Mega Database 2011
It isn't difficult to find giant databases nowadays, but ChessBase's Mega Database (updated yearly; the 2011 edition is now out) has advantages its bareboned rivals lack. The minor frills are the player encyclopedia (lots of pictures of many players, both contemporary and historical, from across their careers when possible) and the weekly updates (that can be done manually through TWIC and other sources already, though it's designed to be more convenient and efficient with ChessBase); both convenient, neither necessary.
The main selling point for Mega, for me, at least, is the very large number of annotated games - 65,000 in all. People still buy game collections regularly - not unreasonably - but if you think of how many books you'd have to buy to get the same number of annotated games, there's clearly a big advantage to buying Mega. (Additionally, it's a lot easier to scroll through annotations on your computer, rather than having your head half-buried in the book, then constantly resetting the board to where it was at the start of the variations.) Many of the annotated games are of recent vintage, and that makes them very useful for opening study as well. Theme keys help you select games for their tactical or endgame or strategic pluses too, so it's a fine tool for training purposes. So although the one-time price is relatively hefty, its value by volume makes up for it and then some.
More info here.
Reader Comments (4)
what, Dennis...? You mean to say that you didn't follow Nimzowitsch's advice about having two chessboards at hand for going through analysis and a game? ;o)
I guess it is more players our age and above that still enjoy handling wood and reading a good book and have only started using the software as an auxiliary tool. Nothing beats e.g. looking through the English translation of Botvinnik's 3 vol. best games collection with a glass of red wine at hand and a bit of Mozart playing softly in the background!
[DM: I'm with you on that. I have a nice chess table, and it gets regular use both for replaying great games but also for "official" work. As long as tournaments take place with physical boards, it's worthwhile to maintain one's familiarity with tournament-style conditions. Further - and this may be what you're expressing - there's a tactile pleasure one gets with a nice chess set (and a book). I spend plenty of time on the computer, but dragging a mouse is not an aesthetic experience.]
I beg to differ on 'only' players of your age remark. I'm only 25 and I use my nice wooden board nearly every day for analysis if not a book then a recent game or some opening I'm exploring or one of my on going correspondence games.
In response to Graham's comment (and DM's response): In addition to aesthetic considerations, also remember the enhanced learning potential (mentioned on this blog a few months ago) of using different surroundings at different times. Perhaps switching from wood to pixel & back may help ideas to stick.
Maybe this effect can also be brought into play be changing the appearance of your on-screen board & pieces (& annotation font) every once in a while...
[DM: Very good point!]
Are you affiliated to chessbase in any way?
I mean, this starts as a review but looks more like a commercial...
[DM: Because it's positive? Maybe it's just a very good product!
To answer your question, though, I'm not currently affiliated with ChessBase (CB), but I was and still occasionally receive review materials from them. That said, I bought Mega for years before I worked for them, and have heartily recommended it to people before, during and after my tenure with CB. Further, I've received products from CB and given them mixed reviews at best or not mentioned them at all because they weren't very good. So the "thumb's up" is on the level.]