Mega 2014: the Rolls-Royce of databases

When describing Mega Database 2014, it is easy to get caught up in all the numbers, however impressive they may be, but this truly is the Rolls-Royce of chess databases. The reason is not in the numbers, but every aspect that make it such a wonderful tribute to chess, and indispensable tool. From pictures of Philidor, to commented games by Carlsen, it is all there. Here is a detailed review.

 

When describing Mega Database 2014, it is easy to get caught up in all the numbers, however impressive they may be, but this truly is the Rolls-Royce of chess databases with none even a close second. The reason is not in the numbers but in every aspect that make it such a wonderful tribute to chess, and indispensable tool.

Of course, the numbers do say a lot, so let's get them out of the way:

• Nearly 5.8 million games
• Close to 68 thousand commented games
• Over 293 thousand player entries
• 33 thousand pictures

5.8 million games

The database is difficult to quantify since the games list includes opening surveys, game excerpts, and even short games or game entries with no moves. This last element bears explaining since one might think this is a way to cheat and pad the numbers artificially. There are tournaments, whether very old, or not so old, where only the result is known for a game or others. Why are these then added? Quite simply to be able to create a complete crosstable.

This crosstable is only possible because of the 'blank' gamescores of a few games, for which
the result is known, but not the moves. Otherwise it would be full of missing results. A blank
game score also will not appear in the statistics of an opening, so it has no detrimental value.

Sometimes even this is not enough to complete a tournament crosstable, but little by little, new finds are contantly brought in, and in the end, they do add up. In fact, it would be a mistake to think the grand total of Mega 2014 is only Mega 2013 plus all the games played in the last year. Although it contains all the games from previous additions with the added games of 2013, the work at improving the core database is a non-stop process, and includes improved headers, names, as well as rare games uncovered during the year included by experts as well as sent from a variety of contributors.
A cursory example can be seen with classic masters. Mega 2011 had 2201 games with Alexander Alekhine, while Mega 2012 had 2207 games, and now there are 2214. Boris Spassky had 2472 games in Mega 2011, whereas in Mega 2012 there were 2492, and now in Mega 2014 there are 2515, and no these aren't games played in the last year. The last entry for Spassky, for example, is from 2009.

68 thousand commented games

Then there is that mindboggling other number, that promises more than statistics: nearly 68 thousand commented games. One can lose sight of what that really contains. Instead, it bears looking at it a bit differently: looking for a book of games commented in depth by Magnus Carlsen himself? There is only one: Mega Database. In it are no fewer than 24 games he has commented in soul-searching depth. How about world number two Levon Aronian? 21 games commented by the great Armenian. Vladimir Kramnik has analyzed 63 games, Garry Kasparov did 57, and the list goes on and on.

Where else will you find dozens of commented games by Magnus Carlsen himself?

The depth of the commented games is not limited to the last couple of decades either. For anyone willing to do a bit of digging, there is gold to be found. Consider this little nugget:

This sort of buried treasure is typical: a correspondence game between Chigorin and
Steinitz from 1990, in which one finds detailed commented by Steinitz himself,
Chigorin, Myers, and... even Garry Kasparov!

Just to show you, here is the game with the comments. One small warning: there were numerous openings references to further games with this Evans Gambit line, which I removed for conciseness.

33 thousand pictures

Again, this is not simply a large number of pictures sent by players, but also contains multiple pictures of the same players. Take Boris Spassky for example, a player with a long career, and Vlastimil Hort.

Pulling up a game from 1962 between the two from the world U26 championship
shows a very young Hort, aged 18 (note the ages in parentheses) and Spassky
who is 25. Suppose we roll the clock forward to... 1975.

Now we see an adult Hort, 31 years old (again, note the age in parentheses)
facing a 38-year-old Boris Spassky. The pictures have changed to reflect this.

Finally we leap forward in time to 1999 where we have a graying Hort, 55, and
Spassky, silver haired and 62

Certainly the pictures cannot be considered essential to studying, but putting a face to the player is certainly pleasant, and reminds us there was a person behind those moves, struggling and competing. In fact, even when there are no photos to go by, such as the great Philidor, images depicting him are used instead.

If you own Mega 2014, or a previous edition, and do not see the player photos,
open a game from Mega and in the View tab put a check in Players Photos

A year of updates

There is no question that Mega Database is not the cheapest item in the ChessBase catalogue, even if it is one of the most desirable, nevertheless the pricetag also includes a full year of weekly updates to ensure the database is always up-to-date. At an average of 5000 games per week, these games are also cleaned up so the headings all follow the same spelling that has been painstakingly normalized over the years. Anyone who recalls the databases years back with half a dozen Korchnois, all with different spellings, to cite but one example, can appreciate the importance of this.
If you had the choice between buying five games collections or one Mega Database, believe me the choice is a no-brainer. This database is more than just a collection of games trying to wow you with big numbers. The depth and quality attest to professionalism and a love of chess.

Available in the ChessBase Shop

• Mega Database 2014 (€159.90)
  • Upgrade Mega Database 2014 from Mega 2013 (€59.90)
  • Upgrade Mega Database 2014 from older Mega (€99.90)
  • Upgrade Mega 2014 from Big 2013 (€109.90)
• Big Database 2014 (€59.90)

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