My Post-Game Analysis Checklist

Here’s how I analyze my online blitz games when I manage to avoid tilt. I am curious how other people do this, so leave a comment in the discussion forum if you have a different way to go about this. I’m always happy to update this method with new ideas. Although I love the acronym—stolen from Nate Solon. This checklist is heavily inspired by his blitz routine.

For all games, won or lost, I follow the OBITS mnemonic. Obits, as in obituaries, a way to honor the game that’s just passed.

OBITS

O for Opening

Did memory fail? Did I understand the plans? Should I add a variation to my opening book? Did I avoid a line to keep things simple? Was I gun-shy?

I find it best to follow along in my opening file and see if I missed anything. I also find it interesting to know exactly when I was out of book.

B for Blunders

Were blunders made? Why were they made?

Blunders rarely just happen out of the blue so I try not to just accept blunders and get to the bottom of why they occurred. Often I realize that I was struggling to figure out what to do so I let my position drift into a tactically dubious situation. Or maybe I was annoyed at my opponent’s last move or at their choice of opening. Or maybe I thought I knew what the last move did but it did more than one thing.

I for Interesting

Are there interesting ideas that were not clear during the game?

If the engine is coming up with vastly different moves than what I had in mind, there is probably a plan or a mini-plan there that should be part of my toolbox. This is a good time to ask if I should be training something specific, like pawn breaks or king versus king-and-pawn endgames or puzzles with trapped pieces.

T for Time

How did my time management compare to my ideal? Was I ahead or behind for a long time? Was I the only one in time trouble at the end?

I like to look at where the time was spent and which move was the main culprit. Typically I spend more time when I have to make a long-term decision. I try to distinguish between decisions that matter and decisions that don’t (where any move is good and it’s really just up to me). I also find it interesting to look at whether there are a few outlier moves where I spent a lot of time or if I had a case of general slowness.

S for Story

What was the story of the game at a high level?

This is something I care about and don’t see discussed much. I like to understand the narrative arc of the game. For example: “an opening accurately played led to a sharp middlegame where a tactical mistake was made that led to a losing endgame.” Or on a good day: “an advantage was built—slow and steady—and converted in a solid way like a grandmaster would.”

I find the shape of the analysis graph helps with this step.

Optional Stuff

When I am in the mood I might go a little further. If the game was a loss, I might add it to a spreadsheet with a few comments. I like to note if the loss was due to positional reasons, tactical reasons, or time management. The spreadsheet looks something like this:

Also, if there was a moment where I missed a good positional idea, I will add that position to a study for later review. I could use a spaced-repetition app for this but I just use a Lichess study.

Outro

That’s it. I usually do this on a Lichess analysis board with the engine on and the opening explorer on. Some people claim that it’s best to turn the engine off at first but that seems like too much ceremony for a blitz game.

This checklist is both a lot of work and not much work at all. The hardest bit is to actually bring myself to go through it after a few losses in a row...

Again, please leave a comment in the discussion forum if you have a different method!

Happy analysis.