To manage your games we recommend you maintain a PGN database of your games - don't store the games of other players in this database. This will enable you to use the Opening Explorer feature on this database to give you a live opening repertoire tree of your games. This is a powerful way to view your games, the positions and moves you have played.


If you have been using another chess software application we recommend you save your games in PGN format - that is the Portable Game Notation that allows you to transfer your games in a portable way similar to what PDF documents are to documents. You can open the PGN of your games in HIARCS Chess Explorer or copy and paste all the games into a new PGN database within HIARCS Chess Explorer by using the copy and paste games function.


If you don't already have a database of your games in PGN format you can set this up as follows:

1) Create a new database in early versions you name it the new database at this point - for example MyGames. In v1.7 this was enhanced so the database does not need to be named when it is first created.

2) If you have the game entered in a different chess software application you can copy and paste it into the MyGames database tab.

3) Enter your games into the Game Notation and save each game into the MyGames database. As you do this you will see the Opening Explorer is automatically building an opening repertoire tree from the games.


Please note the enhancement from v1.7 is to allow a new database tab to be created without asking for the database to be named. The new database filename is required when:

  1. You save game(s) to that database
  2. You exit the new database tab with game(s) or a partial game added
  3. You exit the program with the new database tab open with game(s) or a partial game added


The reason for this change is to make it easier/quicker to create a new database tab to enter a position or game. Often that position or game might not be saved so this enhancement makes that a much quicker operation. It is also often easier to know what name to use for the new database once its contents is known.


You can then use Analysis Explorer to analyse your games and update your games database with annotations and variations as appropriate.


You can also store your games in other databases as appropriate. HIARCS Chess Explorer can open multiple databases simultaneously so you can easily handle more than one databases at the same time.