The 4-Question Method to Diagnose Your Chess Mistakes

00:00 Intro01:20 4 Questions03:35 Chess Example 105:06 The Remedy 105:58 Chess Example 207:37 Wishful Thinking08:46 The Remedy 209:53 Training Tips10:48 Error LogWhy do chess players keep making the same mistakes even after analyzing their games with an engine? Computer analysis can show you where the evaluation changed, but it cannot explain why your thinking process failed. In this video, we introduce the idea of a **cognitive autopsy**—a practical method for understanding the mental cause behind every chess mistake.You will learn to analyze your errors using four questions: **Did I see it? Did I consider it? Did I calculate (analyse) it? Did I understand it?** These questions help distinguish between problems with perception, candidate-move generation, calculation/analysis, and evaluation. Through practical examples from student games, the video demonstrates why two players can make the same chess mistake for completely different reasons, and therefore require completely different forms of training.You will also learn how to create a simple chess error log that records both the type of mistake and its cognitive cause. Instead of relying on generic chess training, you can identify the actual bottleneck in your thinking and choose exercises that directly target it.