Answers.Body: <p><strong>tl;dr:</strong>
  Simply put, the engine is giving you the <strong>best move(s) it found</strong> to play with <strong>that <a href="https://www.chessprogramming.org/Chess_Position" rel="nofollow noreferrer">position</a></strong>.</p>
  <p>Given a position, if it is White's (<em>Black's</em>) turn to move, then the engine is returning the best move(s) found for White (<em>Black</em>).</p>
  <hr />
  <p><strong>Examples:</strong>
  You should be able to replicate these using your analysis engine and get similar results.</p>
  <pre><code>[Title &quot;Example 1 - Single Line&quot;]
  [FEN &quot;&quot;]
  [StartPly &quot;6&quot;]
  
  1.e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 {Engine says White's best move is 4. Qh5} 4. Qh5
  </code></pre>
  <p>After <strong>1.e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5</strong>, I set the analysis engine parameter <code>lines = 1</code> so the engine is only showing the single best move it finds:  <strong>4. Qh5</strong>.</p>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/xVenafEi.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/xVenafEi.png" alt="Evaluation of top move for White found by the engine." /></a></p>
  <p><strong>Caveats:</strong>
  Your results may vary based on the</p>
  <ul>
  <li>engine used</li>
  <li>compute resources given to the engine (time, memory, etc)</li>
  <li>number of lines evaluated</li>
  </ul>
  <p>For example, I analyzed the position again letting the Chess.com engine run a bit longer (higher depth). It suggests <strong>4. Nf3</strong>.</p>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/51v2B0JH.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/51v2B0JH.png" alt="Evaluation of best move for White with higher depth using Stockfish 16 Lite." /></a></p>
  <p>Trying again with much more powerful hardware and using Lichess.org's browser-based engine <a href="https://lichess.org/analysis/standard/r1bqk1nr/pppp1ppp/2n5/2b1p3/2B1P3/2N5/PPPP1PPP/R1BQK1NR_w_KQkq_-_4_4" rel="nofollow noreferrer">(see position here)</a> results in the recommendation: <strong>4. Qg4</strong>.
  This is the best move in the position.</p>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/nSvha2wP.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/nSvha2wP.png" alt="Evaluation using Stockfish 16 from Lichess on more powerful hardware showing 4. Qg4 is best move for White." /></a></p>
  <pre><code>[Title &quot;Example 2 - Multiple Lines&quot;]
  [FEN &quot;&quot;]
  [StartPly &quot;9&quot;]
  
  1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Nxe5 d5 5. Bb3 {Engine believes Black's best moves in this position are 5...Qg5, 5...Be6, or 5...Nc6.} 5...Qg5 (5...Be6) (5...Nc6)
  </code></pre>
  <p>Setting the engine to show 3 lines will give the top three moves found by the engine. After <strong>1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Nxe5 d5 5. Bb3</strong> the engine shows <strong>5...Qg5</strong> as Black's strongest move, with <strong>5...Be6</strong> and <strong>5...Nc6</strong> as the next two best moves.</p>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/kZDpozyb.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/kZDpozyb.png" alt="Evaluation of top 3 moves for Black found by the engine." /></a></p>
  <p>With additional computation, the engine changes how it evaluates the 2nd and 3rd best moves for Black.</p>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/wiEmnOtY.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/wiEmnOtY.png" alt="Evaluation of top 3 moves for Black with depth of 35." /></a></p>
  <p>Trying again on a more powerful machine and switching to Lichess again <a href="https://lichess.org/analysis/standard/rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/8/3pN3/4n3/1B6/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R_b_KQkq_-_1_5" rel="nofollow noreferrer">(see position)</a> changes the recommendations on the 2nd and 3rd best moves. However, <strong>5...Qg5</strong> continues to be the best move found in the position for Black.</p>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/TpIQ653J.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/TpIQ653J.png" alt="Evaluation of top 3 moves for Black with depth of 45 using Lichess Stockfish 16." /></a></p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2024-05-19T13:58:09.640Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2024-05-19T16:10:31.623Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2024-05-19T16:10:31.623Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: SecretAgentMan
Body: <p>When I analyze my game, is the analysis machine (stock fish lite on chess.com) telling me what move or I should made instead of the one I just made, or is it telling me what move it thinks I should play next?</p>
  
Tags: <engines><analysis><stockfish>
Title: Is this what I should have done or should do next?
ThreadText: # Is this what I should have done or should do next?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2024-05-19)
  
  When I analyze my game, is the analysis machine (stock fish lite on chess.com) telling me what move or I should made instead of the one I just made, or is it telling me what move it thinks I should play next?
  
  **Tags:** engines, analysis, stockfish
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2024-05-19. Score: 1
  
  tl;dr:
  Simply put, the engine is giving you the best move(s) it found to play with that position.
  Given a position, if it is White's (Black's) turn to move, then the engine is returning the best move(s) found for White (Black).
  
  Examples:
  You should be able to replicate these using your analysis engine and get similar results.
  [Title "Example 1 - Single Line"]
  [FEN ""]
  [StartPly "6"]
  
  1.e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 {Engine says White's best move is 4. Qh5} 4. Qh5
  
  After 1.e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5, I set the analysis engine parameter lines = 1 so the engine is only showing the single best move it finds:  4. Qh5.
  
  Caveats:
  Your results may vary based on the
  
  engine used
  compute resources given to the engine (time, memory, etc)
  number of lines evaluated
  
  For example, I analyzed the position again letting the Chess.com engine run a bit longer (higher depth). It suggests 4. Nf3.
  
  Trying again with much more powerful hardware and using Lichess.org's browser-based engine (see position here) results in the recommendation: 4. Qg4.
  This is the best move in the position.
  
  [Title "Example 2 - Multiple Lines"]
  [FEN ""]
  [StartPly "9"]
  
  1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Nxe5 d5 5. Bb3 {Engine believes Black's best moves in this position are 5...Qg5, 5...Be6, or 5...Nc6.} 5...Qg5 (5...Be6) (5...Nc6)
  
  Setting the engine to show 3 lines will give the top three moves found by the engine. After 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Nxe5 d5 5. Bb3 the engine shows 5...Qg5 as Black's strongest move, with 5...Be6 and 5...Nc6 as the next two best moves.
  
  With additional computation, the engine changes how it evaluates the 2nd and 3rd best moves for Black.
  
  Trying again on a more powerful machine and switching to Lichess again (see position) changes the recommendations on the 2nd and 3rd best moves. However, 5...Qg5 continues to be the best move found in the position for Black.
  
  
  ---
  
  