ECO Database 2025

[jshriver]

Hope everyone here is well. I'm looking for the best and most updated list of ECO positions and moves, preferably in PGN format. However any text format will do (json, xml, etc).

The eco.pgn databased created by David Barnes and others (for pgn-extract) seems to be the best so far. Looking for recommendations if there is a better or more updated version.

For reference:
https://www.cs.kent.ac.uk/~djb/pgn-extract/eco.pgn

Thanks for your time,
-Joshua Shriver

[Frank Quisinsky]

I think this work is genial, by Ferdinand Mosca:

https://github.com/fsmosca/pgnhelper
https://github.com/fsmosca/eco
forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=80006

Best
Frank

[Dann Corbit]

Here are 15,303 named openings:

Unfortunately, it is EPD and not PGN.

[Frank Quisinsky]

Two more:

1. https://www.365chess.com/eco.php

2. https://github.com/jdart1/arasan-chess/ ... r/book/eco
Jon Dart also works regularly on the topic

[jefk]

and one more

https://github.com/lichess-org/chess-openings

note the ECO list is well defined, opening names (for some sub-variations) are not.

New in chess tried to improve the (Eco) system with a subkey,
https://www.chessprogramming.org/NIC-Key

but it never seem to have been widely adopted, at least not by Chessbase.
But at New in Chess they still have it
https://www.newinchess.nl/Na/

at least it's more standardized than opening names, but no normal human
being is going to memorize such keys in his play/repertoire, i suppose
(personally i hardly think of/use the Eco classification, only when looking
up eg in an encyclopedia, but i do find knowing/remembering opening names
and (some main) variations generally useful; even although with (occasionally)
strange gambits and unorthodox openings there is no standard at all.

the list of names of the Arasan openings list is apparently 2114 long,
in the 'names' file of the latest Bookbuilder (pre-release(*) version there's
a list of more than 4900 names (subvariations and gambits included).
(*) at sourceforge; bb43setup.exe
now also with online Sf analysis (the icon above right in the program).

[carldaman]

Just stumbled on this today:

https://chessowl.blogspot.com/p/chess-o ... stics.html

[jshriver]

Thanks for all the replies. All of these have helped.