PGN Downloads

I added a new category -- Posts with label Downloads (see the list of all labels on the right sidebar) -- to tag my posts which offer any kind of a download. For now this means only PGN files, but could eventually encompass other types of files.

For most of the book reviews linked via Chess Product Reviews, I first assembled a corresponding PGN file containing only the game scores of the games found in the book (no annotations or other notes). This let me perform simple analyses like 'years spanned by the games' -or- 'percentage results for White & Black'. Most of these PGN files are still sitting in my archive, but I will release them when I feel comfortable doing so.

Many players don't realize it, but the list of games in a book is copyrighted material, as are all notes to the games found within the book. The moves to the games, as played by the players, can't be copyrighted, but the selection of games is under copyright, just like the list of recipes in a cookbook is copyrighted.

Many PGN files for specific chess books have been available for years from Gambitchess.com at Gambit Chess - DB Books, and I won't duplicate any material that is already there. My aim is to make PGN files available for books which haven't already been done by someone else. Gambit Chess also maintains a list of publishers who have requested that their titles not be available as PGN files.

Copyright Notice: Some Publishers asked me to remove some DB Books for which they hold the copyright. Please don't send me DB Books from:
• Gambit Publications Ltd.
• Everyman Chess
• Cadogan Chess
• Pergamon
• British Chess Magazine
• Sahovski Informator (Chess Informant)
• Thinkers' Press, Inc.
• Chessco

I know it's hard to understand why any publisher would not want related PGN files distributed. It makes playing through the book's annotations and analyzing the games so much easier, that it is definitely a plus for understanding the book. Nevertheless, copyright is just that -- the right to make copies -- and if an author or a publisher doesn't want a PGN file made available, it's their call. I might try to contact some of the publishers listed by Gambit Chess in order to learn their reasons for forbidding copyright, but in the meantime, there's no alternative but to respect their stated preference.

Here are a few more PGN files that I've assembled in the past and am making available now.

• 'The Most Instructive Games of CHESS Ever Played' by Irving Chernev (Faber and Faber, 1966)
  
• 'Soviet Chess' by Nicolai Grekov (Chess Review, 1949)
  
• 'Winning the Won Game - Lessons from the Albert Brilliancy Prizes' by Dr. Danny Kopec & Lubomir Ftacnik (Batsford, 2004)

Note that it's fairly easy to assemble your own file if you have a few basic computer skills. For me, it averages less than a minute per game to build the file. I'll add more PGN files whenever I think it's useful to do so.