OM 1994

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Dear chess lovers and game collectors, it's our pleasure to announce the biggest collection of human chess games between 1800 and 1994. You will not find a bigger collection of classical chess OTB players. If we missed some games, we challenge you to let us know. It is the complete history of chess in the most cleanest and purest form between 1800 and 1992. This database is the result of many thousands of hours of work on data collected from a large number of sources (Internet, magazines, books, databases). It is more complete than ordinary commercial databases, errors have been corrected in it, data has been added, tournaments and chess players indexed.

Historical database 1800-1994

The current January 2024 version of OM OTB holds 9,849,81 chess games officially recorded over the board between 1800 and 2024. We constantly keep adding more and clean up the "old mess" from the 90s. We do the house cleaning but it's microwork. We are final up to 1994 and it holds 1,557,730 chess games in total.

We are proud to announce the complete work of chess between 1800 and 1994.

What improvements are visible in the new version

The number of games

There are about 25% more games in it than in ChessBase, games without notation are only there if it was necessary to add them for the complete table of the tournament, the main part of which is the database. In addition, there are games from Spain, Argentina, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Holland, Cuba, Spain, Brazil. However, there are quite a few new batches from Scandinavia, Germany, England and Poland too. The inclusion of games in Soviet tournaments has been significantly improved.

The names of the tournaments are normalized

Wherever possible ordered by data on the place and date of the tournament, the country in which the tournament was played are added

Round numbers

Sometimes we added the number of the round in which the game was played, if we needed to do it for the completeness of the table. If we could not determine the round number, we entered the round number greater than the number of rounds of the tournament. This way you can see where we didn't know how to do it (but the table will be generated)

Player names are normalized

We made a number of adjustments - added first names, correctly distinguished players with the same or similar names, took into account the date of the game and compared it with the time when the player lived. We hope that we have successfully solved the problems as well with female names, when the player changed her surname due to marriage

The duplicates

We tried to consistently remove the duplicates - we used many methods, only cases where there are two games that differ in moves and players' names are distorted could have escaped, the number of duplicates is definitely significantly less than one in a thousand.

The fragments and parts with bad notation

Some datasets also contained fragments of parts that were listed fully somewhere else. We always tried to leave out such a fragment. We also skipped games where there was a mistake in the notation - very unlikely moves.

The results

We also fixed a large number of game results - compared with the results in the game tables from popular chess magazines

The correspondence games

We omitted all games where we were sure they came from correspondence tournaments. If we did not have this certainty - few cases - they are in the database with the name of the tournament "COR"

Zero computer games

The games between computers are omitted, unless these were played at a tournament (various open tournaments with the participation of people and computers) or at a significant tournament between computers. Computer names are always listed as COMP (e.g. COMP Fritz)

Finally, we would like to mention some sources we used to give credit. It is extremely difficult to search for historical games where no computers were available.

Gino di Felice Chess Results - a series of 18 books covering tournaments from 1800 to 1990
Gino di Gelice Chess International Title holders 1950-2016
Gaige Chess Personals
Chess Informants 1-58

Magazines
Magyar Sakkélet, Československý šach (Czechoslovak Chess), Shakhmatnyj bjulleten (Checkmate Bulletin)

Best regards

Tomáš Hecht,

Chief Data Officer

“It’s the biggest and strongest chess database out there” - GM Simon Williams, CEO GCHESS

The chess databases are important for a number of reasons.

First and foremost, chess databases allow players to study and analyze past games. By studying the strategies and tactics used by top players, aspiring chess players can improve their own skills and understanding of the game. In addition, chess databases can be used to identify patterns and trends in a player's style, which can be helpful in preparing for a match against that player.

Second, chess databases can be used as a training tool. Many chess databases come with built-in analysis and training features that allow players to test their skills and practice specific openings or endgames. This can be particularly useful for players who are looking to improve their tactics or endgame play.

Third, chess databases can be used to track progress and measure improvement. By storing and analyzing a player's games over time, a chess database can help a player identify areas of weakness and track their progress as they work to improve.

Finally, chess databases can be used for research and analysis. Chess enthusiasts and researchers can use chess databases to study the history of the game, analyze the trends and patterns that have emerged over time, and identify the factors that contribute to a player's success.

Overall, chess databases are an invaluable resource for players, trainers, and researchers alike. They provide a wealth of information and tools that can be used to improve one's understanding and skills in the game of chess.

