There are lots of places you can find game scores
to support your own analysis and study of the game.
Here is a list of some of the better collections
and archives.
ChessBase
Online
One of the best, largest, and most user friendly free databases of unannotated games. ChessBase’s
position search yields many games not included in other databases. Features links to
ChessBase’s PlayerBase to learn more about the players.
Chesslab
Position Search
Chesslab’s search and play interface allows you to find games that reached
any position and then play them over on the web or download them for study.
An excellent tool with many quality games.
ChessGames.com
A very user-friendly searchable database of historical and recent chess games. Search by player,
opening, year, or other categories. Play the games over right on the web.
This site is rapidly
becoming one of my favorite to visit and is expanding its links and features
all the time. Allows reader comments and annotations, some of which are good
though most are more impressionistic than analytic. Also allows readers to
compile their favorite
games. Lots of great interactive features, some of which are available only to premium members.
Chess Games Links by Lars Balzer
One of the most comprehensive links pages devoted to downloadable games on the net. You could take all day going through these, so he offers to sell you a disk of what he has collected himself from the net. The fact that this site exists means I don’t have to be comprehensive!
Pitt Chess Archives
The largest collection of free game files on the web and an essential first stop any time you are looking for a game score before 2000. For a more user-friendly interface to the Pitt Archives, go to the Chess Files at Chessopolis. For more recent games, see below.
NICBase
(New in Chess)
A newer database, with just under one million
games. Allows downloading of PGN files. Advertises
itself as “not the biggest but the best.” Especially useful for tracking down games that have appeared in New in Chess, which are sometimes not published anywhere else.
Gens una Sumas
A new (12/05/2005) online games database that will likely be by subscription only at some point but which appears open to the public for now.
The
Week in Chess
One of the best sources of current GM games to download. You can also find
links on their
main page.
Chess Mix
Like TWIC, this site offers a collection of recent tournament games to add to your database (10 days worth rather than a week).
G.
Ossimitz’s Chess Pages
Lots of annoying pop-up ads here, but lots
of free games to choose from. Ossomitz likes
to “annofritz” his games (using Fritz
to annotate). Especially valuable is the Games
Collections from Books. See
also this Ossimitz page.
Chessville.com
Downloads
Lots of downloads here, both new and old.
Net
Chess News
Generally offers the easiest-to-find PGN files of recent events.
The
World Chess Championship
Download games from every World Championship match and event.
Uncrowned
Kings
Download games from those who coulda, woulda, shoulda (with a Brit-bias).
Annotated
Chess Databases
Many CB and PGN databases with annotations. Mostly older and historical selections.
Commented
Games from Convekta
A great set of files to download.
My
Chess Site
A good source of game downloads in various categories, though it is hard to
tell whether or not most of these materials are simply taken from the Pitt
Archive.
Chess
Collect
Dusan Stamenkovic’s Chess Page, exploring and sharing his hobby of collecting
games. I found all of the Download links broken when I visited recently, but
there was some accessible content and we can hope he will make the necessary
repairs.
Base
Online at Hechiceros
Great Java viewers categorized by opening.
Chessopolis
Chess Archives
A good collection of links to archives, focusing on the Pittsburgh site.
Official
IECG Archives
You can download games from the International Email Chess Group here. Lots
of recent and theoretically interesting games, but you have to wade through
the bunch.
La
Regence/Notzai
Notzai’s chess download zone.
Colorado
Chess Informant
For those who enjoy trolling through amateur games.
Schaak! by
Jaap van der Kooij
A personal site that features excellent links and some game collections.
A.J.
Goldsby’s Downloads
A collection of interesting, often historic games, many annotated.
Schach-Datenbank
Interested in 19th Century chess? This is a good place to find games from the
past.
Super
Tournaments
A collection of games from tournaments featuring only the best players in the
world at different times in history.
Chess
Archaeology Library
Offers the best list of links to the various National Database Archives (though
some links were out of date last time I looked).
Australian
Chess Federation
More an international games site than an Australian national chess site, with
loads of recent games to play over online using an attractively designed interface.
BrasilBase
Adaucto Wanderley da Nobrega incredibly well-researched site.
Britbase
A gigantic historical archive of games played in Britain.
DanBase
The Danish Archive is well maintained.
Chess
Ireland
John Hurley’s long standing chess site was supposed to move to irishchess.com.
But it does not seem to have been recently updated anywhere.
Scottish
Chess
Scottish
Correspondence Chess
The
Irish Chess Archive
Olimpbase:
The History of the Chess Olympiads
The name says it all.
Rusbase
The Russian archive is very well designed and maintained.
Russian
Chess
Features recent Russian games.
Yubase:
Yugoslavian Chess Games Database
Offers games from way back in Yugoslav history. If a game was played in Yugoslavia,
the score is probably somewhere at this site to download.
Vishwanathan
Anand
A site devoted to the great Indian GM.
Morozevich.com
The Russian super-GMs site is pretty cool.
Bobby
Fischer.net
Even though it is hard to be a “Fischer fan” these
days, here’s a Fischer fan site with some pretty
good content. To demystify the man, visit his personal
site. But be warned: it is not as pleasant as our nostalgic memory of 1972.
Capablanca
Biography with links to games.
Official
Anatoly Karpov Site (in Russian)
Anatoly
Karpov
An unofficial web site with some good content and links to games.
Chess
Corner’s Anatoly Karpov page
A good biography, his best game, and a link to a download of games.
Kasparov
at ChessChamps.com
Alexandra
Kosteniuk
I also like to check out her great games….
Vladimir
Kramnik
A site devoted to the ongoing triumphs of the champion.
Frank
James Marshall Electronic Archive and Museum
A site devoted to America’s great player of the early 20th century.
On
Nimzowitsch
An interesting historical web site devoted to the father of hypermodernism.
Victor
(Vytas) Palciauskas
The home site of the 10th World Correspondence Champ. His articles are especially
worth reading here.
Polgar
Chess Center
A site devoted mostly to Zsuzsa.
Selected
Games of Judith Polgar
A good selection of games to play over online by the attractive GM.
Dave’s
Shrine to Judith Polgar
More fan site than game site, but the games are there too..
Spraggett’s
Chess Wisdom
The Canadian GM’s web site offers advice as well as games.
Dr.
Siegbert Tarrasch
A site devoted to the turn of the (last) century GM and chess author.
