Unfortunately, a frequently occurring problem in online chess is the employment of unauthorised aids, e.g. chess engines running in parallel. As a way to measure tactical precision and as an indication of possible computer help Centipawn Analysis has been introduced.

 

This subsequent analysis option for games which have been played is implemented in ChessBase.

 

Highlight within the games list of a database those games which are to be checked with the Centipawn Analysis.

 

Games list -> Analysis tab -> Centipawn Analysis.

 

 

Centipawn loss is worked out as follows: if from the point of view of an engine a player makes a move which is worse than the best engine move he suffers a centipawn loss with that move. That is the distance between the move played and the best engine move measured in centipawns, because as is well known every engine evaluation is represented in pawn units.

 

If this loss is summed up over the whole game, i.e. an average is calculated, one obtains a measure of the tactical precision of the moves. If the best engine move is always played, the centipawn loss for a game is zero.

 

Even if the centipawn losses for individual games vary strongly, when it comes, however, to several games they represent a usable measure of playing strength/precision. For players of all classes blitz games have correspondingly higher values.

 

In a database select the games to be checked (Ctrl-A for all games). Then in the tab Analysis choose Centipawn Analysis. A search time between zero (=400ms) and three seconds is completely sufficient when working with an up-to-date rapid computer.

 

 

After the analysis is completed the result is written into the database in the form of a text file.

 

Strong GMs in long games reach CP losses between 15 and 25. Club players achieve between 30 and 60. However, the values can vary to a great extent. Even club players can sometimes absolutely manage low values such as 10.

 

A low value in an individual game is not proof of cheating. In quiet draws the values tend to be lower.

 

Reliable values can only result from larger numbers of games.

 

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Interpretation of the values

The results of Centipawn Analysis are recorded both in the notation and in a separate text file. The text file can be found in the folder in which the database is stored.

 

Example: Notation

 

CentiPawn Loss w=32/b=53. biggest=102/278

 

In the notation we have the average Centipawn loss for White and Black (in hundredths of a pawn).

 

In the output file in the database folder we have the result for each individual game of the player and after that the average for all the games.

 

Richter, 4, 59 avg=26 means 2 games, one with 4, one with 59. Mean (average) is 26.