HowToAnnotateGames

SCID lets you annotate games. There are three types of annotation you can add after a move: symbols, comments, and variations.

Note that SCID only allows you to modify games in a [ScidDatabase]. You can edit a PGN file, but you won't be able to save it. In a future release, SCID might be able to let you do this, but for now, work with a [ScidDatabase], OK?

What Annotations Can I Add?

Symbols, comments, and variations.

Symbols are used to evaluate a position (+- , +/-, +=, =, etc) or a move (!), ?. Comments can be any text.
To add symbols and comments to a game, use [TheCommentEditor]. Variations are alternative move sequences.

Each move can have more than one annotation symbol, but only one comment. A comment before the first move of the game is printed as text before the start of the game. Variations can contain comments and even recursively have sub-variations.

Null moves

Sometimes, you may find it useful in a variation to skip over a move for one side. For example, you may want to add the move 14.Bd3 to a variation and point out that it threatens 15.Bxh7+ Kxh7 16.Ng5+ with an attack. You can do this by making a null move between 14.Bd3 and 15.Bxh7+, in the above example. A null move is displayed as "--" and can be inserted using the mouse by making an illegal move of capturing one king with the other, or from the keyboard by typing "--" (two minus signs).

Note that null moves are not a part of the PGN standard, so if you export games with null moves to a PGN file, SCID will provide (among other export options) an option to preserve null moves or convert them to comments for compatibility with other software. See the Exporting help page for more details.

Also note, that Scid is capable of handling the move Z0 as a null move, a notation that is common in some commercial chess applications.

What Are the Editing Actions?

Are there Editing Shortcuts?

The buttons above the board with a "V" symbol, and commands in [TheEditMenu], can be used to create, navigate and edit variations.

There are keyboard shortcuts and a list of common actions in the [TheGameContextMenu].

When a move has variations, they are shown in [TheGameInformationArea]. The first will be named v1, the second v2, etc. You can click on a variation to enter it, or press "v".

In the latter case the Variation window will pop up allowing to select a variation using the cursor keys. Setting Options / Moves / Show variation window will pop up this window automatically every time a move with a variation is found while navigating through the game using the cursor keys. In the variation window one can enter the variation by selecting it with the up/down cursor keys and hitting enter or clicking on it with the mouse. This allows for navigation through the game with the cursor keys only. To leave a variation, you can use the "z" shortcut key. At the beginning of the variation, the up arrow can be used alternatively.

Note that in case a game has variations you can also enter the variation by just playing the move of the variation in question. To explicitly add a new variation starting with the same move (e.g. to simplify deeply nested variation trees) press Ctrl-A to explicitly add a variation and only then play the move.

Setting Options / Moves / Show arrows for variations may be set to display the existing variations on the main board. This can be especially helpful on computers with small displays (Netbooks) and/or in conjuction with disabling both PGN window and game informaion area (Options / Windows / Show game information).

Can SCID Annotate Games for Me?

Yes! You can let your first chess engine annotate your games. See [TheAnalysisWindow] for more information.