Chess lessons › Good chess habits
Using a game database
A database shows what was played and how it went: read its numbers with care, and learn from its games.
The idea
See what was played in a position, how it went, and the games.
- After 2...g6, White scores 75% among players under 800.
- The numbers say it goes badly; the board says why: Qxe5+.
- From e5 the queen checks the king and hits the rook on h8.
In a game: Trust a score only with many games behind it, and check the move with an engine.
How the lesson begins
A game database is a large collection of games you can search by position. Set up a position, and it shows every move played from there, how often, and how those games ended. Then you can open the games themselves.
An opening explorer is a database shown move by move as you play through an opening. In GreyChess, switch on Lichess in Settings to show the opening explorer: master games, or Lichess players’ games by rating.
A question
After 1.e4 e5, players rated under 800 on Lichess played 2.Qh5 in 11% of their games. Players rated 1600 to 1999 played it in fewer than one game in a hundred, and among players rated 2000 and above too few games reached it to count. What does that tell you?
Show the answer
The stronger the players, the less they trust 2.Qh5, so it is worth asking why before you play it.
Right. A database shows what strong players choose and what they avoid. The early queen can be chased by Black’s pieces, which develop as they attack her.