---
license: mit
task_categories:
- tabular-classification
- reinforcement-learning
- time-series-forecasting
language:
- en
tags:
- chess
- maia
- human-behavior
- lichess
- game-ai
pretty_name: Maia Chess 2025 (Processed 12-Bucket)
size_categories:
- 10M<n<100M
---

## Related Projects

- 🧠 **Maia Chess / Cognitive Chess Coach**  
  https://github.com/ygkali/zweig-chess-engine

This dataset is designed to train human-aligned chess models such as Maia-style
ELO-conditioned neural networks.

# ♟️ Maia Chess 2025: Human-Aligned Chess Dataset

> **"Predicting human moves, not engine moves."**

This dataset contains **11.15 million processed chess games** from the Lichess Open Database (Year 2025), specifically curated and segmented to train **Human-Aligned AI models** (Maia Chess).

Unlike traditional chess datasets that aim for objective optimality (Stockfish evaluation), this dataset captures the **subjective, error-prone, and stylistic nature of human play** across 12 distinct skill levels.

## 📊 Dataset Structure & Distribution

The data is partitioned into **12 Skill Buckets** based on the players' average ELO rating. This granular segmentation allows for **Isolated Training** or **Curriculum Learning** strategies, enabling the model to mimic specific skill levels from "Novice" to "Elite".

| ID | Filename | ELO Range | Population % | Description | Skill Level |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **01** | `train_01.pgn` | **400 - 1050** | 8.3% | Novice | 🌱 Beginner |
| **02** | `train_02.pgn` | **1051 - 1200** | 9.6% | Beginner | 🌱 Beginner |
| **03** | `train_03.pgn` | **1201 - 1325** | 11.6% | Casual Player | ♟️ Casual |
| **04** | `train_04.pgn` | **1326 - 1425** | 11.4% | Lower Intermediate | ♟️ Casual |
| **05** | `train_05.pgn` | **1426 - 1500** | 9.1% | Intermediate | ⚔️ Intermediate |
| **06** | `train_06.pgn` | **1501 - 1575** | 9.1% | Upper Intermediate | ⚔️ Intermediate |
| **07** | `train_07.pgn` | **1576 - 1650** | 8.5% | Advanced Intermediate | ⚔️ Intermediate |
| **08** | `train_08.pgn` | **1651 - 1750** | 10.2% | Club Player | 🏅 Advanced |
| **09** | `train_09.pgn` | **1751 - 1875** | 9.8% | Strong Club Player | 🏅 Advanced |
| **10** | `train_10.pgn` | **1876 - 2100** | 8.8% | Expert | 🏆 Expert |
| **11** | `train_11.pgn` | **2101 - 2400** | 3.3% | Master | 👑 Master |
| **12** | `train_12.pgn` | **2401 - 3000** | **0.3%** | Elite / Super-Human | 🤖 Super-Human |

> **⚠️ Data Scarcity Alert:** The Elite bucket (ID 12) represents only **0.3%** of the total population. Models trained on this bucket may require transfer learning from lower buckets to converge effectively.

## 🚀 Usage

You can load this dataset in **Streaming Mode** to avoid downloading the entire 10GB+ archive. This is ideal for Colab or low-disk environments.

```python
from datasets import load_dataset

# Example: Load only the Grandmaster games (Bucket 12)
dataset = load_dataset(
    "ygkali/zweig-chess-engine-processed",
    data_files="train_12.pgn",
    streaming=True
)

print("Streaming games...")
for i, game in enumerate(dataset['train']):
    print(f"Game {i+1}: {game['text'][:50]}...")
    if i == 5: break

##

ZWEIG Chess Engine Dataset is a general-purpose human chess dataset, while Maia Chess models are downstream consumers of this data.

##

🛠️ Methodology
1. Source

    Origin: Lichess Open Database (Jan 2025 - Dec 2025).

    Time Controls: Blitz, Rapid, Classical (Bullet excluded to reduce noise).

2. Preprocessing Pipeline

    Parsing: python-chess library used for PGN parsing.

    Filtering: Games with fewer than 10 moves were discarded.

    Bucketing: Games were assigned to buckets based on the average ELO of White and Black players: (White_ELO + Black_ELO) / 2.

⚖️ License & Citation

This dataset is derived from Lichess (CC0) and is released under the MIT License.
Kod snippet'i

@dataset{maia_chess_2025,
  author = {ygkali},
  title = {Maia Chess 2025: Human-Aligned Chess Dataset},
  year = {2025},
  publisher = {Hugging Face},
  url = {[https://huggingface.co/datasets/ygkla/zweig-chess-engine-processed](https://huggingface.co/datasets/ygkla/zweig-chess-engine-processed)}
}


***