ChessBase Support

CB Online App offline

Answer

You can also use the Android App offline for viewing and editing PGN Databases. In practise, this means entering games and adding commentary. For commenting you can input variations, text commentary or the internationally recognised symbols for commenting on moves. You have the same functions available that are available in our PC programs. Using PGN as an interface you can access the data of other chess software.

It is also possible to store positions in your own databases.

Create databases

In the start screen click on the symbol SD Card.

Then click on the small database symbol at the top of the screen.

This opens a dialog to input the name of the database. You can use the symbol next to it to to navigate the file structure of the system. Input the name of the database. You can now store games or positions in this database. Using Save As you can select the database you want to use for storage on the device.

PGN Databases

PGN is the standard format for storing chess games. It is used by many chess programs, and so it is important for transferring data. It is also possible to copy games in PGN format to and from the clipboard. The PGN format has become the standard for storing games, especially on the Internet. This is because instead of complex data formats PGN uses only Ascii text. Since the data is stored as text it can be edited with any text editor. Inside PGN files not only the game notation is stored, but also details like the names of the players, the year, the result, the opening code, commentary and variations. A PGN file can contain many games and chess positions.

Input game

Start the App without an Internet connection. Click on the small board symbol at the bottom right of the screen to open a board window with a new game in the start position.

Enter some moves on the board and then click the menu key to save the game. The App then offers additional functions.

Game data

In this menu you can define all the information that is relevant to the game. Take care that you use consistent spellings for the names of players and tournaments. This makes it easier to search for games.

White = The name of the white player
Black = The name of the black player
ELO White/Black = The rating of the players
Result = The result of the game
Tournament = The name of the tournament or event
Place = Where was the game played?
Round = In tournaments with rounds the number of the round can be entered
Date = The date the game was played

With Save As you can choose which database you want to choose for saving the game on the device.

Comment game

A stored game can be annotated at any time. As already described, the commentary can be in the form of variations, text or symbols.

Keep your finger pressed on a move in the notation to start the commenting menu.

The following options are available:

Comment: You can write any amount of text comments in the notation. You can decide whether the text is to appear before or after the move in the game notation. This menu also allows you to input chess symbols. The menu also contains all annotation symbols for moves, and they can be input with a single click.
Variations: When you are navigating within a variation you have the possibility to promote or demote a variation.
Delete: This tells the program whether a variation or game notation before or after the selected move should be deleted.
Null move: To demonstrate an idea it can be useful to enter several moves for one player without entering the other player’s responses.

Enter positions

A chess game usually begins with the start position. This is what the program assumes. You also have the possibility to enter game fragments, i.e. positions from which a series of moves starts. For instance, you can enter chess problems from books or newspapers. You can also modify existing positions.

Press the smartphone’s menu key. Among the functions there is a button entitled „Position Setup“. This opens the dialog to input a chess position.

Please note that the input window is initialised with the current board position. If you press the menu key of the smartphone again two new options are offered:

Reset board This loads the start position into the board window, which you can now modify.

Clear board The board is emptied completely, and you have to place new pieces on the board.

Select ftom the list of pieces below the board the piece that you would like to put on the board.

Beneath the board there is a check box entitled „White to move“. If White should move next, tick this box. If Black should move, untick the box.

W O-O etc: These check boxes define whether castling is still allowed in the position. For instance, „W O-O“ means that White is allowed to castle kingside.

The position is accepted by clicking the Save button at the bottom of the screen.

Note: The program only accepts positions that are legal according to the rules of chess.

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