OpeningMaster is now available on all three major podcast platforms

We are glad we can provide this service totally for free on all major podcast platform Youtube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts so you can now enjoy the chess meditations whether you are fan of either of the three.

openingmaster media

Visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel to learn chess openings and much more. Listen to our Spotify Podcasts on weekly basis.

OM Power 2500

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OMPOWER Welcome to the most powerful (and free) chess database - OM POWER 2016. It is offered as freebie from us. All chess friends can download it for free and test it. Opening Master selected 50,000 OTB human games from 500 Grand Masters of today's world with rating above 2500 ELO. The database does not hold any duplicates and all names are within FIDE standards. Look at the games of your chess idol and let him or her inspire you. Do you want to play your opening like the grandmasters do? Look at the collection and surprise your opponents with skills and knowledge.

OMPOWER2015

Download free OM POWER 2500+ to try out our chess databases. No credit card needed! Review in details our product portfolio View Product Portfolio.

OM PORTAL

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The OM PORTAL

The OM PORTAL is best used for players who are hooked online to the biggest online chess web sites. Our collection with more than 19 million human chess games is the biggest ever. Until 2017 we kept all Portal (servers) games in. Starting the year 2018 we decided to upgrade the quality and publish only games with higher ELO than 2000. The number of games reduced dramatically by 7 million games but we think it's the quality you are looking for not the quantity. After year 2018 we kept collecting the games all over the Internet and in year 2022 we reached significant mass of 19 million human chess games with ELO higher than 2000.

Which Chess Portals (Servers) to play online chess

The chess portals such as chess.com, ICC-chessclub.com, Playchess.com, or FICS - freechess.org. offer a free professional environment for all chess lovers. There are many advantages of each website, some like chess.com has for example a their own app that you can use to play. You can also play with a time limit of days/weeks and this is very useful if you rarely can find the time to sit down and have a serious game straight. The ChessCube has one of the nicest user interfaces, although it cannot be used with iPhone or iPads since it uses flash. Each of these chess websites has its own playing history and players. You build your ELO by winning games and tournaments. Whether you are a beginner with a hunger to play online chess or with professionals with GM rankings, you need to feed yourself with a quality chess database. Prepare for the opponents with nicknames from around the world. All of the chess sites offer friendly communities, great tournaments with commented games and videos from professionals. And the Opening Master Portal chess database offers exactly the service needed. With more than 19 million games you get the best possible preparation for your game.

Our OM PORTAL chess database is so huge we had to split it by ECO codes

OM PORTAL ECO A: 4,785,204 games

OM PORTAL ECO B: 6,305,485 games

OM PORTAL ECO C: 3,450,518 games

OM PORTAL ECO D: 2,973,275 games

OM PORTAL ECO E: 1,507,607 games

TOTAL: 19,022,089 chess games played online

(Note OM PORTAL does NOT include games published under OM OTB and OM CORR)

One good piece of advice from the Opening Master. Do not use engine and chess database only. Use your brains. Most of today's chess websites can identify whether you are "human" or android. Using a computer to calculate moves dynamically is against the rules on these web sites. Looking up moves from static sources is within the rules. It doesn't matter if the static sources are accessed using a computer. So our advice. Use it wisely, don't just copy-paste the result of the analysis (if you ever have time between the moves). Think and learn.

Top Titled Players according to chess.com.

GM Magnus Carlsen 2862

Norway

GM Magnus Carlsen is the current world chess champion. To many people, he’s the best to ever play the game, although GMs Garry Kasparov and Bobby Fischer remain in the conversation. At any rate, the clear and remarkable point is that before turning 30 years old, Carlsen has already earned...

GM Fabiano Caruana 2823

United States

The prodigy who broke the record held by Hikaru Nakamura for America's youngest chess grandmaster, Fabiano Caruana has climbed the mountain of chess and reached the summit. This young great master has had a ranking as high as number two in the world and has won numerous tournaments in his career....

GM Ding Liren 2791

China

Ding Liren is a Chinese super grandmaster who many people consider to be a primary contender for Magnus Carlsen’s world title. Ding won his first Chinese Chess Championship at the age of 16, making him the youngest to ever do so. In the 2017 and 2019 Chess World Cup, he became the first player...

GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2784

France

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (also known as “MVL”) is a French super grandmaster who, since 2016, has spent plenty of time rated among the top five chess players in the world. His rating peaked at 2819 in August 2016, making him the seventh-highest rated player in history. Vachier-Lagrave is a...

