ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024
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ChessBase Online for Android has received an impressive upgrade that really broadens its appeal and audience. While the first iterations were quite nice, and allowed browsing of the online database with over five million games, as well as deep openings research thanks to its instant statistics on moves and variations, entering ones own material was problematic, and there was no way to save them except via a convoluted workaround.
A few days ago v2.0 came out, a free upgrade for previous owners, and this was more than a bug fix or minor cosmetic improvement. The latest version now allows users to enter their own games, variations, text comments and symbols, just as you can with the full desktop version, not to mention set up positions, and of course create databases and save them.
The review here will focus on the new functions and their implementation, as well as what this means to you the user other than the sheer obvious. Click here to read the initial review.
Although one can just open a game loaded from a file or the Online Database to comment, let us presume you are entering a game of your own from scratch. This not only allows you to enter games of your own while at a tournament, to save and comment, but can also be used as a chessboard to use while reading a chess book. Since I personally find the board and piece sets to be the most attractive among the android software, this possibility is quite compelling to me.
To start, press the board button at the top right corner, then enter
moves either by dragging and dropping the pieces, or tapping
once on the start square and once on the destination square.
So far everything looks unchanged, but if one clicks on the menu
button a series of new options appears: Game Data, Position
Setup, Save, Save As…, and Settings.
Clicking on the Game Data opens a window to enter the names
of the players, tournament, result, etc.
When saving, the program will ask where you wish to save the game. You can either create a new database, or choose a pre-existing one to save in.
Long-clicking on a move in the notation will open a set of choices
such
as promote a variation, deleting variations, and more importantly: Comment.
Choosing Comment opens the new window where you can enter
any text commentary or select the informant icons.
If you press the Menu button from here you can instantly delete all commentary of the move.
After entering commentary it now looks like this
Finally, there is the Position Setup, which allows you to set up positions. It is well worth noting that I was surprised at how much easier it was to set up a position this way despite having always done it with a mouse. Tap on a piece, then the squares where the pieces go to, and just save.
Here I entered a position from Glenn Flear’s masterpiece, "Practical
Endgame play – Beyond the basics", and was impressed at how
quickly the position was set up.
Studying an endgame book or position book in this manner is quite convenient, and of course, the position can be saved for future study.
A picture of Glenn Flear's book next to a seven-inch tablet running the latest update
of ChessBase Online for Android.
If you were on the fence on whether or not to buy it, these new functions greatly add to its value and usefulness, and the Chessbase reputation for a pleasant viewing experience is utterly intact.
Chessbase Online for Android can be purchased from the Android Market for a mere four Euros.
Scan the QR code above with your phone or tablet's camera to go straight to the Android Market link.
