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Z.F.'s Free Chess Programs
Links to the best free chess downloadsMenu:
SCID (Shane's Chess Information Database)
SCID is by far the most fully-featured free chess database software available. With similar functionality to the commercial program, Chessbase, this is a great download for free! The original program hasn't been developed by Shane Hudson since 2004; however, Pascal Georges continues development.
http://prolinux.free.fr/scid/index.html
A good place to start exploring, once you've opened your database, is the Tournament Finder. This is an extremely powerful piece of kit, and better than the equivalent in Chessbase or Chess Assistant! You can filter the tournaments by Player (e.g. Topalov), Date (e.g. 2006), Average ELO rating (e.g. 2600), Country (e.g. ENG), Site (e.g. Linares), and Event, giving you an almost instantaneous overview of any information you could desire.
Right-click on a tournament to display the tournament Crosstable. There, click on a result to load or browse a game. Click on a player's name to display Player Information, from which you can display a Rating Graph or create a Player Report. Another way to reach Player Information is via the Player Finder.
Open the Tree Window for database statistics on the board position, with button access to the Best Tree Games List and a graphical representation in the Tree Graph. The Statistics Window gives a breakdown by rating. Or navigate using the ECO Browser and then create an Opening Report.
And that's just for starters! There's a whole lot more which I'll leave you to discover for yourself and using the online Tutorial. A particularly good way to create a quality reference database is to add games from the Week in Chess archives to the formerly commercial Rebel database of 1 million games. Otherwise a good place to look for databases is Lars Balzer's chessgameslinks.
Limitations
The main problem with the interface is windows all over the place - but, then again, perhaps the desktop mess is a part of the program's charm! (However, I wouldn't complain if someone created a standard interface for all the functionality!!)