GM Ian Nepomniachtchi 2784

Russia

GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (“Nepo” for short) is a Russian super grandmaster and a candidate for the world championship in March 2020. As of February of that year he is a top-five player in the world by rating. Nepomniachtchi has a brilliant record against world champions. At standard time controls,...

How is Opening Master different from free databases?

Despite getting our games from different sources, we dedicate a lot of time to eliminate duplicates. We also normalise the names of the players, which amounts to dozens or even hundreds of corrections a month. The free databases are often very low-quality and cluttered with lots of duplicates. There is no such thing as free lunch. We ask for a fair price starting 39 EUR for one year. It is much cheaper than less quality commercial chess databases out there.

Have you heard that we prepared a list of the top 52 chess openings for you? They are completely free where and no credit card or sign-up is needed.

Oh.. here is the download link. We almost forgot.

The chess databases are important for a number of reasons.

Visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel to learn chess openings and much more.

OM CORR

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The OM CORR

The OM CORR (short for correspondence) wasn't always a separate chess database until about 10 years ago when the need from correspondence chess players stood out. With 2.2 million games between 1950-2023, it is the ICCF and generally correspondence games best chess database. Mainly used by the correspondence chess players, the OM CORR shows true power when helping the chess masters to analyze their openings or middle game. The ICCF is the largest correspondence chess federation and Opening Master is a proud chess database sponsor. The latest release of OM CORR holds 2,173,050 correspondence chess games.

Five things for each chess player

Whether you are an amateur, beginner, or professional correspondence player you need FIVE things:

1) Your own brain,

2) Powerful multi-core computer with large build in memory, super-fast SSD flash disks,

3) Powerful engine such as Houdini or Stockfish

4) Chess database programs such as Chessbase or Chess Assistant

5) Powerful chess database such as OM OTB or OM CORR.

“It’s the biggest and strongest chess database out there” - GM Simon Williams, CEO GCHESS

THE OM POSTMAN (History of correspondence chess between 1900 and 1987)

Dear chess lovers and game collectors, it's our pleasure to announce the biggest collection of human correspondence chess games between 1900 and 1987. You will not find a bigger collection of historical correspondence chess players. If we missed some games, we challenge you to let us know. It is the complete history of correspondence chess in the most cleanest and purest form between 1800 and 1987 with 134,024 correspondence chess games.

The OM POSTMAN is part of OM CORR package.

The OM TREE LIBRARY

Part of OM CORR is specific OM TOP CORR.CTG. A library, which holds games of top correspondence players with ELO higher than 2300 for the last 5 years. You know better the theory these days evolves fast and furious. If you want to be successful at the correspondence game, you have to try to reach advantage already at the opening. Otherwise, it is proven very difficult to win against a player who also uses strong computer chess programs.

What is better than looking at the openings played by the world's best correspondence chess players. Look if they use your favorite variation or how they are successful with different openings. The library is in format CTG so you can view it with the Chessbase program.

Some interesting facts about the tree:

White most frequent move is 1 e4 with a success rate 55,5%. Right after that is 1 d4 with a success rate of 55%. One of the most frequent opening is variation of Najdorf Sicilian with move 6. H4 with success rate 57,3%. When playing black, a good path to keep up is to play Berlin defense in a Spanish game with white being successful only 52,7%. In closed games, the white gets biggest trauma from playing Slav Defense.

See all details in our new product.

om corr2015

How is Opening Master different from free databases?

Despite getting our games from different sources, we dedicate a lot of time to eliminate duplicates. We also normalize the names of the players, which amounts to dozens or even hundreds of corrections a month. The free databases are often very low-quality and cluttered with lots of duplicates. There is no such thing as free lunch. We ask for a fair price starting 39 EUR for one year. It is much cheaper than less quality commercial chess databases out there.

Have you heard that we prepared a list of the top 52 chess openings for you? They are completely free where and no credit card or sign-up is needed.

Oh.. here is the download link. We almost forgot.

Review in detail our product portfolio View Product Portfolio.

Please be aware this is a subscription based digital content material with regular monthly updates. Please refer to our Terms and Conditions to lean more. If you do not wish to continue with us just cancel the subscription within your PayPal settings or Credit Card provider. You may still keep the copy of the chess databases for infinite number of days but will not receive any future updates.