The engine lines

Knowing a move is a mistake isn’t enough — you need to see what should have been played. That’s the role of the Lines view of the analysis panel: the engine’s best continuations for the displayed position, with their evaluations.

Reading a line

Each line starts with its evaluation (as winning percentage or advantage), followed by the recommended sequence of moves. Three lines are shown: the best one, and two alternatives — often just as instructive, since they reveal whether the position offered several good paths or one narrow move.

On faulty moves, the typical reading: line 1 is what should have been played; comparing it to the played move reveals the missed idea — a fork, a defense, a change of plan.

Re-analyzing a position

The game analysis evaluates each position once, at a set depth. To dig into a particular moment — a dubious sacrifice, a tight endgame — the panel’s re-analyze button relaunches the engine on the displayed position, deeper. The lines refine live.

Re-analyzing the game from scratch

The Analyze button in the toolbar, on an already-analyzed game, offers to re-analyze the game from scratch — purging the analysis cache. Useful after an engine update, or if an analysis was interrupted midway.