Chess analysis: definition and methods
Chess Analysis
Definition
Chess analysis is the systematic examination of a chess position, game, or opening line with the aim of discovering accurate moves, hidden resources, tactical shots, strategic plans, and typical endgame techniques. In its broadest sense the term covers everything from a quick post-game chat (“post-mortem”) between tournament opponents to months-long professional preparation aided by powerful engines and specialized databases.
How It Is Used in Chess
Players engage in analysis at several key moments:
- During play (on the clock): Also called calculation. A player visualizes future positions by “seeing” moves in his or her head—e.g., “If I play 18…Nxe4 19. Qxe4 d5 …”—without touching the pieces.
- Post-game: Immediately after a game both players often reconstruct critical moments, debate alternatives, and correct mutual oversights. This is the classical “analysis room” scene at OTB events.
- Home or laboratory work: Preparation for upcoming opponents, repairing repertoire holes, or exploring novelties. Modern masters lean heavily on engines such as Stockfish or Lc0 during this phase.
- Publishing & teaching: Annotated games in books, magazines, or online videos are a form of curated analysis designed to educate an audience.
Strategic & Historical Significance
Thorough analysis has always been the motor of chess progress. Early Romantic masters (Anderssen, Morphy) relied on café sessions and handwritten notebooks; the Hypermodern thinkers (Nimzowitsch, Réti) used deeper positional analysis to question classical dogma. Today’s elite produce novelties many moves deep thanks to silicon assistance, dramatically accelerating opening theory. The infamous move 11…Bh6!? in Kasparov–Kramnik, Linares 1999 emerged from weeks of home analysis and reshaped the Grünfeld Defence.
Tools & Methods
- Board and pieces: Still irreplaceable for tactile learners.
- Notation sheets or PGN editors: Record branching variations in a tree structure.
- Databases: Millions of games searchable by position help confirm whether a line is “novel.”
- Engines: Evaluate positions to depths no human can reach, but must be interpreted with caution.
- Tablebases: Provide 100 % accuracy in many endgames (e.g., all 7-piece ones).
Illustrative Examples
Example 1: Over-the-board calculation
In the position after 24. Qg4 (Kasparov vs. Topalov, Wijk aan Zee 1999), Kasparov calculated the spectacular continuation 24…Rh1!! 25. Kxh1 Qxf1+ 26. Kh2 Rh8+ 27. Kg3 Qg1!. Detailed post-game analysis confirmed that Black could not save his king; nevertheless Kasparov had seen far enough to trust the combination.
Example 2: Engine-aided opening prep
Before the 2018 World Championship, Caruana’s team leaked a video showing a laptop analyzing the Petroff line beginning 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 with Stockfish. Observers froze the frame and copied the analyzed variation, instantly spreading secret prep around the globe—a vivid reminder of how valuable (and vulnerable) modern analysis can be.
Interesting Facts & Anecdotes
- During the 1972 Fischer–Spassky match, Bobby Fischer reportedly analyzed alone in an empty swimming pool to avoid KGB eavesdropping.
- Grandmaster David Bronstein once said, “The hardest game to analyze is the one you won,” highlighting psychological bias in post-mortems.
- Many innovations originate from club players: the line 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 Ng4 (the Najdorf Poisoned Pawn Deferred) was first uncovered in amateur analysis sessions.
Practical Tips for Effective Analysis
- Annotate why a move is good, not just the engine number (e.g., “prevents …d5 and retains the bishop pair”).
- Train “blindfold” by analyzing without a board to improve visualization skills.
- After every tournament, mark critical moments with “?!” or “!?” and revisit them a week later when emotions have cooled.
- Compare your evaluations with an engine only after exhausting personal ideas; this preserves your creative muscles.
Related Terms
calculation, evaluation, novelty, opening repertoire, tablebase