The benefits of post game analysis in OTB tournaments.

So I imagine some of you will be playing some OTB (over the board) tournaments in the next 6-12 months or so, and I just wanted to make a case in favor of analyzing the game afterwards with your opponent (usually there is a separate room for this... dont do it in the room where the tournament games are still going on as you dont want to disturb the other players). I've noticed some people just load the game into their phone, check what their ACPL was, their mistakes and their blunders, and they move on. Here is why I think it is a great idea to do a post game analysis with your opponent immediately after the game if time permits.

1.) You're going to get their opinion of the game, what they thought, and if you lost the game they will often point out in human terms where they felt you went wrong.

2.) It will force you to actually do a somewhat thorough analysis of your game using your own brain, which is more likely to be remembered when compared to a glance at an engine analysis.

3.) You'll make friends! Often our present opponents become our future friends, and it is great motivation to be in contact with other people in your local area who are also trying to get better at chess. They can inspire you to be a better chess player and it makes the process feel far less lonely. Often times they are involved with local chess clubs and what not, and you can see how your network of likeminded local chess enthusiasts can grow pretty quickly after just a few weekend swiss tournaments if you have any charisma whatsoever.

Those are 3 reasons I just came up with off the top of my head. Feel free to add more in the comments section. And for your own sake, never miss out on the opportunity to engage in post game analysis with your opponents, especially in OTB.

A bit overrated. Analyzing can be quite nice but not necessarily with your opponent. Sometimes you have to deal with genuine pricks who tell you how bad every move of yours was actually.

Either way, don’t forget the beer / glass of wine for the aprés-chess session!

In OTB games you have a 50:50 percent chance to get an analysis with your opponent. If you have won against me I awouldn't do this because I ́nm not not in the mood to so. Exception: The game was really crazy.
In times of computers it is standard to ask the engine if a combination is correect. In a post mortem analysis I often say: We cannot answer this we have to ask the engine.
I once had an analysis with an IM who said if you have played this this is a draw. I've seen this move but this was a perpual check and I thought the position was good enough to play for the win. At least I lost because of time trouble. This is how it goes.

Lol, i remember a friend made an analysis of an important game with his opponent. The game was very wild, very double edged and both sides were on each other thtoats.

Anyways, on the game, my friend moved, and his opponent resigned.

As soon as they went somewhere else to do the analysis, my friend asked his opponent.
My friend -Why did you resigned?
The opponent - I saw this line, and i saw it was hopeless.
My friend - I saw this line and i thought it had no future, i was gonna resign next move.
Both laughed and they stopped the analysis.

@Alientcp said in #5:
> Lol, i remember a friend made an analysis of an important game with his opponent. The game was very wild, very double edged and both sides were on each other thtoats.
>
> Anyways, on the game, my friend moved, and his opponent resigned.
>
> As soon as they went somewhere else to do the analysis, my friend asked his opponent.
> My friend -Why did you resigned?
> The opponent - I saw this line, and i saw it was hopeless.
> My friend - I saw this line and i thought it had no future, i was gonna resign next move.
> Both laughed and they stopped the analysis.

Sounds like a pretty sharp and interesting game! All the more reason not to resign losing positions until absolutely all hope is lost.

@Alientcp said in #5:
> Lol, i remember a friend made an analysis of an important game with his opponent. The game was very wild, very double edged and both sides were on each other thtoats.
>
> Anyways, on the game, my friend moved, and his opponent resigned.
>
> As soon as they went somewhere else to do the analysis, my friend asked his opponent.
> My friend -Why did you resigned?
> The opponent - I saw this line, and i saw it was hopeless.
> My friend - I saw this line and i thought it had no future, i was gonna resign next move.
> Both laughed and they stopped the analysis.

This reminds me of the Mikhail Tal story where he was walking around the hall between games and came across a very intense game. Bothe players were low on time, and the position was so complicated they agreed to a draw. Tal pointed out a very simple way one of the players could have won, and simply walked away.

Probably my favorite Tal story haha Just pull the pin and run.

I almost never anlyse with the opponent after a game because:

- They are more interested in seeing what they could have done better than what I could have done better.
- The opening the book can tell us better than we can
- The analysis the computer can do better than we can

One of the reasons a friend of mine gave up tournament chess was because he got tired of post-mortems where losing opponents critiqued his play throughout.

@MrPushwood said in #9:
> One of the reasons a friend of mine gave up tournament chess was because he got tired of post-mortems where losing opponents critiqued his play throughout.

That's unfortunate. I must be just lucky then because I have had nothing but positive experiences with post-mortems.