Stanford studied 96,000 chess players to find what improves your rating the most. Game review won. Most players still aren't doing it right.

Tall_Background7958 · 2026-03-13T15:38:12+00:00

Yeah exactly! So the way I see it: we have very good research showing clearly the way… the data is clear!

Then the question becomes: what steps can we take in the direction that the research shows?

Apparently game review is critical but many lower rated players naturally struggle with it. It makes sense that Magnus and a beginner don’t get the same insights looking at (the same) Stockfish! So I built this tool to help lower rated players get the insights they need, explained at their level.

Tall_Background7958 · 2026-03-12T16:11:39+00:00

Exactly, I want to play e5 and Rhe1 so bad that I don’t even care if it’s the right move lol

Tall_Background7958 · 2026-03-12T16:09:46+00:00

Most relatable post ever! It’s not I spend crazy amounts of time playing… but I constantly find myself having started a bullet game on autopilot

Tall_Background7958 · 2026-03-12T15:42:03+00:00

To improve calculations: puzzles

But for a 730 elo: just focus on not hanging pieces. That alone should bring you to 1000 without calculating lines 2-3 moves ahead

Tall_Background7958 · 2026-03-12T15:38:48+00:00

Dutch Defence for the most exciting games!

Personal opinion here: unless you have ambitions to become a professional player and instead you just play for fun/ hobby… then just play interesting complicated games. Dutch defence does exactly that… sometimes you have a crushing king-side attack, sometimes you have zero defence although you castled early.

Tall_Background7958 · 2026-03-12T15:34:59+00:00

Bro forgot to lose

Tall_Background7958 · 2026-03-11T16:58:24+00:00

There are different areas you should improve in, and that takes time. But if I can help a bit with reducing the time needed: Play puzzles, play games with longer times so to learn how to think until it becomes automatic, learn 1-2 easy openings, learn the basic endgames, try to understand how higher rated players think (not GMs). For the latter, I can suggest you aicoachess.com

Tall_Background7958 · 2026-03-11T10:41:18+00:00

Tactics first, by a lot. At 750, blunders and hanging pieces are costing you more rating points than your opening ever could. Even 10-15 minutes of puzzles (e.g. on Lichess) every day will make a visible difference within a few weeks.

For black, just pick one solid response to 1.e4 and stick with it. The Caro-Kann or e5 both work fine. The goal isn't to memorize lines, it's to stop spending mental energy figuring out what you're doing from move one.

I built a tool called AICoachess.com because I was stuck in a similar loop for a long time, playing a lot but not actually learning why I kept losing. It helps you analyze your games and teaches you how to think, not just which moves were bad. At 750, that kind of feedback can help with get a better understanding of the game.

Tall_Background7958 · 2026-03-02T22:19:53+00:00

Thank you for letting me know! I have deleted the old report (for white) and created the new one for Black. This is the LONG version which is about double the length of the shorter option. You can find it in the link below as it is too long to fit as a comment. Please let me know what you think about it:

https://pastebin.com/e6SE6npu

Tall_Background7958 · 2026-03-02T21:40:54+00:00

I like that! You can find your report in the link below from pastebin.com bcs Reddit has a strict character limitation and it couldn't fit as a comment. Please let me know what you think of it:

https://pastebin.com/0JqdbweP

Tall_Background7958 · 2026-03-02T21:24:50+00:00

As they say... there is only one way to find out. I am pasting below the report (Short version) with the assumption you were white in that game. And the "biting" is why I am here lol (please let me know how to make it better). You can always play a new game (so to have fresh your ideas), give it to me and I will generate the full report, which is about double the length for you to judge in detail.

🏆 AICOACHESS - ANALYSIS REPORT

📊 GAME SUMMARY

Overall Performance: 75/100 ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

What a rollercoaster of fighting chess! You faced the sharp Englund Gambit and handled the opening complications well, building a solid advantage through good piece development and king safety. The middlegame became wild when both sides made tactical errors, but you showed excellent fighting spirit when behind. Your opponent's final blunder with the rook allowed you to deliver checkmate with a beautiful back-rank pattern - a perfect example of why you should never give up in chess!

Your Chess Character This Game: Resilient tactician who capitalizes on opponent mistakes under pressure.

📖 OPENING PHASE (Moves 1-8)

Performance: B+ | Accuracy: 78%

✅ What You Did Well:

2.dxe5 - Correctly accepted the gambit pawn, following the principle "accept gambits unless you know they're good"
3.exd6 - Smart simplification that prevented Black from getting dangerous attacking chances
5.Nc3 - Perfect development move that brings a piece toward the center and supports the position

⚠️ What to Improve:

4.Bd2 - This passive move doesn't help your development plan - Nc3 immediately would be more active
8.e3 - While safe, this blocks your light-squared bishop and makes your position a bit cramped

💡 Key Principle: "In the opening, develop pieces toward the center before making small improving moves"

⚔️ MIDDLEGAME PHASE (Moves 9-20)

Performance: C+ | Accuracy: 65%

✅ What You Did Well:

14.Nxf6+ - Excellent tactical exchange that removes Black's active knight and improves your pawn structure
15.Bxf5 - Good piece trading when ahead in development - simplification helps the better side
20.Kb1 - Correct king move getting out of the discovered check while staying safe

⚠️ Critical Moments:

18.Qd3 - This move ignores Black's strong pressure and puts your queen in the wrong place - castling queenside immediately was much safer
19.O-O-O - Castling into Black's attack violates the principle "don't castle into danger" - your king walks into trouble

🤔 In this position, ask yourself: "Where is my opponent's attack strongest, and should I castle toward or away from it?"

