Articles
Narrower than the guides, and published as they are written — the specific questions that come up once you have started using an engine on your own games.
The Move With No Explanation
A rook steps back one square and the evaluation jumps. Four categories that cover almost every incomprehensible engine move, and how to work out which you have.
3 min read
Fortresses, and Why Engines Miss Them
A fortress is a drawn position an engine scores as winning, sometimes by five pawns or more. The structural reason it happens, and the ones worth recognising.
4 min read
Mate in Five, Then Mate in Seven
A mate score replaces the evaluation entirely, and it moves around as the search deepens. What the number counts, and why a longer mate is not worse news.
3 min read
When Two Engines Give Different Answers
Same position, two engines, two verdicts. Which one to trust depends on why they differ, and there are only four reasons it happens.
3 min read
How a Move Gets Labelled Brilliant
The brilliant label is not the engine's opinion. It is a rule about sacrifices that a site applies afterwards, and knowing the rule explains every strange one you have seen.
3 min read
What Counts as Good Accuracy?
Accuracy scores are derived from centipawn loss by a formula each site invents. Why 95% in one game means less than 82% in another, and what the number is worth.
3 min read
Why the Engine Hates a Move You Like
You play a natural developing move and the evaluation drops half a pawn. Four things the engine sees that a club player usually does not, and how to check which one applies.
3 min read