[Event "BCF-ch Major Open"]
[Site "Edinburgh SCO"]
[Date "1920.08.09"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Speyer, Abraham"]
[Black "Heath, Christopher Barclay"]
[Result "1-0"]
[EventDate "1920.08.09"]
[Source "The Observer 15 Aug 1920"]

[Event "British Championship"]
[Site "Stratford-upon-Avon ENG"]
[Date "1925.08.18"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Spencer, Edmund"]
[Black "Price, Hubert Ernest"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[EventDate "1925.08.17"]
[Source "BritBase 23 March 2022"]

I'll look into the dupes in Gibraltar Masters (2018) . Perhaps I'll look for the culprit as well

<Stephen> Welcome back!

I sent another email about an issue related to fixing games with null or odds pgns that wouldn't upload. The last time you also fixed my game that wouldn't upload by swapping in a (000) ECO tag.

After checking a sample of odds games already published, I noticed that the ECO tags were "normal" meaning they listed an actual opening- Petroff, Ruy Lopez and so on.

So as mentioned before, I have several more <Pollock> odds games to publish, but I would like to know from you first-

Should I leave the ECO tag blank as usual, or should I actually enter a (000) ECO tag?

<Stephen>

This is My game that would not publish, and that you fixed by "updating the ECO code."

S J Magowan vs W Pollock, 1886

As in the current case of <Tab's> game, you also fixed my upload by swapping in a 000 ECO code.

So why is this fix necessary in the first place? The vast majority of odds games have normal ECO tags, not the 000 variant.

This looks more like a workaround, as opposed to an actual fix.

Anyways I would like to know before uploading more odds games- should I leave the ECO tag blank as usual, or should I put in a 000 tag?

It seems to me that getting to the bottom of this problem first would be more optimal than just finding a workaround, especially a workaround that depends on an admin to be involved in repairing it.

<I am available for unlimited beta testing on this problem.>

<Stephen> that is grand, thank you!

So let's say I upload a pgn and it turns into a "ghost game."

Is there a place where I will be able to view the "ghost game" so that I can correct it as per your instructions?

How will I know it became a "ghost game" to begin with? I won't know it was a "ghost game" to begin with, unless it is not there.

So

1. I upload a game

2. Game is not processed, and after re-checking my submitted pgn, and closely examining the "process page" of the upload on the editor page, I determine that the pgn should have been processed- ie, nothing wrong with it.

3. Now, instead of emailing you for help, we now have access to the "ghost game," which we can fix now, thanks to you.

<z> On the ball as usual!

However, HA!

<Stephen>

I am trying to fix a "ghost game" in order to learn how to do it, once I have learned to identify one in the first place.

Luckily, you have provided a list of "visible" ghost games.

I am trying to swap in the "000" ECO tag on the first game on the list:

N Vasileisky vs B Zagorsky, 1916

When I click on it, I go to this page:

=============

Error: Invalid Game ID.

Sorry, the game requested (2092402) is not in our database. It may have been deleted due to redundancy or inaccuracy.

Update ECO

=============

Now I type "000" into the Update ECO box

==================

And now here is the game, BROUGHT BACK FROM THE DEAD:

Except there are no moves listed in the game I have resurrected.

Also, the Website keeps going offline and then comes back and then goes offline again- which I have confirmed with the "is it down right now" app.

<Stephen> It's taking over a minute for any page to load now, but I am in the middle of this beta report so I will try to press on-

The "fixed game" has no moves, and this is the pgn listed for it now:

[Event "Samara tournament"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1916.??.??"]
[EventDate "?"]
[Round "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "N Vasileisky"]
[Black "B Zagorsky"]
[ECO "?"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "56"]

[Event "Samara tournament"]
[Site "Samara (RUE)"
[Date "1916.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Vasileisky, N"]
[Black "Zagorsky, B"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Source "rusbase"

<Stephen>

Now I used the "Get GID" button on the editor page to call the game back in for repair-

I edited the pgn I just posted above, and now the game has a "view pgn" result that is not nonsensical:

N Vasileisky vs B Zagorsky, 1916

[Event "Samara tournament"]
[Site "Samara (RUE)"
[Date "1916.??.??"]
[ECO "000"]
[White "Vasileisky, N"]
[Black "Zagorsky, B"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Source "rusbase"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Qe2 Qe7 6.d3 Nf6 7.h3 Nc6 8.Nc3 Be6 9.Ng5 Nd4 10.Qd1 Bb3+ 11.Be3 Nxc2+ 12.Kd2 Nxe3 13.Qxb3 Nxf1+ 14.Rhxf1 Nd7 15.Rae1 Ne5 16.f4 O-O-O 17.Nd5 Qd7 18.fxe5 dxe5 19.Nxf7 Qxd5 20.Qxd5 Rxd5 21.Nxh8 Bb4+ 22.Ke2 Bxe1 23.Rxe1 Kd7 24.Nf7 h6 25.Nh8 Rd6 26.h4 Ke7 27.h5 Re6 28.Ng6+ 1-0

However, still no moves...

=========

To sum up:

1. When I used your suggested method, typing 000 into the ECO box you provided, I got a game that was visible, but had no moves and had a nonsensical pgn as shown by the "view pgn" button.

2. I re-edited the game from the editor's page with the "Get GID" function, and still got no moves, but I did get a repaired pgn as shown by the "view pgn" button.

<Stephen> apologies in advance for pressing on- but I know how busy you have been over the past month. Clearly, it is you, and not Sammy Davis Jr. who is now "the hardest working man in show business."

But I have a lot of time on my hands, so I would like to log more test results, which you may view at your leisure.

I tried to resurrect the second ghost game on your list: S Lyman vs R Byrne, 1962

This time I typed "000" into the ECO correction box, instead of just 000.

There was no result at all- the game was not retrieved.

Then I typed 000 into the ECO correction box, and the game was retrieved, but again it has no moves.

I got the identically nonsensical pgn again after clicking the "view" button:

[Event "63rd US Open"]
[Site "San Antonio, TX USA"]
[Date "1962.08.24"]
[EventDate "1962.08.13"]
[Round "11.2"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Shelby Lyman"]
[Black "Robert Byrne"]
[ECO "?"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "112"]

[Event "63rd US Open"]
[Site "San Antonio, TX USA"]
[Date "1962.08.24"]
[EventDate "1962.08.13"]
[Round "11.2"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Lyman, Shelby"]
[Black "Byrne, Robert"]
[ECO ""]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[Source "63rd United States Open / Jack Spence. Game 147"

<Stephen> Brilliant! This is why you get the big money.

I took a closer look at the pgn for the second game on your list, and only now noticed it lacked a closing "]" on the Source tag.

So I brought the game back to the editor page and edited in the correct source tag syntax and got a fully repaired resurrected game:

<Stephen> I just resurrected the third game on your list, and it too had the same problem- a missing bracket in a pgn tag: Lombardy vs J F Leon, 1962

So the procedure is

1. Add 000 to the ECO box you provided for us. This will bring the game back to life, but not fix any problems with the pgn.

2. If the game shows no moves, then call the game in to the Editing Page and look for pgn syntax errors.

3. Fix errors

<Stephen> All we need to know now is what I originally asked about- how do we find the "visible ghost game" with the repair ECO box in the first place?

What <z> said is an important part of what I originally meant:

stevemcd87 chessforum (kibitz #1056)

<I agree with <JFQ>, who I think is saying that uploads should never fail because of ECO code.>

===========