Category: chess

Scid vs PC. Thoughts About The Getting Started Process

I think I now have the very basics of Scid vs PC together. Initially I was somewhat hesitant to get involved with the setup because I wasn’t really sure where to go or what to download. And because I wanted to focus on other things chess. Then there was the word “database”, which can often translate to “Byzantine”, which was also a turnoff. To try to warm up to the idea I watched parts of a few (mostly dry) videos and chose to dive in.

Here’s how I got started:

I downloaded Scid vs PC here.

I ultimately decided to start with just the OTB (Over The Board) files at Lumbra’s Gigabase. It’s actually about ten zipped files containing 9 million+ games of OTB, split up by years or decades (or more). The free unzip utility I used was 7-Zip (here).

The “trick” is to download all of the zip files, create a new database on Scid vs PC, then load each unzipped file into that database so all the games are in one larger db file. Then save *that* file to a new name. That’s the file to be used going forward.

There are millions of online games available at Lumbra’s as well. My feeling is that I may download them at some point, but for now I’m mainly interested in parsing the database for masters OTB games. For example: as White when I play e4 and Black responds with the French defense – I like to play the Tarrasch variation. For model games I can search the main database for just that ECO code, and further narrow my search for GMs I’d like to try to emulate in that opening, for example, Michael Adams. Even better, search terms can also include things like “White Wins”, or “Only games with between X and Y total moves.” I used that last feature to remove super long games since what what I’m really interested in are the openings and middlegames — I can study endgames separately. All of these options are available in the General Filter.

In Scid vs PC there is always a “scratch pad” database open called “Clipbase”. If I search and get say 15 games from one GM and 20 from another, it’s literally a drag and drop process to combine all of those games into the Clipbase, which can then be saved as a new database or exported as PGN game files (or a bunch of other options I haven’t really played with yet.) Note that Clipbase doesn’t and won’t save, so make sure to save what’s in Clipbase as something else if you care about the contents before you close the program.

One neat thing about the PGN export option is that by combining the model games into groups of a maximum of 64 PGNs they can then be easily imported into (also totally free! yay!) Lichess Studies, and Lichess Studies automatically divide the PGN files out into one game per Chapter. So I can have a Study of model games of one particular opening I’m interested in, (or one GMs selected games), and I can share those Studies with friends. (If you want the Study to stay “yours” then Select Unlisted (no one else can see) when creating it and invite your friends as Members. It’s also possible to set “Allow Cloning” and “Share and Export” to “Only Me” if you’re concerned with a Study getting broadcast. There’s no way to “un-ring the bell” if a Study gets public.)

A Note regarding importing bulk PGNs into a Lichess Study: I like to work through model games with the color I intend to be playing at the bottom of the screen — Lichess Studies give you that option to have Black or White at the bottom at the time that you import. If you forget to toggle Black or White at the bottom during a bulk game import then the only way to flip the games is one at a time. Which means you’re better served just trashing the Study and getting the import orientation right the second time.

With Scid vs PC it’s possible to download different analysis engines. It’s also possible to download your own games from your chess website of choice. I haven’t done it yet but you can search the database for specific positions, or specific pawn structures, or search by the material that each side has remaining.

That’s not close to everything you can do with Scid vs PC, I’d recommend checking it out. I think it’s a really nice tool that when combined with the Lichess Studies makes viewing selected games on the go very convenient. I’ve also used the Scid vs PC and Lichess Study combo to put games that are in a paperback “Opening” book into a Lichess study, so I can follow along on my phone or laptop rather than getting a board out and moving pieces around.

Again, highly recommended and not nearly as scary as it all sounds.

More Chess On The Brain — And Other Resources

Returning to chess many years later, I’m realizing that “modern theory” didn’t wait around while I was gone. Almost all of the books that I read back in the day were written pre-1960.

