---
title: "Average centipawn loss in chess"
url: "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/average-centipawn-loss.md"
canonical_url: "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/average-centipawn-loss"
last_updated: "2026-11-07"
type: "reference"
summary: "Average centipawn loss, or ACPL, is the mean amount of evaluation a player gave up per move compared with the engine's best choice."
related: ["https://georgelichess.com/glossary/centipawn.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/accuracy.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/evaluation.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/blunder.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/game-review.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/category/computer-chess.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary.md"]
---

# Average centipawn loss in chess

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Average centipawn loss, or ACPL, is the mean amount of evaluation a player gave up per move compared with the engine's best choice.

Average centipawn loss, or ACPL, is the mean amount of evaluation a player gave up per move compared with the engine's best choice, measured in hundredths of a pawn, so lower figures mean cleaner play.

A [centipawn](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/centipawn.md) is one hundredth of a pawn, so 100 centipawns equal one pawn of advantage in an [engine's](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/chess-engine.md) [evaluation](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/evaluation.md). To find average centipawn loss, the software takes each of your moves, measures how much worse the position became compared with the engine's [best move](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/best-move.md), and averages those losses across the game. A move that keeps the evaluation level adds nothing, while a [blunder](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/blunder.md) can add hundreds. Because the mean is pulled hard by single large errors, one terrible move can ruin an otherwise tidy game. It is also affected by the kind of position: calm, [closed games](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/closed-game.md) tend to produce low numbers, and sharp tactical ones tend to produce high numbers, whatever the quality of play. Different tools compute it slightly differently, for instance in how they treat positions that are already decided. The common mistake is comparing scores between games of very different character. A sensible habit is to track the trend over many games and look at the biggest single losses, which usually show the real lesson.

Also called: ACPL.

An engine can tell you what "Average centipawn loss" means for a position, but not which mistakes you keep making; a [first lesson](https://georgelichess.com/book/first-lesson.md) with George Li reviews your games and finds those.

## Related terms

- [Centipawn](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/centipawn.md)
- [Accuracy](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/accuracy.md)
- [Evaluation](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/evaluation.md)
- [Blunder](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/blunder.md)
- [Game review](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/game-review.md)

## Guides that go further

- [How to choose a chess coach](https://georgelichess.com/how-to-choose-a-chess-coach.md): What to decide first, the questions to ask, what a first lesson should show and the red flags to avoid.
- [How much does chess coaching cost?](https://georgelichess.com/chess-coaching-cost.md): Published rates for private, group and subscription chess coaching, with the source and the date of each.
- [The first lesson](https://georgelichess.com/book/first-lesson.md): A game review, a read on your level and a written study plan from George Li.

[Book your first lesson](https://georgelichess.com/book.md) and George Li reviews your games and builds a study plan around them. Questions about lessons: write to hello@georgelichess.com.

## Related

- [Centipawn in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/centipawn.md)
- [Accuracy in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/accuracy.md)
- [Evaluation in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/evaluation.md)
- [Blunder in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/blunder.md)
- [Game review in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/game-review.md)
- [Chess terms: Computer chess and analysis](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/category/computer-chess.md)
- [Chess terms glossary: plain definitions](https://georgelichess.com/glossary.md)