Originally posted by Regiscyde
OP here. I suppose the novice's lament is that, to coin a phrase, "you don't know what you don't know." I was looking to a program to enhance my post-game analysis in order to assist my understanding of my losses better. I understand it may not be as effective a method as I wish it'd be. Without the luxury of being able to join a club or obtain professiona analyzer turn? Should I not try to analyze my own faults because of my own ignorance?
in two words: master games.
it's very instructional to follow masters play, especially in real time as you're forced to wait for the moves for as long as it takes. go onto ICC, playchess, FICS (free), and watch the relayed tournaments online.
you'll run time and time again into moves which leave you scratching your head: "why didn't the master go there? why didn't he make the move that seems obviously the best to my amateur eye?". you even plug the move into an engine, which (sometimes) says "yes, it's a perfectly good move." and yet the master didn't go there. he won't snatch that free pawn, exchange, or sometimes even a full piece. he won't usually compromise his position even if it's "the best move", because he knows it's likely gonna bite him right back before long.
over time you'll realize that the good players
never go there, in certain types of positions. only us amateurs do. and slowly you'll develop an understanding and intuition for WHY and WHEN that happens. the feel for danger, which is the result of years or decades of experience.
if you watch masters blitz, it'll be even more apparent, as they'll be playing almost exclusively based on general principles, experience, rules of thumb, and pure intuition based on those two. with little to no calculation or conscious strategic scheming.