Chessbase 17: the amazing new Search function

by Albert Silver
11/25/2022 – The new Chessbase 17 is out, and among the numerous new features is the completely revamped Search function. On the surface this might not sound terribly exciting, but the proof is in the pudding, and when you see it in action you will understand. Check out this article and video to see what the fuss is all about!
It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it.

I had the privilege of being allowed to test the new Chessbase 17 while it was being finalized for release, and when I saw the list of features with "New revised Search function" in it, I admit I was not immediately enthralled.

As an expert user, I knew the Search function from ChessBase 16 and previous editions inside out, and while perfectly serviceable, it was a bit overwhelming in the sheer amount of checks and options to be filled out. 

Also, a personal gripe I had was with the finnicky names. Write 'Korchnoi' and you would get nothing at all as the great player is listed as Kortschnoj (German spelling I assume). This is not the fault of the program, since the names are all correct, but it did mean it could be frustrating if I was not 100% sure how a name was written. 

The issues above have not only been eliminated, but the Search is now so user-friendly it begs to be used.

The New Search

Let's start with the basic appearance.

Already, it is fundamentally different, with a button for each search item. However, will pressing one show a search window like the one at the start of this article?

No, absolutely not. As you can see after pressing the Players button (the one saying 'Everyone') we are greeted with a much simpler pane. If we type in just the first three letters of Korchnoi, we are given his proper name that we can click on.

Once we do that and return we are back at the basic search window but now we are told the search has already refined this to 5171 games. Excellent! Let's try the events now.

Here too we are shown a rolling list of all the events in our database. Typing Linares narrows down the search, allowing us to choose a specific one or year, or we can leave the generic name 'linares' to let it search for all events called that.

Now we learn that when we execute the search we will get 21 games matching these criteria. Let's try the openings:

In the ranges you can type the name of the opening, such as French, the ECO code, or other text that will help identify opening. 

Now the search has only two games that match all our criteria, and pressing Search we will be served.

Video demonstration

As you can see, the Search function is now very easy to use and gives you search result on the fly so you can see what to expect. Using it is a pleasure and will no longer cause any trepidation on the massive table of options which could be intimidating in the past. This is but one of the many new features in Chessbase 17, and more will be covered in forthcoming articles.

You can purchase the Chessbase 17 Mega Package in the Shop

It includes

  • Mega 2023 (with a year of weekly updates)
  • 6 issues of Chessbase Magazine
  • 12 months subscription to ChessBase Account Premium
  • 250 ducats

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Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications, and the content creator of the YouTube channel, Chess & Tech as well as the author of Typing Tomes, a powerful typing program.