It is what rigamagician said, but I don't find it hard to create the DB, given that when you find a position you want into your repertoire you just add it, no need to copy part of the game and paste it in a new database.
It is essentially a fast way to create a Garrybase
I just read a blog where somebody posted this link, and I remembered this post.
http://freeplannet.blogspot.com/2009/07/free-as-in-chess.html
I love free chess stuff if would like two chess uci engines for free as strong as money can buy for a sinle cpu 32 bit computer then just check out this sites free download section its on the first page.this sites free dowwload section very good as is zarkon fischers site.Try Compos 2.5 free good database also Chessbase light 2009 demo main limitation all databases limted to around 34000 pgn games ihave about 30 databases pgn collections on it for a total of 630000 pgn game of super DEMO.Also fritz 5.32 free has good data base to build on an i also love Scid.Wy pay when you can get it FREE.All the time it shocks me how much great free chess stull is out there its also fun to collect them.I have several free databases etc ,An about 200 chess engines.
In Chessbase, you can set up a database with your repertoire, and then use it to search an archive of new games for games involving these lines. There are links earlier in this thread to how Garry Kasparov organizes his repertoire. I mostly use Chessbase's opening keys and the reference pane, but some people do put quite a lot of effort into building a repertoire database.
Mind you, Scid has the Repertoire window, where you can make a list of positions to search for, and positions to exclude. Once the window is open, you press ctrl-I for "include current game position" and ctrl-X for "exclude current game position".
To go from a bunch of positions to a foolproof repertoire tree is quite some work, however. My way (for my white repertoire) is to exclude positions where it's black to move, and then include the position where white has played my repertoire move. E.g., I exclude 1.d4 d5, include 1.d4 d5 2.c4, exclude 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6, include 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3, et cetera. I'm probably more obsessive than I need to be.
Edit: It also has a Bookup-style opening book trainer, in which you also store your repertoire. In a completely different format! Open source at its worst.
It seems to me that, when comparing free software to paid software, there always comes afloat ethical reasoning, rather than technical.
There are people who will pay for a given program and people who won't.
Now developers who sell their programs have more money to do research, to hire people to work full-time on projects which, in the end, become more efficient, user-friendly, etc. applications. (which, by the way, they sell, so they have more money to do more research....).
Free developers sometimes don't have the resources or/nor the time to keep working on small details which seem insignificant at first, but might be important. Hence the lack of certain features or nice-looking finishes (icing on the cake).
Those who are willing to pay, will pay for what suits their needs, and, if possible, they also find friendly. They'll pay for something they like.
Guess what. When it's my birthay, I really like the icing on the cake.
But... Will I pay for it? I don't know. Perhaps chess is not my main concern these days, so I'll download and try SCID instead and save the money to buy something else.
If you want something ab-so-lu-te-ly professional, pay for it. There's nothing wrong with that!!!
But then you assume that
a) Open Source software is always written by volunteers, and
b) For-pay software is always better than free software
Neither of which is necessarily true. Firefox, for instance, is Open Source, written by paid developers, and a fine browser (whether it is better than IE 8 right now is up for debate, but for many people it is, and for years it was clearly better than the IE versions then).
As for software development tools, many of the best are Open Source.
But Scid is a case of software that used to have a very active developer, who got health problems and then disappeared, and years later still nobody knows for sure what happened. Then a few years of nothing, then a nasty fork and a whole lot of shouting, different versions, etc. It seems everybody is starting to move on now, with several slightly different Scid-likes in existence...
In Chessbase, you can set up a database with your repertoire, and then use it to search an archive of new games for games involving these lines. There are links earlier in this thread to how Garry Kasparov organizes his repertoire. I mostly use Chessbase's opening keys and the reference pane, but some people do put quite a lot of effort into building a repertoire database.
Mind you, Scid has the Repertoire window, where you can make a list of positions to search for, and positions to exclude. Once the window is open, you press ctrl-I for "include current game position" and ctrl-X for "exclude current game position".
To go from a bunch of positions to a foolproof repertoire tree is quite some work, however. My way (for my white repertoire) is to exclude positions where it's black to move, and then include the position where white has played my repertoire move. E.g., I exclude 1.d4 d5, include 1.d4 d5 2.c4, exclude 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6, include 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3, et cetera. I'm probably more obsessive than I need to be.
Edit: It also has a Bookup-style opening book trainer, in which you also store your repertoire. In a completely different format! Open source at its worst.
do you mean the repertoire editor?
Yeah, I think so, I don't have Scid on this computer so I can't check what it's called exactly :-)
Yeah, I think so, I don't have Scid on this computer so I can't check what it's called exactly :-)
I find the repertoire editor quite tricky, in fact it is the main reason I moved to ChessBase Light. If I recall there were even thoughts of removing it at some point and I freaked a little thinking I may put allot of hours into building my repertoire digitally and then have to do it again, CB is more consistent in their development goals. After all, they didn't remove it, but still in terms of repertoire functionality SCID falls somewhat short.
Yes, you are right. Maybe I fell a little for oversimplification.
By the way, I did actually download SCID, and I'm using firefox this very moment to view this page. While I don't have an oppinion about SCID yet, I can tell you I think firefox is far better than IE. But that's only my oppinion, and on a different subject.
What I'm trying to say is:
When I have to analyze and compare two programs, I should count their pros and cons objectively. I shouldn't extend any special pardons to any of them. Then, after the comparison has ended, I should decide which one best suits my needs.
And then, if I can't pay for the most suitable one, I choose the next best one, or the best one I can afford.
I'm sure many of us will have a strong oppinion on propietary vs. open source software. But it appears to me that that's not the point of this thread.
In Chessbase, you can set up a database with your repertoire, and then use it to search an archive of new games for games involving these lines. There are links earlier in this thread to how Garry Kasparov organizes his repertoire. I mostly use Chessbase's opening keys and the reference pane, but some people do put quite a lot of effort into building a repertoire database.