SCID VS PC is fine- combine it with a free database like ecofybase, and you don't need any paid program.
Chessx is a fine program, but currently it works only with plaintext (pgn) databases, which can get huge- although to my poor knowledge they are working towards embedding a database in SQL-compliant format.
Thanks for the quick reply
What is ecofybase, and where can one find it? I googled it, but the only hit I got was this thread...
Yes, my bad- sorry for that. It's a large, free database available in SCID-compliant format, where you only miss annotated stuff, if compared to say, Chessbase Mega Database (which costs some respectable $$$).
Yes, my bad- sorry for that. It's a large, free database available in SCID-compliant format, where you only miss annotated stuff, if compared to say, Chessbase Mega Database (which costs some respectable $$$).
I'm using CB BIG DB 2011 it's the same DB as the CB MEGA DB but the MEGA DB has a very small percentage of the games annotated (50,000 or so out of a few million or more games if I recall correctly) and it costs way more than the BIG DB. For more details go here http://www.chessbase.com/
I wish I'd heard of SCID and icofy base before I bought CB9 but I can't complain - I use CB9 a lot but if I could go back and "start from scratch" again I'd at least check out the FREE DBs first before buying anything!
@ Nimzoroy: It may irritate you if I assure you that the search function in SCID is superior to the Chessbase one in many ways! The only downside is the aesthetics (applications written in TCL/TK aren't exactly the prettiest around), but this clearly is subjective, and of minor importance.
An issue (for me) with Icofy is that it contains very little header information, often only player names, not even a date.
I got a decent 1.6 million games from pgnmentor, with info including date, location, event, round number etc. It's nice if you want to build tournament crosstables or something, or just if you want to know the context of the game.
The only problem there, is that you cant get it in a single download, you have to patch together a few dozen small db's to make your large one.
@ Nimzoroy: It may irritate you if I assure you that the search function in SCID is superior to the Chessbase one in many ways! The only downside is the aesthetics (applications written in TCL/TK aren't exactly the prettiest around), but this clearly is subjective, and of minor importance.
It's too late to be irritated but not too late to check SCID out, maybe I'll begin using it in conjunction with CB 9 or even use it to replace CB9. Hopefully the learning curve on it won't be too drastic...
No, not a big learning curve. And pick the SCID vs PC fork, the original SCID project is dormant since ages.
Thanks for the tip, I installed SCID vs PC and will check it out (I already had installed the older version, but I'll ignore it for the time being and concentrate on the new one)
I found Mill Base recently. It seems best of the lot. Not as big as junk base or icofy of course. Has anyone tested it much ?
http://katar.weebly.com/2/post/2012/06/millbase-for-scid-update1.html
I rarely use Icofy anymore. Not much info.
Hi I have been searching the internet for help in improving my game and was looking at the free chess databases I was wondering what people thought was the best Scid / SCID VS PC or chessx or am i better of paying for one of the Fritz programs.