What a .cbv file is
A .cbv file is a ChessBase database packed into a single compressed file, the way ChessBase
shares databases by e-mail or download. The Week in Chess offers every weekly issue as one,
and coaches, clubs and federations send them too. Only ChessBase and the ChessBase Reader unpack
them, and both run on Windows only. On a Mac, a Chromebook or Linux, or without wanting to install
anything, the games stay locked inside.
Converting it
Upload the .cbv file as it is. The archive is unpacked here (no other program needed), the
database inside is read, and you download:
- one PGN file with every game, its variations, comments, symbols, arrows, coloured squares, clock times and evaluations, ready for Lichess studies, Chess.com, Scid, ChessX, En Croissant or any other chess program;
- a game list (CSV) with players, ratings, event, date, round, result and opening code;
- the guiding texts of the database, when it has any.
Each compressed part carries a check value, which is verified while unpacking: a download that was cut off or damaged is reported rather than turned into wrong games.
Checked against TWIC
The Week in Chess publishes each issue both as a .cbv archive and as PGN, which makes a
complete test: issues from 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2021 and 2026 (29,162 games in all) were
converted from their archives and compared with the PGN of the same issue. Every game has the
same moves. The only differences: two games where the published PGN contains an illegal castling
move and stops, while the archive holds the full game, and a few header details, such as player
names that the PGN spells out longer than the database stores them.
Password-protected archives
A .cbz file is a .cbv locked with a password by whoever made it. Enter the password under
"Archive password" and it is unlocked and converted the same way. Without the password the
contents can't be read by anyone, so ask the sender for it.
Several archives
Upload several .cbv files at once, a whole season of TWIC issues for example, or a .zip that
holds them: each database is converted, and the result page lists them with their game counts.
More about what this tool reads and writes: ChessBase to PGN Converter (CBH, 2CBH, CBV).