There are a few places. Have you tried the following site:
http://www.pgnmentor.com/files.html#openings
Also, the Univerisity of Pittsburgh site has pgn files broken down by openings. A Google search will give you the link.
Where can I DL individual pgn openings?
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You can also use a database and separate the games yourself, into whatever criteria you choose. (White wins, Black wins, by opening, by player, etc.)
Anyone who follows my posts knows I'm a big fan of "Scid vs PC." You can use this program to load one or more PGN files, and then create a sub database of games based upon your chosen criteria. Then you simply save this sub database as a pgn file and you're all set.
Hi Ed,
Thank you for the quick reply. I actually had already found your 1st link (pgnmentor.com) and as I said - each link contains literally thousands of variations. So again I am not sure which is the "standard" opening to study and basically I can't see the forest for the trees.
I found the http://www.pitt.edu/~schach/Archives/index2.html site which has openings and judging by the file sizes, each file contains huge number of variations, so I have the same issue.
I must be doing something fundementally wrong here...does everyone else who studies openings have to wade through thousands of openings per pgn file in order to manually create their own database? I keep thinking this info must be out there somewhere...
I wouldn't say there are "thousands of variations" or a "huge number of variations." Yes, there are undoubtedly thousands of GAMES in these files. But every opening really only has a small handful of different variations.
Take, for example, the French Defense. Let's say as Black, against 1.e4, you want to study the French Defense. Maybe you've read some good things about that opening, or maybe it appeals to you, or one of your favorite grandmasters plays it regularly, etc.
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5. (The standard French Defense position.)
So yes, as Black you have to be ready for the different ways White can reply to the above position. White can play the Advance Variation (3.e5) or the Exchange Variation (3.exd) or the Tarrasch (3.Nd2), etc. After say, 3.Nc3, then YOU might want to play the Winawer variation (3...Bb4) of the French Defense. Or maybe after 3.Nc3 you might want to play the Classical variation (3.Nf6).
There are really only a small handful of different variations to the French Defense. (A few more than what I've listed, no doubt.) But certainly not "thousands.")
Continued...
With almost every opening, both players attempt to steer the game into the type of game or variation they are most familiar with. White begins and chooses 1.e4, and then Black chooses the French (so White has to be ready for the French... and the Sicilian and Alekhine's Defense, and 1.e5, and the Scandinavian, etc.) but White then chooses which variation of the French, but then Black then chooses what variation from that variation. etc. But after just another move or two, especially at your level, that's it. You won't have to worry about the recommended line or recommended "book move" assuming there still is one, after, oh, say a half dozen moves or so.
So what you want to do is collect as many French Defense games as possible. As mentioned above, you can download pgn files with nothing but French Defense games, or create your own database of French Defense games, from a large database of all games.
You can then keep them all in the same file, and then, using any of the many chess databases available, select just certain games/variations that you want to study that day. If you want to play over the Advance Variation, then you can create a temporary database of just those games, from the main French Defense database. You don't even have to necessariy save it... you can just re-create it on the fly each time. (It just takes a second to.)
However, rather than "memorize" moves/variations, what is more important is to learn the reason behind/for the move, and most the uncommented pgn files won't help in that regard. Ideally, a good opening book, explaining the principles and the reasons behind the move is needed, to complement the pgn games.
Hi,
I just got the Chess Position Trainer and am trying to set up a repertoire of opening in it.
Since I have not yet fond a cpt (database file) for it online, I am trying to import each major opening using pgn files.
So far though the only pgn files I find online contain multiple openings all stuffed into 1 file. So when I run these in the app I have no idea which opening I am looking at (it presents them in a numbered tree structure without names).
Does anyone know where I can get individual standard opening pgn files for this? (Better would be a complete cpt database but I don't hold out much hope for that).
Thanks much in advance!