Engines
Stockfish Output Explainer
Paste Stockfish output (UCI "info depth ...") and get a human explanation.
What it means
Depth: —
Evaluation: No evaluation found. Paste an 'info depth ... score ... pv ...' line.
PV (best line): —
How to use this for improvement
Don’t chase “best move” like a robot. Use the PV to find the first move you wouldn’t have played, then ask why. That’s where your rating actually improves.
FAQ
What does Stockfish depth mean?
Depth is how many half-moves (plies) the engine searched in a given line. It’s not uniform across all lines—forcing lines often go deeper.
What is a centipawn evaluation?
A centipawn is 1/100 of a pawn. +0.50 roughly means half a pawn advantage for the side the engine is evaluating as better.
What is PV in Stockfish output?
PV (principal variation) is the engine’s current best line: the moves it expects both sides to play if both play optimally.
What does 'mate in N' mean?
It means the engine sees a forced checkmate in N moves (for the side to move if the number is positive; for the opponent if negative).
Why does Stockfish change its best move every second?
As it searches deeper, it discovers tactics and refines evaluation. Early shallow evaluations are often unstable.
New to engines? Read How chess engines work (Stockfish explained).