Follow the World Champion and your chess friend next door. Start your success story with ChessBase 14 and enjoy your chess even more! In addition to the ChessBase 14 Program, the Mega Package contains:
• Access to the Live-Database (8 million games)*
• Mega Database 2017
• CBMagazine subscription for a full year (6 issues)
• Database-Update-Service through end of 2017
• Full year Premium membership for playchess and for the ChessBase Accounts
Nadja Wittmann: Matthias, you are our boss and chief of the programmers. Which is your favourite program or application and why?
Matthias Wüllenweber: As a programmer, one is always in love with the current project. Writing code is a kind of craftsmanship. The satisfaction to see an idea grow and finally do something useful is what makes this job special. My recent favourites are “Easy Game” and “Assisted Calculation” in Fritz 16. The point of “Easy Game” is not just to realistically mimic a human opponent but also to make the game interesting with various hidden winning chances for the user.
Fritz 16 - He just wants to play!
Fritz 16 is looking forward to playing with you, and you're certain to have a great deal of fun with him too. Tense games and even well-fought victories await you with "Easy play" and "Assisted analysis" modes.
Matthias Wüllenweber, CEO and programmer in chief of ChessBase | Photo: Nadja Wittmann
What is your lifetime motto over the board and, maybe, in life?
Enjoy the moment and do not worry.
What do you like most about playing chess?
Don’t get me started. The thrill of competition. The adrenaline of a fight. The dopamine when something works. The awareness of the history and culture of a game that passed the “test of time” and is at least as fulfilling and alive as it was a 100 years ago. I think chess offers a good balance between deep and rich complexity and recurring, recognizable patterns that appeal to the human mind. Those recognizable patterns, the “I know that - I can master it” are important to feel at home in a game of such vast variety. It can be an opening variation, a middlegame motif or endgame technique. I do not like ideas which destroy this well-tuned purity and balance. There is a mild asymmetry between White and Black and the queenside and the kingside — but not too much.
Do you have enough time to spare for activities that are not related to chess or work?
We have so many different projects to maintain and to advance that we all work pretty hard. But it is also a lot of fun and we have more freedom and possibly also more creative opportunities than bigger companies offer. Alas, there are many cool ideas lying untouched due to lack of time. For this reason, we always look for new developers who are ambitious chess players.
Apart from work I also spend a lot of time with various musical activities, that is quite relaxing.
As a chess player and "user" of your own software, which ChessBase program do you use the most, and for what?
To maintain and to refresh my own openings, I like openings.chessbase.com, because I do not play enough tournament games to keep everything in memory all the time. Two or three days before a serious game, I start doing tactics on tactics.chessbase.com before going to bed. All general practical work is done with ChessBase 14. I played maybe 100- 200 “easy games” against Fritz16 to tune it. But playing Blitz on play.chessbase.com is the thing I enjoy most.
ChessBase Account Premium annual subscription
At the airport, in the hotel or at home on your couch: with the new ChessBase you always have access to the whole ChessBase world: the new ChessBase video library, tactics server, opening training App, the live database with eight million games, Let’s Check and web access to playchess.com
Climbing high to get new perspectives | Photo: Nadja Wittmann
Where do you get your inspiration for new program features?
There are various sources. Brainstorming with my colleagues is the most important and productive way to look ahead. Input from the users can be quite brilliant and convincing. Sometimes I write stuff that I need myself. Programs or functions that are not used by the developers themselves tend to be clumsy.
Matthias' view (and leg) from the top of a mast | Photo: Matthias Wüllenweber
What part of developing a new version of a program is the most difficult for you?
The start is always difficult because nothing works yet. The end is also challenging because you have to eradicate bugs, polish the optics, the performance, the user experience. Many programmers underestimate or dislike this crucial final phase. They love algorithms or proving concepts but like finalizing the user experience less, and so their work feels unfinished.
"Captain of ChessBase" | Photo: Nadja Wittmann
Talking about chess: What is currently on your mind?
Chess is striving and blossoming on the internet in many ways. I think this is no coincidence, the internet is perfect for chess. Our hectic life leaves us time to play a few blitz games on the net but often not enough time to meet friends at the local chess club. I regret that and hope the tradition of clubs and playing people face to face can benefit more from the general success of chess.
Matthias Wüllenweber does not even bother to sit on a chair while testing the "Tactics App" at the ChessBase office | Photo: Nadja Wittmann
And what are you currently working on, if that is not a secret…
At the moment I am doing various maintenance things to improve the quality of our services. play.chessbase.com is currently the focus.