The 12th century Lewis Chessmen

I recently came across Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy: Advances Since Nimzowitsch by John Watson. (Nimzowitsch’s classic “My System” was written in 1925.) I’d heard of Watson’s book, and it happened to be available at the local used book store, so that one has been added to the library. Modern Chess Strategy was written in 1998, which for me qualifies as “new theory”.

In a lot of respects Modern Chess Strategy has been more eye-opening for me than Silman’s How to Reassess Your Chess. (Published 2010). Given the reading foundation I already have, the Silman book seemed like a lot of “I’ve already seen that idea”. Though there are a lot of people who read Silman’s book and attribute significant rating gains to having read it.

All of this is not intended as a dig at How To Reassess Your Chess. Had I not already worked through Pawn Power In Chess (Kmoch), My System, and other old classics, I’m sure Silman’s book would have opened up my mind to a lot of things that I’d previously had no idea about.

So that’s not where intended this blog entry to go…

My phone has been acquiring an increasing number of Chess apps and website links, with an emphasis on free stuff. I might be fine with paying a one-time fee for some of these sites, or making a donation, but I’m not going to sign up for several hundred dollars annually in courses and membership fees. There are some instances better database manipulation would be nice, but I have no intention of ever turning pro, so I can live with my workarounds. Chess can be an almost free hobby if you want it to be.

Listed below is online stuff I’ve been using. Note that I’m not covering all of the features available for each, just the features I’m using right now. Most of these offer games and training at the very least:

The Lichess app, Lichess.org, and Listudy: The Lichess app is where I spend most of my chess time. All free, no ads, free studies about nearly any chess subject. You can even personalize studies if you choose to. Or create your own study with the subject you’re focused on. Terrific resources. Lichess.org is the web version which offers some different functionality. Listudy is maintained by a different group of people I think, and offers some training and studies.

Chess.com: Monetized through and through. Some good free stuff available but if you’re not willing to pay a monthly fee then many or most of the useful things are behind a paywall. For me that’s a hard pass.

Chessbook: I’ve been using this for spaced repetition opening training. The free limit is 100 moves per side per color. That worked fine when I could fit all of my white openings with only a few lines each under the limit. I’m now to the point where I can practice a subset of the current white opening that I’m working on, so I’ve broken the opening into smaller modules that I can save and swap out when I want to work on something else. Again, workarounds.

PGN files: Mostly freely available from virtually every site. Games, openings, studies, you name it. This is (I think) the most common file format for chess content. Many websites and apps will allow you to export your study/opening/game to a PGN file, which you can save and share with other sites or friends. I’m still learning the syntax for writing directly into a PGN file — it hasn’t been a priority yet so it hasn’t happened.

Scid vs PC: A PGN Database handler, among other things. I’ll be using this a lot more in the future. You can import games/ openings/ studies, etc in PGN form. It allows for chess engine plug-ins. It’s free in contrast to many other options. I haven’t had the time to really explore this yet either, but I think it’s going to get a lot of use.

Chessable: I’ve started using Chessable a little more lately. They offer free courses, with a whole bunch more courses behind a paywall. There are a couple of free openings courses that I’m working through, but I don’t know what my long-term relationship with that site is going to look like. I do think there’s some functionality I haven’t really looked at yet, so maybe I’ll be singing a very different tune later.

QChess.net: Pretty new, and I only happened across it last week. There’s a searchable database and an opening trainer, among other features.

Chess Tempo: Has both an app and a web presence. I’ve been using its Advanced DB search to look for particular players playing particular openings. It offers many other features as well that I haven’t delved into yet.

And that’s what I’ve found in the first couple of months. I know that I’m missing a bunch of quality sites and quality content creators. This blog post will likely need a revisit at some point.

As for me, I’m not playing a ton of games, and I started out with a relatively not-awesome Lichess Rapid rating, but my win rate remains high and I’m gaining a significant amount of rating each month. I’m sure there’s a plateau coming eventually but I haven’t hit it yet. “To Infinity And Beyond!” …. No, of course not. But the journey is fun.