Game review habit
A game review habit is the routine of going back over your own games soon after playing them, first by yourself and then with an engine, to find the real reasons behind your decisions and mistakes.
Also called: reviewing games
Playing more games does not improve a player nearly as much as understanding the games already played. Review is where a loss becomes a lesson. Without it, the same errors repeat for years and players blame luck.
A good order matters. Start without an engine and write down where you felt unsure, what you were thinking at the critical moments and which move you would change. Only then turn on the engine. Checking the machine first teaches you its answers but hides your own thinking, which is the thing you actually need to fix.
When the engine disagrees with you, ask why. Look for the pattern behind the error: a missed tactic, a misjudged pawn structure, a time-pressure collapse or a habit of avoiding the opening you do not know. Record the pattern, not just the move.
A common mistake is reviewing only losses. Wins contain mistakes too, and reviewing them guards against false confidence. Keep reviews short and regular, perhaps twenty minutes after each serious game, and keep a notebook of recurring themes that feeds your next study session.
It sits close to Plateau. A plateau is a long stretch in which a player's results and rating stop improving despite regular play, usually because training has become repetitive or has stopped addressing the actual causes of lost games.
It sits close to Post-game analysis. Post-game analysis is the discussion or private review held right after a game, in which both players or one player alone retrace the moves and identify the turning points, missed ideas and lessons.
Compare it with Study plan. A study plan is a written, realistic schedule that divides your chess training time among tactics, endgames, openings, game review and playing, aimed at the specific weaknesses your own games reveal.
Training ideas such as "Game review habit" work best with a plan built for you, and the first lesson with George Li produces one from your own games.
Related terms
A game review is an automatic engine pass over a finished game that marks each move, shows how the evaluation changed and points out the turning points, mistakes and missed chances.
Post-game analysis is the discussion or private review held right after a game, in which both players or one player alone retrace the moves and identify the turning points, missed ideas and lessons.
Engine analysis is the use of a chess program to search a position and report which moves are strongest, along with a numeric evaluation and the lines it expects both sides to follow.
A study plan is a written, realistic schedule that divides your chess training time among tactics, endgames, openings, game review and playing, aimed at the specific weaknesses your own games reveal.
A blunder check habit is a short, fixed routine run before every move, asking what the opponent threatens and whether the intended move leaves anything undefended, to catch one-move oversights.
Guides that go further
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?
Published rates for private, group and subscription chess coaching, with the source and the date of each.
A game review, a read on your level and a written study plan from George Li.
Want to spot this in your own games?
A first lesson starts with your games: George reviews them and builds a study plan around what he finds.