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Two outstanding programs: Chessmaster 10th edition and Fritz 9

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 28 / 45
Date: December 06, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Let me start by saying that I happily own both Chessmaster 10th edition and Fritz 9 (not to mention Junior 9, whose interface is identical to that of Fritz, but whose engine is different, if comparatively strong). I also have extended experience with Chessmaster 9000 and Fritz 8, Champion edition.

Chessmaster 10th edition has received much undeserved criticism, judging from many days of testing this program with utter enthusiasm. No perceivable bugs, it works like a charm, with an interface that is delightfully attractive and user-friendly (I strongly advise, however, any potential buyer to pay close attention to the required hardware. It stands to reason that if your computer doesn't meet the requirements, the program will not work properly. This of course applies to any software, including Fritz). As a training tool, Chessmaster 10th edition is superb, and in fact is significantly better than Chessmaster 9000. In keeping with this improvement, the far sharper 3-D boards alone justify buying this recent edition of Chessmaster. Overall, without getting into every praiseworthy aspect of Chessmaster 10th edition, I must say without hesitation that praise is indeed in order, though admittedly - as any program - it could, and surely will, be better in future editions.

It could for instance eventually match - and perhaps even surpass - Fritz with respect to graphics. The photorealistic 3-D boards in Fritz 9 are breathtaking, though a finicky user like me still finds grounds for minor complaints (shadows and reflections on pieces are less than perfect. Also, adjustment of the reflections is slightly quirky. One must make the adjustment to one 3-D board - classic wood for example - and switch to another board, then back to the initial board before the adjustment takes effect). Having said this, I must stress in all fairness that the photorealistic 3-D boards in Fritz 9 are very much exceptional - the new animated Turk 3-D board alone is worth buying this upgrade. As for the Fritz 9 interface, without indulging in a detailed description of it, I have to agree with other reviewers that it is somewhat difficult to use, especially when it comes to some of the advanced functions. These functions were evidently designed for hard-core chess players that are willing to spend hours upon hours of exacting and rather austere study to improve their game. If you belong to this group of select chess players, Fritz 9 is an especially good fit for you. Mind you, Chessmaster 10th edition also has much to bring to the table, even for hard-core chess players.

All in all, if you like chess or even love it in the extreme, and if you can afford both Chessmaster 10th edition and Fritz 9, do yourself a favor and buy them both.

Laurent Grenier
Author of the book A REASON FOR LIVING

Chessbase has lost the plot!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 83 / 105
Date: December 18, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Chessbase has been providing the best chess programs for probably a decade now. I well remember buying my first chessbase program, Junior 5. That engine was so strong that it would annihilate even the strongest chess players. Now, a long time has passed, and I just don't see chessbase engine's improving that much. As the author of Hiarcs 10 mentioned in one of his interviews, Fritz and Shredder authors have decided to cash in all the money they can by coming up with new versions every 6 month or so. The only notable improvement to this version of Fritz is the Turk Table, which is really not useful to hardcore players such as myself. Mind you, my PC crashed everytime I tried to move the table around. Fritz 9 is a good engine, but in every tournament that I have put it in with engines such as Toga II or Kutula and Ruffian, it finishes third or fourth best, which is not exactly what you expect from chessbase's newest engine. Also, this program has been rushed into market just to come out a month or two earlier than the superior Hiarcs 10. Fritz 9 crashes a lot, and I get Exception this, Exception that messages from it. Besides, when in tournament mode, if you drag you mouse over the crosstable, it will copy a game from the database and ruins the tournament. In any case, I recommend Hiarcs 10 over this game, unless you have money to buy both! Also, while you are at it, get Toga II UCI. That seems to be an excellent engine!

Fritz 9 is a genuine advance

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 25 / 30
Date: December 24, 2005
Author: Amazon User

