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
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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](https://www.chessprogramming.org/Chess_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**.
  
  [![Evaluation of top move for White found by the engine.](https://i.sstatic.net/xVenafEi.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/xVenafEi.png)
  
  **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**.
  
  [![Evaluation of best move for White with higher depth using Stockfish 16 Lite.](https://i.sstatic.net/51v2B0JH.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/51v2B0JH.png)
  
  Trying again with much more powerful hardware and using Lichess.org's browser-based engine [(see position here)](https://lichess.org/analysis/standard/r1bqk1nr/pppp1ppp/2n5/2b1p3/2B1P3/2N5/PPPP1PPP/R1BQK1NR_w_KQkq_-_4_4) results in the recommendation: **4. Qg4**.
  This is the best move in the position.
  
  [![Evaluation using Stockfish 16 from Lichess on more powerful hardware showing 4. Qg4 is best move for White.](https://i.sstatic.net/nSvha2wP.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/nSvha2wP.png)
  
  ```
  [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.
  
  [![Evaluation of top 3 moves for Black found by the engine.](https://i.sstatic.net/kZDpozyb.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/kZDpozyb.png)
  
  With additional computation, the engine changes how it evaluates the 2nd and 3rd best moves for Black.
  
  [![Evaluation of top 3 moves for Black with depth of 35.](https://i.sstatic.net/wiEmnOtY.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/wiEmnOtY.png)
  
  Trying again on a more powerful machine and switching to Lichess again [(see position)](https://lichess.org/analysis/standard/rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/8/3pN3/4n3/1B6/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R_b_KQkq_-_1_5) 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.
  
  [![Evaluation of top 3 moves for Black with depth of 45 using Lichess Stockfish 16.](https://i.sstatic.net/TpIQ653J.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/TpIQ653J.png)
  
  
  ---
  
  