What is a Chess Calculator And How To Use It

Computers control the world. At the very least, they control the chess world. Should we be rebelling? Finding shelter? So, What is a chess calculator, and how can we use it to improve our chess, or at least understand this new computer-led chess world?

A chess calculator is a term that some have used for a chess engine or computer. Computers have completely changed the chess world. Computers are now far better than any human chess player. Chess calculators and chess computers have shaped the current chess landscape. From chess training methods for grandmasters to game reviews for beginners. 

What is Calculating?

Calculation is the term we use in chess for finding, evaluating, and thinking through different moves and lines. If you find a chess move, think through what your opponent will play after that move, and see a follow-up, then congratulations, you calculated! There is a misconception that all chess players are seeing wildly into the future. People think they see five, ten, or even twenty moves, but usually, that is not the case. Most above-average chess players calculate between two and five moves ahead at any moment. It is less about the depth and more about the correctness of that calculation. A lazy chess player may barely even calculate one move ahead, and that is where we see blunders!

So What are Chess Calculators?

A chess calculator sounds like something used in a more fun math class, but chess computers are programs designed to find and play the best chess move available. Essentially, what differentiates chess computers from chess players is the extent to which a computer can calculate. Good chess computers can calculate with both depth and correctness. So they evaluate the position, find good candidate moves, and calculate deep into those lines to find the best chess move. Often, like ourselves, the longer a chess engine has to think the better move it can produce.

How Chess Computers Have Changed Chess

Times have changed. Chess calculators and engines have taken some of the guesswork out of chess. Where once grandmasters could argue for hours over the correct move in a position, now a chess engine can give you the correct move in moments. It is particularly interesting to see how this has changed the younger generation of chess players who have grown up with computers being a part of chess their whole lives. 

Answers Without Understanding

Players now are used to always having an answer. Computers will give you the correct answer quickly. However, that doesn't do much to help you to understand that answer. Having an answer and understanding an answer are two different things. Cheating on a test doesn’t help you learn the material, and a chess engine is just giving you the answer, not the understanding.

How do we Learn with Chess Calculators?

So are engines all bad? No! Chess engines are a tool in a chess player's toolbox to help them to understand the game. Often a chess coach is the perfect tool for understanding your own chess game, but chess coaches are not free and are not always available at the push of a button. The key to using chess engines appropriately is knowing when to tap into their knowledge. 

When to Look at Computer Chess Analysis

These days there is one big problem with there being readily available chess engines. Players often will finish a game and immediately look at some sort of chess analysis from the engine. Try to avoid immediate engine use!  First, examine the game for yourself. If this was a longer time control game, you already spent time thinking about the position. So before you are given the answer immediately from a chess calculator or game analysis, do your analysis. 

Chess Training with Your Own Game Review

Try annotating your own game! Write down what your thoughts were at different moments. Next, locate any moments you thought were mistakes or blunders. This is an important step because once you do look at the engine analysis, then you will know for sure where your blindspots are. If there was a big blunder at some point in the game that neither you nor your opponent saw, those are the areas we need to improve if we want to win more games.

Now, Computer!

Once you have written down your thoughts during the game, and looked for blunders, then you can check and see what the computer had to say. Don’t just look for where the computer proves you right! Look for areas that the evaluation swung that you missed. Were there any moments when the evaluation went from your favor to your opponent's?

Understanding Chess Engines Evaluation.

To understand the evaluation of a chess engine, we need to understand the number the engine provides. The evaluation provided by the chess engine is given as either a positive or negative number, and that number is sometimes shown on an eval bar. If the number is positive, like +5, then according to the engine white better by the equivalent of five points of material. If the engine said -3, then the evaluation from the computer is that black is better by three points of material. Positive numbers mean white is better, and negative numbers show black is better. 

What is an Eval Bar?

The eval bar is just a communication method for that evaluation number. A -3.5 position would show the eval bar in favor of the black side like the bar below.

Chess Calculators for Blitz and Bullet

While I wouldn’t expect a student to annotate and review every bullet game before quickly looking at the game with an engine, I would recommend they focus that study on the openings. Blitz can be a great tool for practicing openings, and a chess engine can quickly let you know if you messed up one of your opening moves.

Practice Chess Moves Against a Computer

Chess calculators can be a great method of practice as well! While I often tell people to avoid only playing bots, using an electronic practice chess board can be an excellent study tool. I especially like that you can use one of these kinds of practice boards to get practice with playing chess moves in real OTB scenarios. Only playing and practicing on a 2D screen can actually make it more difficult when you go and try to play in your first OTB tournament.

We may need to go the other direction and only use humans for chess, but since that won’t be possible you might as well learn what you can from them!

Frequently Asked Questions