Every serious player should learn how to use chess databases. These essential modern computer-based tools are used by a wide variety of players. By downloading all the games from significant events, grandmasters and serious players organize them according to their relevance to their opening repertoire, opponents they expect to play sometime in the future, or by ideas and techniques they find interesting or unique … whatever the reason, all games in a database can be sorted almost instantaneously according to the needs of the moment.

Why go to the trouble of creating and maintaining database? Well, it is good practice for later … when you are a GM! Okay, there are two types that you should consider creating … one of your games — this helps you keep a historical record of your efforts and progress, but it is likewise a source of information about your opponents. Consider this scenario: if you bring a laptop (with your database installed on it) to a tournament, you can look at any previously-games against the opponents you get paired against! You and your teammates can help each other in the same manner.

The second type is of games that interest you … usually because of the openings they feature. Selecting games for such a database, which you could call "My Opening Repertoire" is a very personal task, but your coach can suggest some guidelines. If you don't have a coach, decide which lines you want to play, write a draft outline of the variations from an openings book, or use a highlighter to track them on its pages. When you sort through large databases (these are available on disk or literally a hundred places online) using particular target positions, you will find a number of games that match. Put those games into your database. At any stage therreafter, you can quickly run through them to prepare yourself for an upcoming event.

There are a few databases (as well as a few sparring programs that include database abilities). Below are some of the choices available. — EK

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