iPhone App - ChessDB ($3.99)

Was just doing my periodic search of the app store and came accross the ChessDB app.  Looks like it was just released last week.  I was wondering if anyone here had already bought it and had an opinion.

From the description and screenshots it sounds promising, but there are no reviews or rating in the app store for the first-hand perspective.

Hi,

I'm actually the developer for this application. I think there have been a few reviews since you posted, and of course, I'd encourage you to try the app out for yourself. Let me know if you have any questions or feedback!

Thanks

Thanks for the msg pdt4aye and for your app, please feel free to use this forum to make your app be known, ask for users (or potential users) ideas, look for beta-testers or simply anything that can help your app to improve.

Here is the url that opens itunes: http://itunes.com/apps/ChessDB

Please can you share the urls of the reviews you talked about? This could help people to know how your app is and can generate more feedback not only between users but also between users and you (If you like )

I really like the hability to download games from internet, for example chessgenius does something similar and I really love this feature. I supose your app can download from Dropbox or other similar service.

Thank you very much again.

($3.99 are 2.99€ for euro-users)

Hi Ousland,

Thank you for the warm welcome. I think this forum definitely has a lot of potential for helping developers come up with some great ideas.

My motivation for creating this app comes from the fact that I think studying the games of great masters is the best way to improve ones chess, and the fact that there were no apps in the Store that allowed me to download my personal databases to bring with me.

The ability to download any database is central to my app. ChessDB can download from any URL that contains a pgn database. For example, if you have ChessDB, you can go to "Download" and enter this URL:

http://ubuntu.xvm.mit.edu/Lasker.pgn

to download a little database of the early Lasker games that I've created. As long as a database is online, you can save it onto your device.

As for reviews, I'm sorry, I meant that there are now reviews on the App Store. If anyone has comments/suggestions, feel free to shoot me a message.

Thanks again!

Hey pdt4aye,

Thanks for the posts :)  I did end up picking up your app.  I do like it quite well, especially being able to download my own games into it.

A few features I would love to see:

• Ability to rename a database.  When downloading a pgn I'd like to be able to name it something other than what the URL was.
• Ability to move a game to a different database (or maybe even multiple databases?).  For example, I may want to add aditional games to an existing "My Chess.com Games" database.
• Ability to create "Categories" to put databases into.  Just thinking of having something like "Openings" / "Master Games" / "My Games" would be nice to have so that things are organized.

I know these aren't small requests, but just what I've observed from a couple days of use!

With some additional work (new features like said above, some interface refinement) and after downloading all of this (and some more):

http://www.pgnmentor.com/files.html

ChessDB would be somehow ultimate ;)

Hello,

Thank you for all your feedback.

bwochinski, your first and third points will likely find themselves in an update soon. There is also an update to ChessDB pending Apple's approval that addresses your second request, albeit in a slightly different way than might be expected.

And KHRoN, I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the second update ;-)

Got your app yesterday. Pretty nice. One thing... the Kasparov database does not open. Has this been a general issue?

At first i liked chess.com, now i'm pretty much addicted.

My iphone is also one of my favourites.

So if there is any possibility to take part in the beta-testing it would be

overkill.

i know i'm late....

regards

Hi Ideological,

Thank you. There does seem to be something with the Kasparov database but it will be fixed in an update soon. In the meantime, I've uploaded the database to my server, and you can get it by clicking on the Downloads button and entering this address:

http://ubuntu.xvm.mit.edu/Kasparov.pgn

I hope this helps.

Hi Pdt4aye:

I have the app, and am generally happy with it.

I did have a couple of database download problems.

Does the app work with PGN files that have annotations, or that start from a position defined by a FEN?  I have downloaded a couple of these, but the app crashes when trying to open them.

On that note, is there any way to delete a downloaded database?

Thanks!

Hi Mike,

You are right; unfortunately, in this version, databases with variations will not work. I sent an update to Apple that addresses this problem the first day I was able to (about a week ago) but it is still pending approval.

The update after that one will include FEN positions as well as Search, many more databases, the ability to create databases on the go, the ability to email databases, and a few other features. I apologize for the inconvenience. Almost all of those features are already finished, I am just waiting for Apple to approve the updates.

I hope this information helps somewhat.

Just noticed the Caro-Kann Classic database seeems to have the same issue as the Kasparov database…

Yes, you are right. The next update will address this unfortunate issue. In the meantime, I've (temporarily) put a number of databases onto my server at http://ubuntu.xvm.mit.edu/pgn/ Most of these databases will be included in the next release. You can visit that address in Mobile Safari and copy the link of any database that might interest you and then paste the URL into ChessDB (be sure to remove the extra http). It includes several Caro Kann databases as well as databases for many other openings and players.

Does anyone know how I could create or gain access to a website that would allow me to upload PGN files readable by Chessdb. I have found websites that zip there files rather than have a direct link to the pgn.

Another feature would be to have the program automatically play games from a database. It would be similar to watching a movie. The user should be able to adjust the speed. Chessbase has this feature.

A chess engine for analysis would be useful as well.

Thanks for filling an Iphone void with this program.

I have used sites.google.com with good success

Hi pdt4aye:

The latest update is working well for PGN files with annotations (a great addition!) , and I look forward to the next update that will allow for FEN positions.

My suggestion for a future update is for buttons that allow you to load the next/previous game from the database without having to go back out to the game list.

Thanks for a great app!

Another option would be Dropbox or Syncplicity.  These are essentially online tools that act as auto-syncing, net-based flash drives, and I find them to be a real boon because I work on the same files from various locations. 

Both of them allow you to make the files you store there public and to create a special link to download individual files.  I've used this to upload PGN databases to ChessGenius on my iPhone without any problems.

Hello,

Thank you all for your comments!

Like others have mentioned, sites.google.com and Dropbox are both very good options for hosting files. I have a step by step tutorial on how to upload/download pgn files using Google Sites here. Also, count me as another thumbs up for Dropbox. There are some really smart people working at that company (some who were my classmates :-)).

Allowing the app to play through a game automatically and buttons for the next game are easy enough to do, the tougher part is to find somewhere to put those controls without making the interface too cluttered. Perhaps these will find their way into a future update.

I am also testing the Sjeng chess engine for game analysis. If it does work out, it will most likely find itself in the second upcoming update. The feature set for the next update has already been locked and mostly completed.

I hope this information is useful for you!

I sugest you to use Glaurung which is a first level GNU engine with a version on iphone (Tom, the developer made two free programs: Glaurung for apple and Abaia for Cydia). I´m sure that you can find the code of the iphone version of the engine and the aplication. Glaurung is really strong