All independent rating lists show that the Fritz 9 engine is significantly stronger than Fritz 8 - by 67 Elo points according to the authoritative SSDF list, whereas Fritz 8 was only 19 points stronger than Fritz 7. Only Rybka 1.1 is stronger, and Fruit 2.2.1 is of similar strength to Fritz, but these two engines require a GUI such as that of Fritz in which to operate. However, playing strength is not the only consideration for previous versions of Fritz were a match for Kasparov and Kramnik.
There are two questions. What are the merits of Fritz 9 as a program? Is it worth purchasing Fritz 9 if you own Fritz 8?
Fritz 9 has excellent graphics, a database of one million master games, regular spoken comments (that can be switched off), a Friends mode whereby one can play a computer opponent of similar strength to oneself, and a one-year free subscription to an improved Playchess website, where one can play games on the Internet or watch grandmaster games, something I enjoy. Completely new features include a training video, the Media System whereby one can incorporate various multimedia CDs, and engines to play Giveaway (or losing) chess and Chess 960, the game Bobby Fischer invented and still claims is superior to normal chess.
These features, old and new, make Fritz 9 a worthwhile purchase and if you want just one chess program then this is the one to buy. But what if one already has Fritz 8? The key features are not intrinsically different in the two versions though Fritz 9's are better, particularly the training function. The answer is that Fritz 9 is a worthwhile upgrade if one is a keen chess player. Not only is Fritz 9 stronger but there has been a serious attempt to impart more chess knowledge to its engine. Most engines are designed to play other engines and rely on "brute force" to uncover tactical inaccuracies. I find Fritz 9 particularly useful in analyzing my own games for it has much more chess knowledge than the otherwise admirable Fritz 8. I find Fritz 9 to be stable, though it is true that if one seeks to allocate excessive memory (more than 50% of system memory) to hash tables in engine tournaments then "exceptions" may occur.
Are there any downsides? Well, the box says that Fritz 9 is for ages 6+. Personally I think there are better alternatives for young children (such as Fritz and Chesster) and would not recommend the program for a child under 10 unless she/he is a very keen chess player for the program's plethora of features make it seem daunting at first sight. On the other hand, Fritz 9 is an essential tool for a keen player of any age seeking to improve rapidly. It is ownership of such programs that has led to the explosion in the number of teenage grandmasters.
Fritz remains the most useful analytical tool for chessplayers but I hope that in the future ChessBase will be able to develop its GUI to give information in its evaluations of positions on specific matters such as piece mobility, pawn structure and king safety. That would be a quantum leap forward.

same program, new box

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 21 / 25
Date: December 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Fritz is by far the best product of it's kind on the market. But Fritz 9 is no upgrade from Friz 8. Everything looks and feels exactly the same. The engine (contrary to popular belief) is no stronger. If you own Fritz 8, don't waste your money on 9, very little has changed. Just another software company, releasing a slightly tweaked "upgrade" and charging $40 for it. If you don't own any version of Fritz, I'd still recommend 8 because you can find it cheaper.

packed with features that sometimes don't work

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 76 / 85
Date: January 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I'd recommend staying with Fritz 8, a far more stable version, even if it is a slightly weaker computer chess engine.

As others have written, the reason for chosing an older version of Fritz is that Fritz 9 crashes so often to hinder your playing experience.

Heck, I've been playing Fritz since 5.32, and 5.32 crashes less and was a lot funner to play. Unfortunately it doesn't work on all Windows XP machines.

Back to Fritz 9... the post-analysis mode of Fritz is worth noting. You can play a game and have a full analysis in anywhere from 15 minutes to several hours, depending on where you set it. One annoying feature of Fritz 9 is that sometimes you have to insert the CD to wake up the engine to do the analysis. Fritz 8 does not have this feature.

Also worth noting is the infinite analysis mode, where you can watch a grandmaster game (or any slow game), put in the moves live, and see what lines Fritz "likes", as it calculates and gives a score to each line.

There is also opening training, endgame training, or you can add a kibitzer to your games, get help from a coach, and/or put it in handicap mode after you feel like you're beating your head against the wall.

Fritz 8 also has all of this, but is the most stable of the two, and cheaper.

Did not meet expectations

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 14
Date: February 20, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The game itself seems pretty good overall from what I have done with it. The graphics are pretty nice for the most part, though there are some fluky things, such as shadows and such. The gameplay is very glitchy, however. The game crashes on me almost once a day, and I have a new, nearly top of the line gaming computer that can handle MUCH more demanding programs easily, so it should not be even slightly demanding on my system. The game also will occasionally make ridiculous decisions that simply throw pieces away, or it will make a recommendations to the player to move somewhere that simply throws a piece away to no gain.

Worth the price

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 31 / 34
Date: February 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I have Chessbase 9.0 and Chess Assistant 8.1, Fritz 9, Shredder 8 and Chessmaster 10th Edition. I also own the Rybka 1.1 and Fruit 2.2.1 engines and have a Palm Tungsten T5 with Hiarcs 9.6 on it. All of these I use for different purposes:

Chessbase 9 is the industry standard chess database package (very user-friendly) and Chess Assistant gives me a bit more technical options (as well as a huge openings tree with assessments) and allows me to play on the ICC.

