I used to play only boring openings which require little theory. I started to study more interesting openings. To organize all these lines, I would like to create a database/pgn file with my favorite openings, but am not sure what the best way for this is.
So far I created a database (in scidb) for each opening (one for Sicilian, one for Ruy Lopez...). I keep adding lines to it as I encounter them (together with the names of the variations). Does this make sense?
Basically my question is: what is the workflow for professional players? How do you include computer analysis in these notes? How do you include sample games? (both technically and how do you find good sample games?) Does it make sense to have one database for each opening or would it be better to have one overall database or better to have databases for each variation?
I guess everybody serious is using chessbase, but what are good free alternatives (for linux)? What online tools do you use? I noticed that many major tournaments provide pgn files on their websites. Is there a single place to download pgn files of many tournaments at once (and for free)?
I'm a very messy person. Once I did some analysis on an opening I save it in the same file as my tournament games. I don't like to click through a bunch of folders to get what I want. I don't separate openings, I think's it's quite easy to find what you're looking for by using one of the several parameters chessbase offers you (including search by position).
If I have an idea, I save it in the file as well, so I can access is when I've got the time and or I'm in the mood to work it out properly.
I'd rather not overload one game with lots of variations and annotated games. Less is lucid. Better save it as several games.
I include computer analysis in my annotations, normally it's not too much.
It makes sense to separate the files by openings, yes. Just make sure you don't save every analysis in one game, for instance the ruy lopez with 3. ... Bc5 at the same place as 3. ... a6.
I think it's basically about realizing when the files get too big, but I think you can handle that.
I'm pretty tired now and I probably made a lot of mistakes not only regarding grammar and spelling but also about what I really wanna say :D
Anyway, c ya.
A PGN can have multiple games in it. I break up the variations so that each "game" has a manageable amount of analysis in it that's easy to work with an understand. As an example, I play 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.O-O O-O 5.d4 d6 6.b3!? a lot as White, and my analysis is broken up into separate pieces of analysis as follows:
*Black plays ...c5*
1. 6...c5 7.Bb2 cxd4 8.Nxd4 d5
2. 6...c5 7.Bb2 cxd4 8.Nxd4 others
3. 6...c5 7.Bb2 Nc6 8.c4 cxd4
4. 6...c5 7.Bb2 Ne4! and others
5. 6...c5 7.Bb2 Nc6 8.d5!?
*Black plays ...e5*
6. 6...Nbd7 7.Bb2 e5
7. 6...Nc6 7.Bb2 e5
*Odd Alternatives Not Covered Above*
8. Etc...
Every piece of analysis in this file, 1-8, will have the main, bolded line inside the file be what I consider best play, will have alternatives, game quotations, engine suggestions, etc. And then under these 7 files in my database (maybe 9-12 or something) I might have a few games that I consider important or that show a lot of good, thematic ideas. The only way to find such games is to take the time to look for them. :)
I like to keep my databases of manageable size while still keeping everything organized. I have a KID database that holds my Black repertoire against 1.d4 that's probably the biggest one, about 80 individual pieces of analysis inside. I'd advise you to group them by color and line, e.g. Ruy Lopez as White, and then inside that database organizing your analyses into smaller files that make sense. You might have one for the Schliemann, Berlin, Zaitsev, etc.
I use Chessbase - the most common free alternative is SCID or SCID vs PC, which most people prefer. I have used it and think it's pretty serviceable, but I also think that Chessbase is still way better. There's also ChessX. If you need an engine, Stockfish is free, and is probably the second strongest engine in existence at this point.
To gather games, the best resource is TWIC. Marc Crowther compiles all the games for you and allows you to download them for free. You should probably also harvest correspondence games, at the very least from ICCF, which is also free.
I use chessbase with a similar setup to TonyRo with the only difference being that I pay for megabase. Chessbase had a special so it didn't cost me too much and I dont have to update all the games manually.
A really important factor to putting together a opening database is remembering everything. I would recommend playing some blitz/rapid play games to get a good understanding of the positions.
Professionals stay on top of everything, they will have their repertoires check all the latest gm games against their own repertoires and only against any new analysis i.e books.
On a side note I played that line against a gm last week Tony and lost having equalised. Game continued Nc6(hoping to transpose to a Panno) Bb2 ,e5, pxp, Nd7. What line do you have the most difficulty with as white?
I actually started with an old Megabase as well. But you can find free databases of reasonable size to start with, it will just be more work to download from TWIC, ICCF, etc.
As far as that line goes, I have always though that the lines where Black enforces ...e5 with the pin along the a1-h8 diagonal were pleasant for White, e.g. 6.b3!? Nc6 7.Bb2 e5 8.dxe5 Nd7 9.Qc1! (9.Qd2 also looks good to me) - there's a lot more analysis here, but in general White normally gets in Rd1, Nc3 (possibly with c4 first) and has a strong g2-bishop and a little more space. Black also usually lacks a meaningful pawn break, which makes it kind of hard to find a plan.
If you play the Panno, I might recommend 6...c5 7.Bb2 Nc6, intending 8.d5 Na5!?, which looks very solid to me, and similar to the Panno, as White is usually going to play c4. The key here, just as in the Panno, is that eventually ...e5 is probably necessary, as otherwise White will usually find a way to play it himself. Instead, there's 8.c4, but I think 8...Ne4! is best, opening up the long diagonal and ensuring that Black gets to relieve a little bit of his space disadvantage by exchanging off a pawn of minor pieces. I'd start there! Good luck!
I'm going through this right now also, I'm finding Chess Position Trainer invaluable. You can import/export from CPT into chessbase, which is awesome.
Chess Position Trainer is an interesting product but the last update was two years ago, looks like the development is on hold.
I always wondered why the Chessbase folks never cared to add something along those lines to their product. Recently they have added such a feature to their online product (
http://openings.chessbase.com/js/apps/Openings), but it lacks proper integration with Chessbase.
As to online tools, have a look at
www.chessply.com where you can enter and practice your opening repertoire.