Maximum Data Integrity Instead of Guessing
- Rigorous deduplication: Automatic selection of the most informative “master record.”
- Strict Quarantine: Games involving conflicts (color swaps, FIDE ID discrepancies) are not grouped together but are treated separately.
- Transparent Identities: Phonetic and historical reconciliation with proof of origin included in the PGN tags.
Full PGN and SCID support
- Optimized Formats: Available immediately in PGN format as well as in the Scid formats
si4andsi5. - Focus on Standard Chess: Games played exclusively from the starting position (no Chess960 or fragment games).
- Cleaned data: Removal of unnecessary engine evaluations while fully preserving the thinking time (
%clk,%emt). - Chronological Sorting: Sorted deterministically by date, event, location, and round.
Independent
- Developed and maintained in Germany
- Focus on Quality: Developed and maintained by Michael Jansen, the sole developer in Germany.
- No mass at any cost: Conservative data processing ensures reliable analyses without incomplete fragments.
Deduplication Logic
- 10-Step Processing: A multi-stage pipeline for the precise identification and resolution of duplicate batches.
- Fuzzy Matching & ELO-Resolver: Intelligent matching of variant spellings of names and assignment based on ELO histories and FIDE IDs.
- Subsumptions-Check: Automatic detection of incomplete batches, fragments are replaced with the complete batch without any data loss.
Performance & Rust-Backend
- Modern Infrastructure: High-performance data processing with a specially developed Rust pipeline.
- Fast Exports: Efficient storage cleanup and fast loading times despite massive amounts of data.
- Resource-efficient: Minimized memory requirements for smooth operation in Scid and Scid vs. PC.
Monthly release cycles
- A Reliable Rhythm: Neue Database releases and OTB updates are reliably delivered during the first week of every month.
- Incremental Patches: Monthly update files for directly updating existing Scid collections.
Database version for Scid
- Optimized for Scid and Scid vs. PC (.si4 & .si5).
- OTB database: Over 12 million games.
- Online database: Over 6 million games
Database Version as a PGN File
- Universal format for all common chess GUIs.
- Contains exactly the same cleaned-up dataset.
- Ready for immediate analysis or conversion.
Current Versions
Current status:
October 2026
Main Database:
2026-10-05
Incremental Update:
none
Opening Books:
ECO/NIC 2025-10-05
License Model (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Lumbra’s Gigabase is a free project for the chess community. Use for personal analysis, preparation, and training is completely free under the Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC 4.0). To integrate it into commercial chess apps or databases, please contact me directly at moc.esabagigsarbmul@ssenisub
Secure Lichess Integration
- No Contamination: To avoid legal disputes, Lichess broadcast data is strictly excluded from the main database until December 2023.
- License-Free: As a result, the main database remains free of ShareAlike restrictions (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Separate download: If needed, the broadcast data is available to you as a completely separate, deduplicated download.
Reviews of BuyMeACoffee.com
Support the project
The ongoing curation of the data, maintenance of the Rust infrastructure, and server operations for the monthly downloads incur ongoing costs. If this solo project helps you with your chess preparation, I would greatly appreciate a small contribution.
Note on TWIC
The use of TWIC (The Week in Chess) data was deliberately removed from the Gigabase, as this project relies on donations for its long-term sustainability and should not be undermined by database exports. TWIC is an extremely important project for the chess community.
“Send a £30 donation via Paypal and contact me via email (Email Mark Crowther – moc.tenretnitb@htworcdm) I’ll send you an address for a cbv file of my personal copy of every issue of the games in one database. Over 4 million games. Alternatively subscribe to donate £4 a month”
Partner Showcase
Some links in this Partner Showcase are affiliate links. If you purchase software or subscribe through one of these links, I’ll receive a small commission to support this project, of course, the price remains exactly the same for you.
Chessever
Chessever is the mobile chess streaming platform. Follow live tournaments, keep an eye on grandmasters, and analyze games in real time on iOS and Android.
If you subscribe within 14 days of registering, I’ll receive a small commission at no cost to you.
Use the code “lumbras” to get 10% off your subscription. (Disclaimer: These discount codes are only valid when used through the Stripe checkout on chessever.com. They do not apply to purchases made on the App Store or Google Play.)
Coming soon: TheChessCommunity
TheChessCommunity is a new, modern chess learning platform with training tools and courses. It allows you to build, practice, and perfect your opening repertoire.
- This web-based tool offers engine analyses, the ability to prepare for all your opponents online, and classic games.
- With the Move Trainer tool, you can master your opening repertoire through three structured learning phases for openings; it also includes the modern FSRS-6 review system to ensure you never forget your openings.
- The opening search is powered by Lumbras Gigabase and TWIC.
This gives you access to a powerful, classic database to help you prepare your repertoire and adapt to any opponent. The platform was developed by FM Midas Ratsma, who has created 11 popular Chessable courses for beginners and club players. Try all the tools for free at: thechesscommunity.com
Thank you for your support!
7 responses to “Free chess game database for Scid”
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Gracias por este recurso fantastico¡¡¡
Me sirve mucho para mi entrenamiento en el camino hacia la maestria en ajedrez(Thank you for this fantastic resource!!! It’s really helpful for my training as I work toward a master’s degree in chess. // translated by admin)
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Hi Team, not sure if this has been addressed yet, but 2025 games are mostly cropped, many games have moves ending in around 8 to 10 moves.
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Best database ever. It would be really nice to release a lite version with only the important games above 2200 elo.
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Thank you so much for all your hard work. I have been using SCID for many years, but now have a great database to go with it. I’m going to share this with all my students. Now, to work out how to buy you a coffee :-)
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If this page is an chess move. It will be a brilliant move.
As my favorite Gm would say.
Sanx for ze games. – Daniil Dubov -
This is a fantastic resource! Thank you so much for making this collection.
I’m in the process of writing a book on romantic style chess openings, and your database has been very helpful in finding games from some of the old masters.
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