The Rybka engine is the strongest engine in the opening and middle game (probably by 100 Elo) and Shredder is the best engine for analyzing endgames (Fritz 9 is also better than Fritz 8 in this respect).

Fruit is the engine with almost no weak points. It plays a steady game throughout and performs well in blitz games and at longer time controls.

Fritz 9 is a tenacious defender of slightly inferior positions and is probably the best positional engine of the bunch (Hiarcs 10 is the best program in this respect).

My favourite playing partners are Hiarcs and especially Chessmaster. Hiarcs plays the most human-like chess (feels like playing against a strong GM). The Chessmaster program's options is not nearly suitable for the serious chessplayer but the engine plays very creatively. The training lessons of Chessmaster are quite useful.

To conclude I can say that Fritz 9 offered me the best standalone chess playing program package.

For when you're serious about chess

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 17 / 19
Date: February 28, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Fritz is the ultimate software for the serious chess player. So many features make Fritz a wise investment for anyone who wants to improve their game that it is hard for me to know where to start. Here is a brief list of some of the features I find the most useful:

1) Fritz's analytical capabilities are great. It will examine a game and compute annotated variations that allow you to better understand certain positions.

2) The ability to instantly enter into new variations at any point in the game is very good. The current main line is preserved as well as any other variation(s) that you have already entered into. Variations upon variations can be used and any variation can be promoted/demoted or even set to be the new main line, with the current main line becoming a variation.

3) There is the capability of switching sides at any point in a game in order to see how the computer will handle playing with your position. If it is your turn, all you have to do is tell the computer to move and it will instantly take up your pieces and play, giving you the other pieces.

4) Sparring mode. In this mode, Fritz will play a relatively strong game against you, but will make a tactical error if given the chance. You can select the difficulty of the tactical error from "very easy" to "really hard". You can also select wether Fritz will notify you of the error. When notification is on, a small, blinking light below the chessboard indicates that Fritz has intentionly made a bad move that gives you a tactial shot. In either case, if you miss the move, an annotation will appear that let's you know so that you can go back and examine the position closer and/or have Fritz point out the move.

5) Training. Fritz has attack, check and defense training. For attack training, you have a limited amount of time to pick out every piece on the board that can currently be captured by another piece. For defense training, you must pick out all undefended pieces. For check training, you must pick out all pieces that can deliver check.

As some have mentioned, the Fritz interface is not always the most intuitive. I would suggest that you simply prepare yourself for having to learn the software. This is one of the few packages that I had to actually sit down and read the manual to get a better understanding of. It may take some time to figure out how to use all of the features, but once you do, it is well worth it.

Worth buying

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 19
Date: March 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Fritz is great software for the any chess player. Many features make Fritz a good investment for anyone who wants to improve their game.

Deep chess knowledge, but frustrating to play

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 28 / 33
Date: March 13, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I can't comment on how the Fritz 9 engine compares to other games out there, but what I can tell you is that if you are a casual player, it will whoop your butt every time. Finding a lower setting on Fritz 9 is not intuitive at all. The only thing I could find is the "Friend mode" where Fritz will keep track of your playing ability and slowly bring down its own to more closely match yours. This process can be frustrating, because while it's trying to figure out your level, it's destroying you. And I'm a pretty good player. I'm not a newbie at all. Why can't it just have low, medium, high settings like every other game in the world?

Also, the interface is difficult to navigate. You definitely have to read the manual and even when you do, it will still be hard to figure certain things out. For example, I still haven't found a way to force the computer to start as black or white as I choose. I start a game, and if it's not the side I want, I quit and start another. Dumb right? And Fritz doesn't seem to remember certain settings. I'll play a game in Friend mode, and the next time I run the program (for example, the next day) it will be back to the mode I didn't want. It can't seem to remember that I like to play in Friend mode. Also, I want to play and learn certain openings, but I can't find a way to position the board the way I want it and start the game from there. So while I'm trying to learn the Ruy Lopez, Fritz is using everything but that one.

My point is that if these features are in the game, I haven't been able to find them and I've read the dang manual. If you have more patience than I do and think you'll be able to figure these playability factors out, then you may very well enjoy this game. Especially if you're a expert player or love deep position analysis, then Fritz will deliver. I have no doubts about that. But the interface is klunky and the usability is low.

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