ChessBase´26 – Tips for beginners, part 25: Customizing your view – how to see what matters

by Stefan Liebig
8/2/2026 – ChessBase´26 offers a wide range of technical features and training tools. To get the most out of them, it helps to know where to look. In this tutorial, we show you how just a few clicks can enhance your ChessBase experience. Explore the "View" menu across different sections of the program to design your own personalized ChessBase environment. Take a look and try it out — because in the end, it’s all a matter of personal preference...
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View

This tutorial focuses on the often-overlooked "View" menu. You can use it not only in the main window to customize your ChessBase´26 interface but also in many other areas of the program, which we’ll explore further below.

Pro Tip

Before we begin, an important note: all the features presented here are best understood in combination with our earlier tutorials, Beginner Tips Part 10: Standard Layouts or Custom Layout? and Beginner Tips Part 11: Multitasking with Multiple Windows. These guides show you how to format and arrange layouts and windows to suit your preferences. When used together, they give you the perfect tools to create a workspace that feels comfortable and puts everything exactly where you need it during analysis.

The View Menu in the Main Interface of ChessBase´26

The first hand in the screenshot above — which shows the View menu already open — points to the three options that are currently checked. As a result, the large window in the lower right displays the direct list, meaning it shows the games from the database selected in the window above (in this case, Mega Database 2026).

We already mentioned the Folders option in connection with the game updates. It gives you an overview of your folders, including links to game updates and to Playchess.com. The Status Bar is the blue strip at the very bottom, showing the most recent action performed.

The second hand points to the different display modes for the files in the main window — in this example, the selected folder on the left is "My Databases." The view changes depending on the display option you select (in the screenshot, "Tile" is active):

Details

Symbols

Small Symbols

The Details view has the advantage of showing key information about each file at a glance.

EXPAND YOUR CHESS HORIZONS
Data, plans, practice – the new Opening Report In ChessBase there are always attempts to show the typical plans of an opening variation. In the age of engines, chess is much more concrete than previously thought. But amateurs in particular love openings with clear plans, see the London System. In ChessBase ’26, three functions deal with the display of plans. The new opening report examines which piece moves or pawn advances are significant for each important variation. In the reference search you can now see on the board where the pieces usually go. If you start the new Monte Carlo analysis, the board also shows the most common figure paths.

View Menu in the Notation Window

When you open the notation window — in this example, we simply clicked on the first game in the Details view from the second screenshot above — and then activate the View tab, you'll see the following layout if none of the options are checked:

Now go ahead and try checking some of the options in the top left to see what happens — here’s another example:

But be careful: things can quickly become confusing if you select too many options...

Whenever that happens, just take a moment to consider what’s important to you, and use Tutorials 10 and 11 to create your own custom layout.

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Learn from legends! Get the full Master Class series on the World Champions at a discounted bundle price – only for a limited time.

View Menu in Other Windows
(Example: MegaDatabase 2026)

No matter which database you're working with, you can apply the same principles shown above and customize everything to suit your preferences.

In this example, we’ll demonstrate using the games of Mikhail Tal in the current MegaDatabase.

First, here’s the "raw version" with no options checked in the top left:

Now with some selected options:

The premiere chess database with over 11.7 million games
The ChessBase Mega Database 2026 is the premiere chess database with over 11.7 million games from 1475 to 2025 in high quality.

And now, we hope you enjoy working with the custom layouts you've created in ChessBase´26.

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ChessBase has developed over decades to become what it is now in its 2026 version. The program has countless options, which we will present here in small portions – so you can design your interface for pleasant daily use and keep learning about new options and how to use them to get the most out of ChessBase´26 and save time.

We hope that this tip will help you to have more fun and be more successful when using ChessBase´26. You can find more tips and hints on our support pages and FAQ pages.

All parts of the series and more links:

Learn from legends! Get the full Master Class series on the World Champions at a discounted bundle price.
Learn from legends! Get the full Master Class series on the World Champions at a discounted bundle price – only for a limited time.

<< Top seeds win in British Championship opening round
Topics: ChessBase´26, Tutorial
Stefan Liebig, born in 1974, is a journalist and co-owner of a marketing agency. He now lives in Barterode near Göttingen. At the age of five, strange pieces on his neighbour’s shelf aroused his curiosity. Since then, the game of chess has cast a spell over him. Flying high in the NRW youth league with his home club SV Bad Laasphe and several appearances in the second division team of Tempo Göttingen were highlights for the former youth South Westphalia champion.
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See also

ChessBase´26 – Tips for beginners, part 24: Always get the latest games via update

7/26/2026 – The Mega Database 2026 contains over eleven million games — an impressive archive of chess knowledge. And it keeps growing. Thanks to the weekly Mega Update service, you receive about 5,000 new games each week, directly from tournaments around the world. As with ChessBase´26, keeping the Mega Database up to date requires just a few clicks. In this tutorial episode, we’ll show you how.
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ChessBase´26 – Tips for beginners, part 23: Stay up to date with program updates

7/19/2026 – Working with ChessBase´26 is so enjoyable because it builds on the experience of the developers from 18 previous versions. But you don’t have to wait for the next release — you’ll receive ongoing improvements directly to your computer through the free update service. And don’t worry: staying up to date with the latest updates takes just a few clicks. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how.
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