explaingit

cakiki/database

Analysis updated 2026-07-18 · repo last pushed 2026-03-13

ScalaAudience · researcherComplexity · 2/5MaintainedSetup · easy

TLDR

A tool that exports lichess chess games into the universal PGN format so researchers, chess engines, and coaches can study or analyze real games.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Exports lichess games
      Converts to PGN format
      Filters by month variant
    Tech stack
      Scala
    Use cases
      Train chess AI
      Study opening trends
      Browse real games
    Audience
      Chess researchers
      ML engineers
    Access
      Prebuilt files hosted
      Or run tool yourself

Code map

Detail Auto

An interactive map of this repo's files and how they connect — its source is parsed live in your browser. Click Visualize to build it.

filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Download a month of lichess games as PGN files to study opening trends.

USE CASE 2

Train a chess engine or evaluation model on thousands of real games.

USE CASE 3

Build an opening repertoire by analyzing what worked in real matches.

USE CASE 4

Browse interesting games from a specific month without running any code.

What is it built with?

Scala

How does it compare?

cakiki/databasejanikdotzel/akka-http-quickstart-scalalrytz/play-scala-compile-di-with-tests
LanguageScalaScalaScala
Last pushed2026-03-132023-05-192017-02-09
MaintenanceMaintainedDormantDormant
Setup difficultyeasyeasymoderate
Complexity2/52/53/5
Audienceresearcherdeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Most users just download pre-generated PGN files, running the Scala exporter yourself needs the command line.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Help me download and open a month of lichess PGN games from this project's hosted files.
Prompt 2
Show me how to run this Scala tool to export lichess games for January 2016.
Prompt 3
Help me write a script to train a simple chess evaluation model on the PGN files from this project.
Prompt 4
Explain the PGN format so I can analyze the lichess game exports from this tool.

Frequently asked questions

What is database?

A tool that exports lichess chess games into the universal PGN format so researchers, chess engines, and coaches can study or analyze real games.

What language is database written in?

Mainly Scala. The stack also includes Scala.

Is database actively maintained?

Maintained — commit in last 6 months (last push 2026-03-13).

How hard is database to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is database for?

Mainly researcher.

Open on GitHub → Explain another repo

This repo across BitVibe Labs

Verify against the repo before relying on details.