.  When I start a new game, I just append a blank copy of the template to the end of my current games file and fill in the game info (date, opponent, etc.), and the built-in anchors get added to the table of contents at the top of the overall document.  Thus I can quickly navigate to any point within any game, and the games end up ordered with my oldest ongoing games at the top, and the newest games (usually with the least moves made) at the bottom of the document.  Moves are color-coded as to mine and opponent, so I don't get confused, and as the game progresses I just enter moves and thoughts, lines to consider, etc.  When a game is completed, I excise that portion of the document and save it as its own separate document with a name appropriate for the game (date, opponent, outcome), so my long document always contains only active games.

Yeah, I know, it sounds really cumbersome, but I've gotten pretty speedy with the routine, and I like having all the info at hand.  I usually have only 8 to 15 games going, and I typically make only a couple moves a day in each game, so this method is fun for me.

BTW, the spreadsheet file is just a summary of game info-- opponent and a few of his/her stats, date, opening, outcome, etc.

--Cystem 

Would also like the ability to clear the chat log.  Sometimes it gets a little out-of-date...

That's another conversation.

colinsdanielp, here's a final bit about how I record notes that might give you some ideas on what you want to record, and then I'll stop promoting my obsession for a little while at least . . .

This is a screen capture of a portion of my notes from a tournament game against a fellow who out-rates me by about 750 points, so obviously things are not all rosy in this game, but it illustrates my system.  My opponent's actual moves are numbered and in fuchsia bold, and my actual moves are numbered and in green bold.  On the same line of each of my moves, in order, are total mobility (opponents number first, then mine), and the date of the move.  If there was a change in material status on any move, the new balance in shown in brackets in bold gold.

So for move 13, after I took his Knight with ...Bxe5 , his mobility was 37, mine was 42, I was now up a Knight and down a pawn, and the move was made on April 25.  On the next move he completed the exchange with 14.fxe5 , and the material status went back to me being down 1 pawn.

Notes and possible lines I'm considering are written between moves at the time I'm actually pondering them.  As you can see, this game is already in bad shape.

This info usually provides me with pretty much everything I want when it comes to reviewing the game later.

You should change your handle to Cystem_Management.

Yeah, well given my typical game outcomes, the Phailure part is pretty appropriate too.

cool managment Cystem, your rating should go up after reading through your games. Do you or have you ever thought of annotating your games with some analysis ? so you might have a better understanding of your own games.

Many people suggest this, few people do it.