This month's column is an interview with ChessBase co-founder Frederic Friedel
about the new Fritz 9 engine and how (and why) it was developed with so many
major changes.
All the ChessBase Cafe columns are saved in Adobe Acrobat format in the ChessCafe
archives. For your convenience we've listed all of them below with direct links
to the archived versions. (You'll need the Adobe
Reader to read these documents. It may already be installed on your computer.)
| #26, June, 2005.
Fritz 9 Forecast. Interview with ChessBase co-founder Frederic Friedel.
I’m sitting here looking at a prototype of Fritz 9, the long-awaited
next edition of the flagship program from ChessBase. Where do you go after
you have already become a synonym for computer chess? The world will find
out in late Fall. Fritz 9 is expected in October or November of this year.
The look and feel are approximately the same, but there are many new features
and lots of work on the playing server, Playchess.com. We’ll look
at those features as the release date approaches, but we wanted to talk
about the new direction of the Fritz engine. |
| #25, May, 2005.
ChessBase Meets Britannica. The new ChessBase Openings Encyclopedia
has been released. These annual ChessBase products follow that time-honored
tradition of adding a year’s worth of new information to last year’s
edition and sprucing up the indexes. One very handy improvement is the inclusion
of the new ChessBase Reader software, which is based on ChessBase 9. This
replaces the ancient viewer which had too many limitations to deal with
these large databases. |
| #24, April, 2005.
A Better Opening Book. So we still have a steady supply of opening CDs
in the venerable e-book format. There are plenty of texts with diagrams,
the main advantage being the hyperlinks that let you launch a game in a
separate window. The only downside is that it’s debatable what this
does to your visualization skills. When every single move is made in front
of you on a board, your ability to see moves in your head might atrophy. |
| #23, March, 2005.
How the Pros Do It. We are taking a break from our regular diet of instructional
material and new products to talk with Garry Kasparov about how computers
changed chess and how he used them (past tense now!) to change the game
forever. We sat down with him in front of the world’s most powerful
laptop computer. No, not because of the processor, which is relatively humble,
but the databases it contains. |
| #22, February, 2005.
So Many Questions. The questions dam is about to burst, so before it
changes to hate mail it’s time for another Q&A marathon. I’m going to start
with one of the great unasked questions of our era: why do I need chess
software? (And its corollary: If we are in the computer chess era, why do
I still buy so many books?) Give training software a try. Long Q&A: CB 9
slow? Black line fever, annotation stripping, finding the perfect opponent.
Automated analysis quirks, moving files, many more. |
| #21, January, 2005.
Lesser Known Fritz Features. Every piece of software has too few features
for some people and too many for others. Most people might just want to
write a letter in Word and don’t use 95% of the features. ChessBase software
is in the same situation. It has dozens of features, a few of them barely
documented. We look at Fritz handicap features, premature resignation, database
tabs, using the opening book tab to train as you play. Also a call for feature
suggestions. |
| #20, December, 2004.
More Video Training. Some purists say you have to study and analyze
on a real board, at least part of the time. Computers are great, but for
really beating those variations into your head you need wood, so the thinking
goes, not flimsy pixels. Those purists must be horrified by the latest ChessBase
product line of video lessons. The Fritz Trainer series, now with lessons
by Garry Kasparov, introduces a level of potential passivity in the user
that rivals anything HBO can produce. How to get the best training experience
with the Chess Media System videos. |
| #19, November, 2004.
What's What in the ChessBase World. Of the big pile of questions that
have stacked up in my inbox, many are based on the confusion caused by the
sheer number of ChessBase products. For instance, the ChessBase section
at USCFSales.com lists over 100 items. To add to the bewilderment they are
all listed together alphabetically instead of by type or by release date.
Here's a handy feature guide, followed by a long Q&A section. |
| #18,
October, 2004. Playchess.com for the Tournament Player (and Organizer).
Playing in tournaments ups the ante of your dedication and emotional investment
in the game. That means it will improve your chess more as well because
you will concentrate harder and study the games more. If you are looking
to push your chess up to a new level, playing in tournaments is a great
way to do it. Playchess.com makes this easy, although perhaps not as easy
as it could be. |
| #17,
September, 2004. ChessBase9: Evolution or Revolution? There are
many dozens of new and improved features in ChessBase 9, although not many
of them can be categorized as new ideas. I’ve been fooling around with a
beta release of CB 9, and this isn’t really a review of the product. But
it’s a good opportunity to address one of the most frequent questions I
get: Who is ChessBase for? |
| #16,
August, 2004. Release Your Inner Chess Publisher. Putting games
on the internet with online and automatic replay using ChessBase 8. Step-by-step
instructions, explanation of the variation options with examples. Frames
or no frames, controlling text color and size, advanced tricks like using
just the board without the notation visible. Making interactive puzzles
using the variants option. Plus Q&A. |
| #15,
July, 2004. Q&A Marathon. The readers take over again. Some common
and not-so-common questions about Fritz and ChessBase. Why does it say Shredder
when I load Fritz? What is the piece probability function? Can I make my
own video lessons in Fritz? Why can't I upgrade my Fritz? Should I get Fritz
or ChessBase, and which database is right for my kid? Answers to those questions
and more. |
| #14,
June, 2004. I Want My Chess TV. ChessBase products that use the
new Chess Media System. Chess publishing has a history as long and interesting
as the history of publishing itself. In 1474 William Caxton printed Game
and Playe of the Chesse, the second book ever printed in English. The first
was a collection of Trojan War tales, the third was a Korchnoi game collection.
The CMS is in regular use for lectures and live event coverage at Playchess.com
and now they have taken the next step by releasing pre-recorded lessons
on CD and DVD. These are part of the “Fritz Trainer” series and the first
is Strategy and Tactics by English GM Peter Wells. |
| #13,
May, 2004. Start Your Engines. Using Fritz 8 and the various engines
for game analysis. Automated and assisted techniques. Still if you do care,
here are a few thoughts. In my extensive experience the last few versions
of Shredder are significantly better in the endgame than the other top engines.
Junior finds many tactical motifs faster than its peers and in many cases
will suggest sacrificial lines other engines undervalue and ignore. Fritz
doesn’t have any weak spots, but its main advantage seems to be something
more related to how it is attuned to the interface. |
| #12,
April, 2004. Opening Sesame. In a previous column we looked at quick
and dirty opening preparation using the “games to book” function in ChessBase.
This month we’ll take a step-by-step tour of creating your own opening course
with ChessBase and a large game database. Using and supplementing the ChessBase
8 Opening Report function. |
| #11,
March, 2004. More than a Magazine. What is ChessBase Magazine on
CD-ROM and what is it good for? How can you best use it for training? It’s
not news that computers and the internet have revolutionized the study and
play of chess. Millions play against computer opponents at home and against
other humans online. Databases make it easy to find and play over games;
plus chess engines put a Grandmaster analyst at your beck and call. |
| #10,
February, 2004. The Multimedia Circus. A huge number of questions
have arrived in the past month. Before diving in to the mailbag we will
take a look at something that has inspired more questions than any Fritz
function in memory, the new Chess Media System. Fritz and family now has
live and recorded audio and video capability. Here's how to get into the
action. Then, on to the many reader questions, including rating searches,
tablebase installs, and more. |
| #9, January,
2004. Help for the Handicapped. When commercial chess programs got
strong the quest to make them weak started. Training tips and suggestions
for how to best use the handicap levels in Fritz and friends programs. Tweaking
the personality of the machine to get more "human" play. Q&A on auto-annotation,
endgame DVDs, and automatically saved games. |
| #8, December,
2003. Something New, Something Improved. Breakdown and differences
between new ChessBase products. MegaBase, Encyclopedia, PowerBook. Many
of the questions I receive start with “what’s the difference between…” but
even explaining the exact differences doesn’t really tell inexperienced
users what would best suit their needs. I just received a pile of new products
and what follows is a combination buyer’s guide and tutorial for the latest
and greatest. Remember, it’s never too late to give yourself a Christmas
present! |
| #7, November,
2003. In Playchess.com, No One Can Hear You Scream. Tips and tutorial
for improving your chess with online play. Analyzing your games, statistics,
and game data. Playchess has turned into one of the most active online gaming
sites in the world with over 100,000 games played per day. You can even
watch GMs like Adams, Short, Susan Polgar, and Nakamura battle it out. (Some
will even play YOU.) Fancy stuff like audio/video broadcasts and anti-cheating
algorithms add to the cool factor. |
| #6, October,
2003. Q&A Marathon: Advanced Tips and Problems. It’s all about the
readers this month. I’ve been saving (hiding from) the really tough questions
that have come in so this time I’m tackling a few of the mind-bending inquiries
that have arrived over the past few months. As always, I try to pick questions
that have been sent in by several people and/or will be useful for all readers. |
| #5, September,
2003. Training by Becoming a Tournament Organizer with Fritz. Our
project this month is getting personalized opening training material from
Fritz using the Tournament function. It can be very helpful to have sample
games between strong opponents to study the openings. The best way to get
a feel for an opening is to go over complete games. Basically what we are
going to do is have our mighty engines play a thematic tournament amongst
themselves. |
| #4, August,
2003. Better than Books: ChessBase Training CDs. Most people buy
chess books in a sincere attempt to improve the quality of their play. Instructional
books make up the huge majority of books offered and purchased, but the
problem is how inefficient they are for a majority of readers. ChessBase
produces enhanced chess books in CD-ROM format. A sampling and how to use
them. |
| #3, July,
2003. Quick Opening Preparation for Mortals. The study masters do
before and during tournaments largely revolves around preparing for specific
opponents. So let’s look at how mere mortals can use ChessBase to brush
up on a few openings before a tournament or a game. Create custom opening
books from databases in minutes using the book and repertoire functions. |
| #2, June,
2003. The Fritz Fairy Analyzes and Annotates While You Sleep. Chess
isn't all that hard – when you have a slave to do all the tedious stuff
for you. In his Chess Cafe column Mig Greengard tells you exactly how to
give Fritz the job of analyzing your games, checking for blunders and writing
annotations in plain English. He also answers email and answers your questions. |
| #1, May,
2003. Inside Output: Publishing with Fritz and Friends. In the first
installment of ChessBase Cafe Mig tells us about automatic HTML and diagram
output with ChessBase 8, with lots of useful links and tips. Put games online
or in print, make diagrams that look just the way you want, and export ready-to-publish
HTML and word processor documents. |
Mig
Greengard writes a monthly column on getting the most from your ChessBase software.
It includes tutorials and an essential Q&A section where you can send in your
questions. Called "ChessBase Cafe" it appears at the ChessCafe.com website.
The latest column always appears at this link: 
