How to Use Deep Scan to Analyze Any Player
By Corey Zapin
What Is a Deep Scan?
A Deep Scan pulls a player's complete game history from Chess.com and Lichess (and USCF tournament data if available), then runs a comprehensive analysis across all of those games. It goes far beyond the basic stats you see on a standard profile.
The scan computes opening patterns, playing style attributes, win/loss trends, performance by time of day, and psychological tendencies like tilt rate and predictability. It is the most thorough analysis CoreSquares offers.
How to Run a Deep Scan
Search for any player and open their profile. You will see a "Deep Scan" button near the top of the analytics section. Click it and the scan begins.
The scan runs in phases. First, it fetches all available games from Chess.com (month by month). Then it pulls games from Lichess. Finally, it computes the analytics. You will see a progress indicator showing which phase is active and an estimated time to completion.
For players with thousands of games, a full scan can take a few minutes. The results are cached, so subsequent visits to the same profile will load instantly. The cache refreshes automatically when enough new games have been played.
Understanding the Results
After the scan completes, you will see an expanded analytics panel with several sections:
Attribute Scores show four key dimensions of the player's style: Attack Power, Defense Skill, Time Management, and Mental Resilience. Each is scored from 0 to 100 based on patterns found in their games.
The Play Style section gives a text description of the player's chess personality. Think of it as a chess DNA profile. It tells you whether someone is aggressive, positional, tactical, or a grinder.
Opening Strengths and Weaknesses show which openings the player performs best and worst in. This is gold for tournament preparation. If your next opponent has a 35% win rate in the Caro-Kann, you know what to play.
Using Deep Scan for Opponent Prep
If you have an upcoming tournament game, run a Deep Scan on your opponent before the round. Look at their opening repertoire: what do they play as White? How do they respond to 1.e4 and 1.d4 as Black?
Check their psychological profile. Do they tilt after losses? Are they predictable in their opening choices? Do they struggle in time pressure? These insights help you form a game plan beyond just the opening moves.
Gold and Platinum subscribers get access to the full Scouting Panel, which includes an interactive opening explorer, defense trees, and head-to-head statistics if you have played the same opponent before.
Scan Limits and Subscription Tiers
Free accounts get 3 Deep Scans per month. Silver subscribers get 15. Gold, Platinum, and Lifetime members get unlimited scans.
Free-tier scans require "Proof of Play": the target player must have an account that is at least 30 days old with 25 or more rated games. This prevents abuse and ensures the scan has enough data to be meaningful.