1. Make sure you have at least 30 rated games

The diagnostic needs a minimum sample to spot patterns reliably. If you’ve played fewer than 30 rated games on chess.com (in any time control), patterns are too noisy and the archetype classification will be unreliable. Play five sessions and come back.

2. Decide which time control to analyze

Your archetype can differ between time controls. Most players plateau in their main time control — Rapid for serious improvers, Blitz for grinders, Bullet for the very specialized. Pick the one you actually play. The tool defaults to your most-played time control automatically.

3. Run the analysis

On the homepage, enter your chess.com username. Optionally enter your email — if you do, we’ll send you the report and (with consent) the weekly newsletter. You’ll see the report in 60 seconds. Read it carefully, then bookmark this site and re-run after 50 games to see whether the homework is shifting your archetype.

After your report — what to do next

1. Read the archetype description in detail on the Archetypes page.
2. Pick ONE thing from the 30-day plan. Don’t try to fix everything at once. Pick the action with the highest leverage for your archetype.
3. Subscribe to the weekly newsletter. We send one email a week with the latest article, a famous game with annotations, and one improvement nudge.
4. Play 50 games. Re-run the analysis. Compare reports.