If I want to go over and endgame that I misplayed I will look at how the engine says to win or draw it, but I don't understand why those specific moves win or draw.
What I do is go through the move orders. I play out the moves as if I'm white/black to see what the resulting lines end up with.
Sometimes I learn something, sometimes I just end up 10 moves deep and still no clue. But without a coach this is the best I've come up with, and it's helping me to improve.
"I don't understand why those specific moves win or draw"
* Specific moves win if they lead to queening a pawn.
Specific moves draw if they avoid the opponent queening a pawn.
How do you understand any chess position?
@TheDifferenceOfTier5 said in #1:
> If I want to go over and endgame that I misplayed ...
Are you sure that the endgame was the problem?
[Site "https://lichess.org/zsFsTZek"] [Date "2026.09.10"] [White "b_6"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "600+2"] [Annotator "lichess.org"] 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Nd4 4 Nxd4 exd4 5 d3 c6 6 Bc4 d5 7 exd5 cxd5 8 Bb3 Bc5 9 O-O Ne7 10 Re1 O-O 11 Nd2 Bb4 12 a3 Ba5 13 Ba2 Be6 14 b4 Bb6 15 Bb2 a5 16 Nb3 Nf5 17 bxa5 Bxa5 18 Nxa5 Rxa5 19 Qd2 Qb6 20 Rab1 Rb5 21 Ba1 Qa5 22 Qxa5 Rxa5 23 Rxb7 Rxa3 24 Bb3 Rfa8 ...
As near as I can tell, you were lost from 24...Rfa8 on.
@kindaspongey said [^](/forum/redirect/post/e3P4dLPW)
> As near as I can tell, you were lost from 24...Rfa8 on.
I think it happened earlier with ...Qa5. Exchanging rooks on b1 was simpler. ...Qa5 leads to an exchange of queens and a poor endgame for black. Black should try to preserve the queens on the board.
@TheDifferenceOfTier5 said [^](/forum/redirect/post/d3vv3aFu)
> If I want to go over and endgame that I misplayed I will look at how the engine says to win or draw it, but I don't understand why those specific moves win or draw.
Simple steps anyone can follow would be:
1: Analyze it yourself without the engine. **Assessment / Plan**
2: Turn the engine on and find the critical moments - places where the eval jumps significantly.
3: Try and understand why it wants to make the move it wants to make. **Engine Check / Explain the Engine Move**
4: Play 'Guess the Move' against it. **Practice**
5: Be aware of key endgame plans - Pawn Breaks, Opposition, King Activity, Zugzwang, etc. **Extract a Principle**
For every endgame you analyze:
**Assessment / Plan / Engine Check / Explain the Engine Move / Extract a Principle**
If you can explain Stockfish's best move in plain English, you've actually learned something.
@tpr said [^](/forum/redirect/post/ECYKucFx)
> "I don't understand why those specific moves win or draw"
> * Specific moves win if they lead to queening a pawn.
> Specific moves draw if they avoid the opponent queening a pawn.
Yeah but for a lot of positions I come across, the engine says that only one move wins or draws, and I don't see why it has to be those ones.
@ChessPriyome said [^](/forum/redirect/post/PmNnORAs)
> > If I want to go over and endgame that I misplayed I will look at how the engine says to win or draw it, but I don't understand why those specific moves win or draw.
>
> Simple steps anyone can follow would be:
>
> 1: Analyze it yourself without the engine. **Assessment / Plan**
> 2: Turn the engine on and find the critical moments - places wh...
That's my problem, I can never explain it in plain english because it doesn't make sense to me
@kindaspongey said [^](/forum/redirect/post/e3P4dLPW)
> > If I want to go over and endgame that I misplayed ...
>
> Are you sure that the endgame was the problem?
> [Site "https://lichess.org/zsFsTZek"] [Date "2026.09.10"] [White "b_6"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "600+2"] [Annotator "lichess.org"] 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Nd4 4 Nxd4 exd4 5 d3 c6 6 Bc4 d5 7 exd5 cxd5 8 Bb3 Bc5 9 O-O Ne7 10 Re1 O-O 11 Nd2 Bb4 12 a3 Ba5 ...
There were other games where that happened, not just that one
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