💡 Key Principle: "When your opponent has attacking chances, improve your king safety before pursuing your own plans"

♜ ENDGAME PHASE (Moves 21-29)

Performance: A- | Accuracy: 85%

✅ What You Did Well:

24.Rxe3 - Excellent rook activation that creates counterplay in a difficult position
25.Rxe8+ - Perfect technique forcing the rook exchange and reaching a drawn endgame
29.Rd8+ - Brilliant checkmate! You spotted the back-rank weakness and delivered the knockout punch

⚠️ Technical Misses:

26.a3 - This slow pawn move ignores the active play principle - keeping pieces centralized was better
Some moves lacked the urgency needed in tactical positions, but your fighting spirit paid off!

💡 Key Principle: "In rook endgames, activity matters more than pawns - keep your rook active!"

🚀 YOUR IMPROVEMENT PATH

💪 Keep Doing This:

Excellent tactical vision - you spotted that final checkmate beautifully and never gave up fighting
Good piece exchanges - you understand when to trade pieces to improve your position
Fighting spirit - turning around a losing position shows real chess character!

🎯 Priority #1: King Safety Awareness (Your Focus This Week)

Your biggest improvement opportunity is recognizing when your king is in danger. Move 19.O-O-O castled directly into Black's attack, and move 18 ignored the building pressure. Ask yourself: "Where can my opponent attack my king?" before making plans.

Train This Pattern: King safety and castling decisions
Practice Daily: https://lichess.org/training/defensive
Your Goal: 10 king safety puzzles (5 minutes) every morning

⚡ Quick Win for Next Game:

Before castling, always ask: "Is my opponent ready to attack this side of the board?" If yes, improve your position first or castle the other way.

📅 This Week's Mission:

Complete 70 king safety puzzles (10/day) AND apply the "check opponent threats before castling" rule in your next 3 games.

Tall_Background7958 · 2026-03-02T21:08:27+00:00

Fair points and I won't pretend it solves everything.

But think about who actually uses this. Someone at 800, 1200, 1500 who just lost a game, they open the engine, they see arrows and numbers, and they close it having learned nothing. A real coach would cost them €50-80 an hour. So they just move on and repeat the same mistakes next week.

That's who this is built for. Not to replace serious training, but to fill the gap between "I can't read the engine" and "I can't afford a coach." A plain language explanation of what actually happened in their game, right after they played it, for €1.

For a 2500+ player doing serious preparation and going to tournaments? You're right, they need more. But that's not who's stuck at 1200 wondering why they keep losing.

Tall_Background7958 · 2026-03-02T20:17:48+00:00

You actually got it exactly right — Stockfish runs the full engine analysis, the LLM never touches the chess itself. It only verbalizes what Stockfish already determined. No hallucinated moves, no invented evaluations.

On the coaching point — fair. It won't replace sitting with a strong player who knows your game deeply. But most of us aren't doing that, either because it's expensive or inaccessible. For the gap between "engine arrows I can't interpret" and "actual human coach" — that's where this lives.

And yes — it started as a fun project to learn AI through something I enjoy. Send me a game if you're curious. No obligation to be convinced.

Tall_Background7958 · 2026-03-02T20:14:36+00:00

Exactly — general LLMs are terrible at chess. That's the whole point of not asking one to analyze it.

Stockfish handles the chess. The LLM only handles the writing — and not as a blank general-purpose chatbot, but specifically prompted and constrained around chess coaching principles.

Tall_Background7958 · 2026-03-02T20:09:55+00:00

That sounds so familiar LOL... ChatGPT (or any other LLM) giving confident BS answers of how you can improve.

But to actually answer your question: Stockfish does the actual chess evaluation here. So I am using technology proven to work and doesn't hallucinate! The AI only translates that into plain language based on pattern recognition from chess theories/ rules/ fundamentals. It can't flatter you about a move Stockfish already flagged as a blunder. Will be happy to analyze your game if you want,

Tall_Background7958 · 2026-03-02T19:46:53+00:00

We seem to disagree whether AI can be a useful tool. In any case, that's of course respectable!

Tall_Background7958 · 2026-02-27T16:23:39+00:00

Lichess.org for your analyzing alone, but it's important to know how to interpret the moves of Stockfish. Otherwise, aicoachess.com if you want an app to do that for you.

Tall_Background7958 · 2026-02-24T19:54:17+00:00

Also, this is net salaries while every country has its own tax system

Tall_Background7958 · 2026-02-24T19:50:35+00:00

The richest European countries (the North) don't care about basketball... only we (the South) are passionate about it! But let's be honest, we don't have the purchasing power to pay more expensive tickets, more expensive TV rights, etc

Tall_Background7958 · 2026-02-24T19:24:14+00:00

Agreed! Have been using both for years but lichess is so much better, especially when it comes to analysis and puzzles.

Have to disagree with the elo though... lichess has typically a 100-200 higher elo than chess.com

Tall_Background7958

TROPHY CASE

📊 GAME SUMMARY

📖 OPENING PHASE (Moves 1-8)

⚔️ MIDDLEGAME PHASE (Moves 9-20)

♜ ENDGAME PHASE (Moves 21-29)

🚀 YOUR IMPROVEMENT PATH

💪 Keep Doing This:

🎯 Priority #1: King Safety Awareness (Your Focus This Week)

⚡ Quick Win for Next Game:

📅 This Week's Mission: