scid-users — for discussion of Scid by its users

Re: [Scid-users] Spellcheck file

[Ulrich D. <ud...@ar...>]

Hi,

> I strongly recommend writing a helper script to describe the names, and
> using it to make sure your update only made desirable changes. If you
> have some experience with AWK, the below script (see bottom of email)
> can report on, for example, White or Black tags in a pgn database. Or
> you could do similar in python, powershell, or other scripting language.
> You can use such a report to check before, check after, and perhaps even
> create your new SSP file if you want to go that route.

Thank you for your answer.
Yes, this was indeed the way I had decided in the meantime ;-)

I used several Python scripts that did the job very well. 
One of the ways I used the Python script was to generate an Excel file on a regular basis, so that I could easily filter out specific problem cases. Once I had edited the lists in Excel, the script could import this file again and then write the changes to the PGN.
The second application also ran via Python and Excel, because it allowed me to perform a perfect transliteration based on the official ISO standard.
Of course, the clearly structured format of the PGN standard was helpful here, as it was this that made it possible to implement all the changes easily using Python.

I have to say that after many years of using Chessbase (and getting annoyed with every update because the shortcomings weren't fixed and they just made cosmetic changes instead), I've finally moved on from it and found a much better solution in SCID.

But I have to say that the biggest benefit comes directly from SCID itself!
a) no stupid limitation like the 30 chars limit for names in Chessbase
b) UTF-8 support

> Hmm, I think the Scid spellcheck predates UTF-8 encoding.... The unix
> `file` utility says the SSP file is ASCII text. And the PGN Standard
> specifies Latin-1. But most chess software I have seen uses either UTF-8
> or Windows-1252. So UTF-8 might work, but be sure to test everything.

Yes, that's true, but for my particular use case I didn't need to use the PGN format in the standard way. And as these PGN files are only used by me privately, it doesn't seem to be a problem. 

Best regards,
Ulrich

Re: [Scid-users] Spellcheck file

[Alan B. <adb...@ya...>]

Hi,
I just noticed your email. Apologies if this has already been answered 
and I didn't notice _that_.

I haven't used the spellcheck yet, but I have been considering it, so I 
am looking at it for the first time. You didn't say if you are using 
Windows or not, that information might help. I am using Linux at the moment.

I downloaded the latest SSP file from sourceforge.
https://sourceforge.net/projects/scid/files/Player%20Data/
ratings0426.zip

On 2/8/26 11:12, Ulrich Dirr wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I want to replace in a database player names with correct spellings*. Do I need to create a special SSP file for that? Do I understand it correctly that lines with "=" denote alternate writings?
This is documented in the SSP file, I quote a snippet below. There is 
more information in the SSP file, well worth reading. From the handling 
of first and last names, it seems clear that it will not update some 
mis-spellings, and might sometimes unexpectedly change some correct 
names to incorrect ones.

(quote)
# PLAYER SECTION
#
# The format is: the correct spelling is unindented, and
# alternative spellings are indented on the following lines starting
# with a "=".  Lines starting with a "%Bio" are biography notes.
(/quote)

> What would the best way to proceed with a database of about 100k entries? Maybe it is better to make the changes in a PGN file first?

I can say from bitter experience with bulk database updates, that this 
sort of operation should _never_ be done without careful checking of the 
data both before and after. Make backups first. Check everything. Check 
everything again, carefully! And I would make the changes _twice_. Once 
in PGN, then restore from backup and make the changes again in Scid, 
finally compare the two runs. It will help you understand where you are 
smarter than Scid, and where you are not.

I strongly recommend writing a helper script to describe the names, and 
using it to make sure your update only made desirable changes. If you 
have some experience with AWK, the below script (see bottom of email) 
can report on, for example, White or Black tags in a pgn database. Or 
you could do similar in python, powershell, or other scripting language. 
You can use such a report to check before, check after, and perhaps even 
create your new SSP file if you want to go that route.

> Thanks in advance.
> 
> Best regards,
> Ulrich
> 
> *For my own needs I will use correctly transliterated cyrillic names. And other names with accents, dieresis etc. Therefore they will be UTF-8 encoded.

Hmm, I think the Scid spellcheck predates UTF-8 encoding.... The unix 
`file` utility says the SSP file is ASCII text. And the PGN Standard 
specifies Latin-1. But most chess software I have seen uses either UTF-8 
or Windows-1252. So UTF-8 might work, but be sure to test everything.

$ file ratings0426.ssp
ratings0426.ssp: ASCII text
$ file --version
file-5.44
magic file from /etc/magic:/usr/share/misc/magic
$

(quote)
4.1: Character codes

PGN data is represented using a subset of the eight bit ISO 8859/1 (Latin 1)
character set.
(/quote)
https://github.com/fsmosca/PGN-Standard/blob/master/PGN-Standard.txt

One final point is that once you have your database names the way you 
like them, you may want to keep a separate "additional_games" database. 
Run the spellcheck only on the "additional_games"; this avoids 
introducing errors to your main database. Especially important as you 
make changes to your SSP file. The other benefit is it will be much 
easier to notice spelling problems in the smaller "additional_games" 
database. Once the new games are correct, only then import them into 
your main database. And of course add any new names to your custom SSP 
file or script or however you did it.

-- 
Alan


(script)
# $ awk -v vtag='Tag1' -f _this.awk input.pgn
# output tagvalue;count for sorting by tagvalue
# v2024.12.20  tag      => vtag

#              t        => tt

#              tagvalue => tagvaluecn

# v2024.11.13  add useage message

# v2020.09.27  1st

BEGIN {

   if ( vtag == "" ) {

     print "usage$ awk -v vtag=\"Tag1\" -f 
pgn-report-tags-param-vtag-counts.awk some.pgn"

     exit 1

   }
   FS = "\"" ;

}

{
   if ( ("[" vtag " ") == $1 )
     tagvaluecn[$2]++ ;

}

END {

   for ( tt in tagvaluecn )

     print tt ";" tagvaluecn[tt] ;

}

(/script)

[Scid-users] request option for EventDate handlng

[Alan B. <adb...@ya...>]

Hi,

In my endgames database I currently have an extra tag JrnlDate which is 
when I last made a change to the game. For example, an endgame from 
Basic Chess Endings could have a Date of "1941" and if I make changes 
today then I would set the JrnlDate to "2026.04.24". Unfortunately, I 
can't sort on JrnlDate, and filtering is by string value only, so I 
can't select ranges.

I want to repurpose the EventDate, which I currently don't use for 
endgames, because EventDate is in the Game List for sorting, and it's in 
the Search dialog for range filtering. But I am reluctant to do that, 
because such an EventDate won't survive a round-trip to/from pgn. The 
Scid import discards an EventDate if it differs from the Date by more 
than 3 years. (I guess this could also be a problem for some historical 
correspondence games, but that's not my concern at the moment.)

My proposed solution:

Make the "3 years" a configurable number. If the number is sufficiently 
large then it would be practically equivalent to turning off the 
EventDate checking. I wouldn't mind having to edit options.dat to change 
the number.

Possible?

-- 
Alan

[Scid-users] issue with function Game : Load Next Game

[Alan B. <adb...@ya...>]

Hi,

There are multiple issues here.
1. Next Game uses database order not Game List order.
2. Behavior of keyboard shortcut depends on focus.
3. Menu and keyboard shortcut do different things.

Sample pgn data below, but I think you can get the same results with any 
data. I get the same results with any format: pgn and si4 and si5. 
Tested on Scid 4.7.4 and 5.0.2.

Preliminary steps: Open the (pgn) database. Sort on Round.

1. Next Game uses database order not Game List order.

Steps: On the menu click Game : Load Next Game.

Result: Scid advances to the next "Number", according to the last column 
in Game List.

Expected behavior: Advance to the next "Round", i.e. the next game in 
the Game List, respecting the sort.

2. Behavior of keyboard shortcut depends on focus.

2a. focus on Game List

Steps: (after double-click on a game) At this point the Game List has 
the focus, don't click anywhere else. Use the keyboard shortcut 
ctrl+downarrow.

Result: Here the Game List, and only the Game List, advances to the next 
game in the list. Thus there are two games highlighted in the list. The 
notation window still has the same game as before. The game list moved, 
but the notation did not move.

Expected behavior: Advance to the next "Round", which it did, and load 
that game in the Notation window, which it did not do.

2b. focus on Notation

Steps. Click on the Notation window. At this point the Notation has the 
focus, don't click anywhere else. Use the keyboard shortcut ctrl+downarrow.

Result: Scid advances to the next "Number", according to the last column 
in Game List. Same behavior as using the menu in (1).

3. Menu and keyboard shortcut do different things.

We already saw it, with the focus on the Game List the menu advances to 
the next "Number", while the keyboard shortcut advances to the next 
"Round" (but without loading it). This is perhaps explained by the fact 
that using the menu changes the focus away from the Game List. I can't 
test that theory directly. However, I note that with the focus on the 
Game List, I can't use alt+g to activate the Game menu. But if I click 
on the Notation window, alt+g does work.

-- 
Alan

test.pgn. I put the Scid game "Number" in the "White" field.
-------------------------------------------------------
[Round "3"]
[White "Game 1"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 1/2-1/2

[Round "5"]
[White "Game 2"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Nf3 d5 6.Bd3 c5 7.O-O Nc6 1/2-1/2

[Round "2"]
[White "Game 3"]

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.O-O Be7  1/2-1/2

[Round "4"]
[White "Game 4"]

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c6 4.O-O Bg4 5.d3 Nbd7 6.Nbd2 e5 7.h3 Bh5 1/2-1/2

[Round "1"]
[White "Game 5"]

1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.Nf3 dxe5 4.e4 Bc5 5.Bc4 Nf6 6.d3 Nc6 7.Nc3 h6 1/2-1/2

Re: [Scid-users] RChess

[Alan B. <adb...@ya...>]

Hi,

Thanks for posting. The PDF looks interesting! I mean this one:
     Hausarbeit_Gerhard_Lorscheid.pdf

But my German is pitiful. I can read chess commentary but not much else. 
Do you perhaps have a source text (can be unformatted) that I can run 
through a translator? And not only English-speakers can benefit from a 
translation.


On 4/10/26 06:46, Gerd Lorscheid wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> the new version 4.02 of RChess is out (https://rchess.de).
> For you who understand Geman there is also a new video /https:// 
> www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVugLpKQB2w&t=915s) giving an overview on all 
> phases of repertoire management in RChess. This can be also a source for 
> ideas to implement in SCID (e.g. position related data).
> 
> RChess runs with Java, a bit older demo version including 
> everything (Java, database  engine - download and start)  is available 
> also.
> 
> Best wishes
> Gerd Lorscheid
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Scid-users mailing list
> Sci...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/scid-users

-- 
Alan

[Scid-users] issue with function Search : Current Board...

[Alan B. <adb...@ya...>]

Hi,

It will find the last position in the main game,
but it won't find the last position in a variation.

[Event "shift+ctrl+b data"]
[Site "scid-search-board.si4"]
[Date "2026.04.14"]
[Round "1"]
[White "foo"]
[Black "bar"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]

1.e4 c5
     ( 1...e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6
     5.Nf3 {v1}
     5...Qb6 {v2} )
2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 {m1}
5...a6 {m2}
1/2-1/2

[Event "shift+ctrl+b results"]
[Site "clipbase"]
[Date "2026.04.14"]
[Round "2"]
[White "foo"]
[Black "bar"]
[Result "*"]

1.e4
{
   shift+ctrl+b params :
     database = scid-search-board
     [+] exact position
     [+] look in variations
}
1...c5
     ( 1...e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.Nf3 Nc6
     5.c3 {1 game}
     5...Qb6 {0 games} )
2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 cxd4
5.Nxd4 {1 game}
5...a6 {1 game}
*

-- 
Alan

Re: [Scid-users] RChess

[Bahman M. <ba...@ba...>]

Hey Gerd,

Thanks for sharing. Can you share a link to the source code and the
licence, please?
--
Bahman Movaqar   (he/him)

Problem solver ● Software engineer ● Hands-on leader
https://linktr.ee/bahmanm


On Fri, 10 Apr 2026 at 04:00, Gerd Lorscheid <ger...@on...>
wrote:

> Hello,
>
> the new version 4.02 of RChess is out (https://rchess.de).
> For you who understand Geman there is also a new video
> /https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVugLpKQB2w&t=915s) giving an overview
> on all phases of repertoire management in RChess. This can be also a
> source for ideas to implement in SCID (e.g. position related data).
>
> RChess runs with Java, a bit older demo version including
> everything (Java, database  engine - download and start)  is available
> also.
>
> Best wishes
> Gerd Lorscheid
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Scid-users mailing list
> Sci...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/scid-users
>

[Scid-users] RChess

[Gerd L. <ger...@on...>]

Hello,

the new version 4.02 of RChess is out (https://rchess.de).
For you who understand Geman there is also a new video 
/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVugLpKQB2w&t=915s) giving an overview 
on all phases of repertoire management in RChess. This can be also a 
source for ideas to implement in SCID (e.g. position related data).

RChess runs with Java, a bit older demo version including 
everything (Java, database  engine - download and start)  is available also.

Best wishes
Gerd Lorscheid

Re: [Scid-users] SCID v5.2 Is Out

[Fulvio <fb...@li...>]

Hi Daniele,
if you click the three-line button located below the chessboard, you’ll 
find the "select marker" option.
Bye,
Fulvio


On 3/26/26 22:28, Daniele Airola wrote:
> Dear Fulvio,
> 
> First of all many thanks for this new interesting feature!
> The "Autoscan" is really a powerful tool, especially if will be enhanced 
> with some additional features based on the result of the autoscan.
> 
> The migration to Tcl/Tk9 seems to offer more smooth graphical drawings, 
> but unfortunately I noticed that in the editor window are no longer 
> available buttons for changing the colors of symbols (arrows, squares, 
> etc) and also the palette of specific symbols. These functions are 
> really important for enhancing concept visualization during lessons: do 
> you think it would be  possible to restore them?
> 
> Many thanks in advance
> Daniele
> 
> 
> Il giorno ven 6 mar 2026 alle ore 12:34 Fulvio via Scid-users <scid- 
> us...@li... <mailto:sci...@li...>> 
> ha scritto:
> 
>     Main updates:
>     Engine Eval Chart —  real-time evaluation chart with "Autoscan" feature.
>     Better Tree Stats — Cleaner and faster stats in the gamelist window.
>     Tcl/Tk 9 support.
> 
>     Longer changelog: https://github.com/benini/scid/wiki <https://
>     github.com/benini/scid/wiki>
> 
>     The binaries I uploaded use Tcl/Tk9, if you encounter hiccups please
>     report them.
> 
>     I hope you like it.
> 
>     Fulvio
> 
> 
>     _______________________________________________
>     Scid-users mailing list
>     Sci...@li... <mailto:Scid-
>     us...@li...>
>     https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/scid-users <https://
>     lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/scid-users>
> 

Re: [Scid-users] SCID v5.2 Is Out

[Daniele A. <d.a...@gm...>]

Dear Fulvio,

First of all many thanks for this new interesting feature!
The "Autoscan" is really a powerful tool, especially if will be enhanced
with some additional features based on the result of the autoscan.

The migration to Tcl/Tk9 seems to offer more smooth graphical drawings, but
unfortunately I noticed that in the editor window are no longer available
buttons for changing the colors of symbols (arrows, squares, etc) and also
the palette of specific symbols. These functions are really important for
enhancing concept visualization during lessons: do you think it would be
possible to restore them?

Many thanks in advance
Daniele


Il giorno ven 6 mar 2026 alle ore 12:34 Fulvio via Scid-users <
sci...@li...> ha scritto:

> Main updates:
> Engine Eval Chart —  real-time evaluation chart with "Autoscan" feature.
> Better Tree Stats — Cleaner and faster stats in the gamelist window.
> Tcl/Tk 9 support.
>
> Longer changelog: https://github.com/benini/scid/wiki
>
> The binaries I uploaded use Tcl/Tk9, if you encounter hiccups please
> report them.
>
> I hope you like it.
>
> Fulvio
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Scid-users mailing list
> Sci...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/scid-users
>

Re: [Scid-users] SCID v5.2 Is Out

[Bahman M. <ba...@ba...>]

Awesome work, Fulvio!  Thank you.

I've got a couple of questions:

1) Is the GitHub repository a mirror of SF or vieversa?

2) In ScidUp, I only produce portable, self-contained archives with zero
dependencies on extra packages.
 This has three benefits:
    a) Users just need to download, extract and run.
    b) There's only a single distributable I should ever think about for
each platform.
    c) Reproducing behaviour (bug or not) is quite straightforward.

For instance, here are **all** the artefacts for the latest ScidUp release:
- ScidUp__v1-testing-2026-03-05__linux.tar.gz
- ScidUp__v1-testing-2026-03-05__macos-arm.tar.gz
- ScidUp__v1-testing-2026-03-05__macos-intel.tar.gz
- ScidUp__v1-testing-2026-03-05__windows.tar.gz

I also implemented a quick "check for updates" during the startup which
pops up a modal letting the user know if there's a newer version to
download and what to do next.

If that's something that aligns with Scid's direction, I'd be happy to
create a PR.

--
Bahman Movaqar   (he/him)

Problem solver ● Software engineer ● Hands-on leader
https://linktr.ee/bahmanm


On Fri, 6 Mar 2026 at 03:34, Fulvio via Scid-users <
sci...@li...> wrote:

> Main updates:
> Engine Eval Chart —  real-time evaluation chart with "Autoscan" feature.
> Better Tree Stats — Cleaner and faster stats in the gamelist window.
> Tcl/Tk 9 support.
>
> Longer changelog: https://github.com/benini/scid/wiki
>
> The binaries I uploaded use Tcl/Tk9, if you encounter hiccups please
> report them.
>
> I hope you like it.
>
> Fulvio
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Scid-users mailing list
> Sci...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/scid-users
>

Re: [Scid-users] SCID v5.2 Is Out

[Bahman M. <ba...@ba...>]

Hit "Send" too soon!  Here's ScidUp: https://github.com/bahmanm/scid-up
--
Bahman Movaqar   (he/him)

https://linktr.ee/bahmanm


On Fri, 6 Mar 2026 at 07:11, Bahman Movaqar <ba...@ba...> wrote:

> Awesome work, Fulvio!  Thank you.
>
> I've got a couple of questions:
>
> 1) Is the GitHub repository a mirror of SF or vieversa?
>
> 2) In ScidUp, I only produce portable, self-contained archives with zero
> dependencies on extra packages.
>  This has three benefits:
>     a) Users just need to download, extract and run.
>     b) There's only a single distributable I should ever think about for
> each platform.
>     c) Reproducing behaviour (bug or not) is quite straightforward.
>
> For instance, here are **all** the artefacts for the latest ScidUp release:
> - ScidUp__v1-testing-2026-03-05__linux.tar.gz
> - ScidUp__v1-testing-2026-03-05__macos-arm.tar.gz
> - ScidUp__v1-testing-2026-03-05__macos-intel.tar.gz
> - ScidUp__v1-testing-2026-03-05__windows.tar.gz
>
> I also implemented a quick "check for updates" during the startup which
> pops up a modal letting the user know if there's a newer version to
> download and what to do next.
>
> If that's something that aligns with Scid's direction, I'd be happy to
> create a PR.
>
> --
> Bahman Movaqar   (he/him)
>
> Problem solver ● Software engineer ● Hands-on leader
> https://linktr.ee/bahmanm
>
>
> On Fri, 6 Mar 2026 at 03:34, Fulvio via Scid-users <
> sci...@li...> wrote:
>
>> Main updates:
>> Engine Eval Chart —  real-time evaluation chart with "Autoscan" feature.
>> Better Tree Stats — Cleaner and faster stats in the gamelist window.
>> Tcl/Tk 9 support.
>>
>> Longer changelog: https://github.com/benini/scid/wiki
>>
>> The binaries I uploaded use Tcl/Tk9, if you encounter hiccups please
>> report them.
>>
>> I hope you like it.
>>
>> Fulvio
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Scid-users mailing list
>> Sci...@li...
>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/scid-users
>>
>

[Scid-users] SCID v5.2 Is Out

[Fulvio <fb...@li...>]

Main updates:
Engine Eval Chart —  real-time evaluation chart with "Autoscan" feature.
Better Tree Stats — Cleaner and faster stats in the gamelist window.
Tcl/Tk 9 support.

Longer changelog: https://github.com/benini/scid/wiki

The binaries I uploaded use Tcl/Tk9, if you encounter hiccups please 
report them.

I hope you like it.

Fulvio

[Scid-users] How to Get Pieces to Stop Moving Twice

[James W. <jam...@co...>]

When I move a piece with the mouse and let go on the destination square, the piece instantly jumps back to the original square and moves again to the destination square. I want it to move just once, not twice. How can I stop this annoying behavior? 

I'm using Scid 5.1.202601 on Fedora 43.

[Scid-users] Spellcheck file

[Ulrich D. <ud...@ar...>]

Hello,

I want to replace in a database player names with correct spellings*. Do I need to create a special SSP file for that? Do I understand it correctly that lines with "=" denote alternate writings?

What would the best way to proceed with a database of about 100k entries? Maybe it is better to make the changes in a PGN file first?
Thanks in advance.

Best regards,
Ulrich

*For my own needs I will use correctly transliterated cyrillic names. And other names with accents, dieresis etc. Therefore they will be UTF-8 encoded.

Re: [Scid-users] Feature request & more

[Ulrich D. <ud...@ar...>]

Hi Fulvio,

great explanation, thank you! It seems you improved SCID a lot since the last time I used it seriously 😊.
I've tested it with an extra tag [Co-author "..."] and it worked.

I will check if I can manage a local compilation with custom export features...

Best,
Ulrich

> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
> Von: Fulvio <fb...@li...>
> Gesendet: Freitag, 6. Februar 2026 15:35
> An: Ulrich Dirr <ud...@ar...>
> Cc: sci...@li...
> Betreff: Re: [Scid-users] Feature request & more
> 
> Hi Ulrich,
> 
> I'm not entirely sure I understood the question exactly, so I'll be a
> bit verbose.
> 
> Let's take a sample PGN: https://lichess.org/api/broadcast/Ee0xddnN.pgn
> If you open it with SCID, in the PGN window you'll see that there are
> several extra tags (if you only see the first three lines, click on them
> to switch to the extended view).
> If you save the game, at the bottom of the dialog there is an "Extra
> Tags" section that contains them.
> For example, there is:
> BroadcastURL
> "https://lichess.org/broadcast/tata-steel-chess-2026--challengers/round-
> 1/ZVNLsNSS"
> and you can change it as you like or add new ones.
> 
> If you open Search → Header Search, it is possible to search games by
> tag.
> For example, you can enter in the Tag field: BroadcastURL and in the
> "contains" field: round-1 If instead of "contains" you want to search
> for an exact string, use quotes:
> enter in the "contains" field:
> "https://lichess.org/broadcast/tata-steel-chess-2026--challengers/round-
> 1/ZVNLsNSS"
> 
> If you don't remember the names of the extra tags present in the
> database or you want to remove some of them:
> Database → Maintenance → Strip PGN Tags opens a window with the full
> list.
> 
> I also want to point out that it is possible to overwrite games in PGN
> databases, but in practice, to ensure absolutely no data is lost, the
> old version is kept and a new one is added. Although this is all
> transparent within SCID, to permanently remove the old versions you need
> to compact the database.
> 
> Regarding local compilation: yes, absolutely. The code that exports to
> text files (including LaTeX) is here:
> https://github.com/benini/scid/blob/github/src/game.cpp#L2103
> 
> Bye,
> Fulvio
> 
> 
> On 2/4/26 17:34, Ulrich Dirr wrote:
> > Hi Fulvio,
> >
> > ok, I could of course give specific/detailed information but I'm
> afraid there's not much interest in it. Is it possible to change the
> source code locally and compile a local version?
> >
> > How does Scid behave on import if I use custom PNG tags, e.g. "Co-
> Author"?
> >
> > Best regards,
> > Ulrich
> >

Re: [Scid-users] Feature request & more

[Fulvio <fb...@li...>]

Hi Ulrich,

I'm not entirely sure I understood the question exactly, so I'll be a 
bit verbose.

Let's take a sample PGN: https://lichess.org/api/broadcast/Ee0xddnN.pgn
If you open it with SCID, in the PGN window you'll see that there are 
several extra tags (if you only see the first three lines, click on them 
to switch to the extended view).
If you save the game, at the bottom of the dialog there is an "Extra 
Tags" section that contains them.
For example, there is:
BroadcastURL 
"https://lichess.org/broadcast/tata-steel-chess-2026--challengers/round-1/ZVNLsNSS"
and you can change it as you like or add new ones.

If you open Search → Header Search, it is possible to search games by tag.
For example, you can enter in the Tag field: BroadcastURL and in the 
"contains" field: round-1
If instead of "contains" you want to search for an exact string, use quotes:
enter in the "contains" field: 
"https://lichess.org/broadcast/tata-steel-chess-2026--challengers/round-1/ZVNLsNSS"

If you don't remember the names of the extra tags present in the 
database or you want to remove some of them:
Database → Maintenance → Strip PGN Tags opens a window with the full list.

I also want to point out that it is possible to overwrite games in PGN 
databases, but in practice, to ensure absolutely no data is lost, the 
old version is kept and a new one is added. Although this is all 
transparent within SCID, to permanently remove the old versions you need 
to compact the database.

Regarding local compilation: yes, absolutely. The code that exports to 
text files (including LaTeX) is here:
https://github.com/benini/scid/blob/github/src/game.cpp#L2103

Bye,
Fulvio


On 2/4/26 17:34, Ulrich Dirr wrote:
> Hi Fulvio,
> 
> ok, I could of course give specific/detailed information but I'm afraid there's not much interest in it. Is it possible to change the source code locally and compile a local version?
> 
> How does Scid behave on import if I use custom PNG tags, e.g. "Co-Author"?
> 
> Best regards,
> Ulrich
> 

Re: [Scid-users] Feature request & more

[Fulvio <fb...@li...>]

Hi Ulrich,

Regarding the LaTeX export, I'm afraid I don't have specific knowledge 
on that topic, so I'm not able to provide useful input.

As for the PGN date format: yes, section 8.1.1.3: "The Date tag value 
field always uses a standard ten character format: YYYY.MM.DD".
Therefore, [Date "0863.??.??"] is correct.

For games or studies with multiple authors, a common practice is to use 
other tags, such as Annotator, or any custom tag name you find suitable.

Bye,
Fulvio


On 2/1/26 15:49, Ulrich Dirr wrote:
 > Hi,
 >
 > is there any chance that the LaTeX export will be modernized?
 > ------------------------------------------------------------
 >
 > I also noticed that errors appear when importing a PGN file that 
contains data before 1000. E.g. I have a study database with studies 
from arabs like Al Adli dating back to year 863! Maybe the PGN is wrong? 
[Date "863.??.??"] should it be [Date "0863.??.??"]?
 >
 > I am also interested in your opinion on how best to treat games or 
studies that have more than one player on one side. For example, in 
consultation games or studies with several composers.

[Scid-users] Feature request & more

[Ulrich D. <ud...@ar...>]

Hi,

is there any chance that the LaTeX export will be modernized? It looks to me as if it's still stuck in the 1990s!

E.g. diagrams got exported like:
\begin{diagram}
\board{ *B* * *}
 {P K * * }
 { * * * *}
 {* *q* * }
 {k* * * *}
 {* * * * }
 { P * * *}
 {* * * * }
\end{diagram}

One better version would be (so that modern Opentype fonts could typeset it):
XIIIIIIIIY
8-+L+-+-+0
7zP-mK-+-+-0
6-+-+-+-+0
5+-+q+-+-0
4k+-+-+-+0
3+-+-+-+-0
2-zP-+-+-+0
1+-+-+-+-0
xabcdefghy

And also game information is badly formatted (and outdated).
It would be great to have a more styled formatting with clear output of players, site, event, year etc.

------------------------------------------------------------

I also noticed that errors appear when importing a PGN file that contains data before 1000. E.g. I have a study database with studies from arabs like Al Adli dating back to year 863! Maybe the PGN is wrong? [Date "863.??.??"] should it be [Date "0863.??.??"]?

I am also interested in your opinion on how best to treat games or studies that have more than one player on one side. For example, in consultation games or studies with several composers.

Thanks in advance!

Yours,
Ulrich Dirr

Re: [Scid-users] What your uses of Scid are?

[Frank E. <fr...@es...>]

Hello and Happy New Year to everyone.

I use SCID because it is the only program or chess database that runs on 
Linux.

I do have ChessBase running in a virtual environment, but I don't use CB 
for my daily work. (e.g. analyse positions, learning Openings)

I use SCID to create clean pgn files that I can then use on Lichess or 
ChessBase.

I just installed the latest Flathub version of SCID.

Unfortunately, LC0 doesn't work at all for me under Kubuntu 25.10.

The error message is “Connection was unexpectedly terminated.”

All other engines (Stockfish in all versions, PlentyChess, Dragon 
Komodo, Phalanx, etc.) run stably under SCID. What do I need to do to 
get LC0 running under SCID?

I would like to express three wishes:

1. I would appreciate it if the select marker could be changed directly 
in SCID from SCID--Property to ChessBase so that I don't have to rewrite 
main.tcl with every update.

2. I support the request that SCID should not only display the best move 
in red when calculating variations with an engine, but also display the 
first 4 variations with arrows graded according to their ranking (as in 
Lichess).

3. When searching for a position in a database with multiple games 
(e.g., opening database), is it possible to display not only the main 
variation of the individual game, but also the variations that follow 
this position in this game as a selection?

I didn't understand how the extraction of pgn data (notations) and the 
conversion into independent games works (polyglot?). I need help here, 
preferably in German, on how to turn sub-variants of a game that is part 
of a large database into a separate game in this database so that these 
variants are also displayed in the tree.

Bye Frank


/Translated with DeepL.com 
<https://www.deepl.com/?utm_campaign=product&utm_source=web_translator&utm_medium=web&utm_content=copy_free_translation> 
(free version)/



Am 07.01.26 um 04:02 schrieb Fulvio via Scid-users:
> Happy New Year to everyone.
> I asked an AI (Claude-Opus) to modernize the crosstable code to C++20.
> While reviewing it, one line struck me: Copyright 2001 Shane Hudson.
> In 25 years, so many things have changed: online play on Lichess or 
> Chess.com, live video streaming of games, ... The days of ICC feel far 
> away.
> Scid was the best alternative available on Linux, my main use was to 
> prepare before a game against an opponent. I used three opening trees 
> and gamelists: my opponent's games, games with Elo > 2200, and all games.
> But I still remember the frustration: calculating statistics took 
> forever, it wasn't possible to move around the board until it 
> finished, and there was only a single gamelist (I used 2 temporary 
> databases as a workaround).
> Now that I only play the occasional online game, I use Scid solely to 
> review games from major events, like the recent World Blitz 
> Championship. Although Lichess offers web Stockfish, I prefer the 
> faster local version. I also have a small database where I copy and 
> annotate the games I like the most.
> There are features I don't use and haven't been updated in years, such 
> as the FICS module or training functions like solving tactical 
> puzzles. They're simply not comparable to what Lichess offers today.
> I'd like to understand what your uses of Scid are. Knowing which 
> features are still valuable would help me with the cleanup of code 
> that has become obsolete.
> Bye,
> Fulvio
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Scid-users mailing list
> Sci...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/scid-users

Re: [Scid-users] What your uses of Scid are?

[Daniele A. <d.a...@gm...>]

Dear Fulvio,

First of all Happy New Year to everyone and again thank you very much for
your contribution in this project.

It's been almost a decade that in my chess club I'm presenting/teaching
Scid as a reference tool for managing and analyzing games, studying
openings and profiling players.

Within this context, the Tree Window and the Opening Report, are the most
valuable features offered by Scid even if the current chess world is
completely different from ten years ago.

Today, the current offer of tools, apps and platforms have created a very
stimulating landscape. Nevertheless Scid still represents a great solution
for chess enthusiasts that do not want to rely only on online resources.

The problem with open source projects like Scid, where a long standing
project was developed by a relatively small community, is that often some
features are no longer used (or not used at all) because poor
documentation, buggy or obscure implementation.

Finally, if I may express a "very nice to have" wish for Scid I would say:
the ability to show multiple arrows according with the number of lines
evaluated by the engine.

Bye
D.


Il giorno mer 7 gen 2026 alle ore 04:02 Fulvio via Scid-users <
sci...@li...> ha scritto:

> Happy New Year to everyone.
> I asked an AI (Claude-Opus) to modernize the crosstable code to C++20.
> While reviewing it, one line struck me: Copyright 2001 Shane Hudson.
> In 25 years, so many things have changed: online play on Lichess or
> Chess.com, live video streaming of games, ... The days of ICC feel far
> away.
> Scid was the best alternative available on Linux, my main use was to
> prepare before a game against an opponent. I used three opening trees
> and gamelists: my opponent's games, games with Elo > 2200, and all games.
> But I still remember the frustration: calculating statistics took
> forever, it wasn't possible to move around the board until it finished,
> and there was only a single gamelist (I used 2 temporary databases as a
> workaround).
> Now that I only play the occasional online game, I use Scid solely to
> review games from major events, like the recent World Blitz
> Championship. Although Lichess offers web Stockfish, I prefer the faster
> local version. I also have a small database where I copy and annotate
> the games I like the most.
> There are features I don't use and haven't been updated in years, such
> as the FICS module or training functions like solving tactical puzzles.
> They're simply not comparable to what Lichess offers today.
> I'd like to understand what your uses of Scid are. Knowing which
> features are still valuable would help me with the cleanup of code that
> has become obsolete.
> Bye,
> Fulvio
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Scid-users mailing list
> Sci...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/scid-users
>

[Scid-users] Thanks for the feedback

[Fulvio <fb...@li...>]

Thank you all for the feedback.

 From your emails, these main use cases emerge:
- database management (personal games, favourite players, thematic 
collections) with comments/annotations;
- engine integration, including automatic annotation of entire games;
- opening tools (Tree, Book window, Identify Opening);
- searches and statistics (Player Report, filters, etc.) for preparation 
and to refine one’s repertoire.

Regarding legacy features: I think the right approach is to keep them 
all for now. If any are considered for removal in the future, they will 
first be flagged with a warning message, so users who rely on them can 
speak up and we can explore alternatives before anything disappears.

@Bahman: I will follow your approach with interest. A solid test suite 
provides a safety net that could also make it easier to use AI tools to 
modernize parts of the code.

@Alan: In the latest code, in the Header Search window (bottom right) 
you’ll find the “Presets” button, which replaces the old .sso files.

@Dan: I’ve always found CQL syntax a bit unintuitive; I’d like to have 
something simpler and more visual.

@James and @Luciano: It would be great to have automatic updates on the 
various Linux distros, as well as on Windows and macOS. It looks like 
the Arch package is up to date, while Debian is still at 4.7.4. If 
there’s a Fedora maintainer among the recipients...

@Thomas: the script was removed years ago, because the TWIC curator 
kindly asked us to, since web views help sustain the service.

@Harry: In my view, endgame tablebases are mainly meant to be used 
through engines. I typically set a very high MultiPV value and in that 
way I get the same output, but via the engine.

@Gerd: I used a similar method, suggested by John Nunn in “Secrets of 
Practical Chess”: create a small database containing only games from 
your own repertoire. When you reach a position, the opening tree gives 
you a personalised repertoire with relevant examples.

@Dan: Thanks for the offer. You may have seen that we currently use this 
pipeline:
https://github.com/benini/scid/blob/github/azure-pipelines.yml
If you have suggestions, please let me know.

@Werner: Do you also use the Lichess training exercises 
(https://lichess.org/training)? If so, are there limitations in the 
online exercises?

Thank you all again for taking the time to share your workflows.
Bye,
Fulvio

Re: [Scid-users] What your uses of Scid are?

[Dan F. <dan...@gm...>]

Hello Fulvio,

I am definitely appreciative of any efforts to modernize SCID. I am very
much in the same boat as Bahman, and am delighted to hear I’m not the only
ICCF player who loves SCID and uses it instead of Chessbase!

I am the Members’ Games editor for the Canadian Correspondence Chess
Association, and I use
SCID (along with various other FOSS tools) to select and analyze games for
discussion in my column. The statistics, search, and opening tree functions
are indispensable parts of my workflow. I also use CQL, which contains a
fork of the SCID PGN parser, in searching endgame positions. I recently
figured out how to adapt it so it will run on iOS, so I can play with CQL
on my phone.

https://www.gadycosteff.com/cql/
https://github.com/lamech/cql

If it would be helpful, I’m happy to help with testing and/or build
automation/pipelines, as that’s what I do professionally.

Best regards,
Dan


On Sat, Jan 10, 2026 at 5:45 PM Alan Bennet via Scid-users <
sci...@li...> wrote:

>
> On 1/9/26 12:16, Harry Broeken via Scid-users wrote:
> > It would be nice to have some kind of tree when there are games with
> variations in the database. Perhaps some utility that would create
> psuedo-games from the lines.
>
> Agree. This why I use the .bin books in Scid.
> - pgn-extract --splitvariants
> - polyglot -make-book -uniform
> Now the book window includes variations, which the tree window does not.
>
> Also making a .bin book from an actual book, Scid book window shows what
> lines are recommended/analyzed.
>
> -- Alan
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Scid-users mailing list
> Sci...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/scid-users
>

Re: [Scid-users] What your uses of Scid are?

[Dan F. <dan...@gm...>]

Hello Fulvio,

I am definitely appreciative of any efforts to modernize SCID. I am very
much in the same boat as Bahman, and am delighted to hear I’m not the only
ICCF player who loves SCID and uses it instead of Chessbase!

I am the Members’ Games editor for the Canadian Correspondence Chess
Association, and I use
SCID (along with various other FOSS tools) to select and analyze games for
discussion in my column. The statistics, search, and opening tree functions
are indispensable parts of my workflow. I also use CQL, which contains a
fork of the SCID PGN parser, in searching endgame positions. I recently
figured out how to adapt it so it will run on iOS, so I can play with CQL
on my phone.

https://www.gadycosteff.com/cql/
https://github.com/lamech/cql

If it would be helpful, I’m happy to help with testing and/or build
automation/pipelines, as that’s what I do professionally.

Best regards,
Dan

On Wed, Jan 7, 2026 at 11:07 AM Bahman Movaqar via Scid-users <
sci...@li...> wrote:

> Happy new year to you too, Fulvio!
>
> I have been using Scid since 2015. Every. Single. Day.
>
> I play **a lot** of correspondence chess, e.g. ICCF (
> https://www.iccf.com/player?id=290074).
> I also frequently play over-the-board friendly-yet-serious matches.
>
> Scid allows me to:
> - Maintain a few databases, such as my own and favourite players' games,
> along with plenty of comments and annotations and analysis.
> - Navigate the openings.
> - Analyse whole games or individual moves using many engines with many
> different configurations.
>
> Scid does an excellent job for me. So much that I do not feel any need to
> even consider getting ChessBase products.
> https://www.bahmanm.com/2024/07/my-awesome-scid-setup.html
>
> Thank you and all the other maintainers for doing such a fantastic job!
>
> PS: I have been working on a similar idea to what you described. That is,
> upgrading Scid's codebase, dropping legacy or unused features, tackling
> technical debt, etc. If you find that useful, I can work on back-porting
> relevant changes to Scid. Please see this work-in-progress repository:
> https://github.com/bahmanm/scid-up
> --
> Bahman Movaqar   (he/him)
>
> https://linktr.ee/bahmanm
>
>
> On Tue, 6 Jan 2026 at 19:02, Fulvio via Scid-users <
> sci...@li...> wrote:
>
>> Happy New Year to everyone.
>> I asked an AI (Claude-Opus) to modernize the crosstable code to C++20.
>> While reviewing it, one line struck me: Copyright 2001 Shane Hudson.
>> In 25 years, so many things have changed: online play on Lichess or
>> Chess.com, live video streaming of games, ... The days of ICC feel far
>> away.
>> Scid was the best alternative available on Linux, my main use was to
>> prepare before a game against an opponent. I used three opening trees
>> and gamelists: my opponent's games, games with Elo > 2200, and all games.
>> But I still remember the frustration: calculating statistics took
>> forever, it wasn't possible to move around the board until it finished,
>> and there was only a single gamelist (I used 2 temporary databases as a
>> workaround).
>> Now that I only play the occasional online game, I use Scid solely to
>> review games from major events, like the recent World Blitz
>> Championship. Although Lichess offers web Stockfish, I prefer the faster
>> local version. I also have a small database where I copy and annotate
>> the games I like the most.
>> There are features I don't use and haven't been updated in years, such
>> as the FICS module or training functions like solving tactical puzzles.
>> They're simply not comparable to what Lichess offers today.
>> I'd like to understand what your uses of Scid are. Knowing which
>> features are still valuable would help me with the cleanup of code that
>> has become obsolete.
>> Bye,
>> Fulvio
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Scid-users mailing list
>> Sci...@li...
>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/scid-users
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Scid-users mailing list
> Sci...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/scid-users
>

Re: [Scid-users] What your uses of Scid are?

[Alan B. <adb...@ya...>]

On 1/9/26 12:16, Harry Broeken via Scid-users wrote:
> It would be nice to have some kind of tree when there are games with variations in the database. Perhaps some utility that would create psuedo-games from the lines.

Agree. This why I use the .bin books in Scid.
- pgn-extract --splitvariants
- polyglot -make-book -uniform
Now the book window includes variations, which the tree window does not.

Also making a .bin book from an actual book, Scid book window shows what 
lines are recommended/analyzed.

-- Alan