Become a stronger player with Fritz 11
By ChessBase chief programmer Matthias Wuellenweber
Calculate
variations correctly
Does this
sound familiar? Your opponent has just moved and you start calculating, beginning
with an obvious move. Somehow you don’t like the variations which crop up, and
although you go back over it again and again checking it move by move you can’t
find a good line. So after fifteen minutes you turn to another candidate move. Once
more none of the continuations seems to bring you much joy. Perhaps the
first idea was better after all? Check everything through
thoroughly again and still you can’t improve on it. Then a horrified glance at
the clock; time trouble is looming. Just then you discover a third move, it
looks quite good, you play it quickly, press the clock, you’re done now…
When
you get down to it, chess is all about systematic calculating. Nothing is more
important in a practical game. The capacity to visualise clearly over the board
positions which will not occur till many moves in the future is as necessary
for your playing strength as physical condition is for an athlete.
So
there is a new function in Fritz11: training in calculation. It teaches you to
calculate variations systematically and improves your visual perception. The
idea for this training in calculation comes from watching live games on
the chess server. There, people simply too frequently look on passively at the
main line on the chess program they have running. This gives some spectators an
illusion that they are superior to the grandmasters, because due to the
engine’s second by second evaluation of the position they are immediately aware
of mistakes which the player himself will only understand after the game.
Fritz11
offers with its training in calculation a radically better way of watching a
live game, thereby improving your own playing strength and above all having
real fun: you calculate logically along with the player. You enter moves on the
board and they appear within the notation. But the pieces remain in their
original position. Just like in real games, you can also play illegal moves, it
is up to you.
Variations which have been calculated – before checking
When
you finish calculating, you have three possibilities: 1. Check only the
legality of the moves. 2. Switch on Fritz and look for tactical errors. 3.
Let Fritz evaluate the quality of your lines! Good moves get a
lot of points, obvious moves a few, tactical errors and important candidate
moves which are missed cost points.
Fritz evaluates your calculation of
variations
In the
meantime, the grandmaster has also moved in the live game. You will be proud if
he has actually made “your” move.
Of
course, training in calculation is not restricted to the chess server. For the
most part you will load a game or a training position into the classical Fritz
and calculate for as long as you want. You will be surprised at what clear progress
you make after any half decent training in calculation which you may do.
Tactical
competition trains you for blitz chess
Perhaps
you are like me and play a lot of blitz games on the chess server. Your Elo
rating has been hovering around a constant central value for a long time. Things
will now change and you will become a better blitz player with Fritz11. Just
like in training in calculation you have to be prepared to put in some time and
energy. However, we can guarantee a lot of fun.
In blitz you have to be
able to grasp elementary tactics rapidly. Win material in two moves, threaten a
hidden mate, punish blunders by your opponent instantly. Tactical
competition on the chess server does just that: in a series lasting five
minutes, the server sends you as many positions as you can solve. They are not
deep combinations, in fact you will even get some with mate on the move, though
all of them come from real GM-games.
It is
called a tactical competition because your average speed at solving is
calculated as an Elo rating. This rating is a mixture of playing strength and
hard work. Hard work because you can try to learn off by heart a certain number
of positions, although the database on the server is constantly growing.
Click here and
see how the new Tactics Training works.
The
tactical competition is clearly intended to improve your blitz chess. However,
we can promise you that your strength will also improve when you play longer
games.
Elo evaluation in the tactical competition
Something for the eye
There
is one area within Fritz, in which the main role is played by artistic
endeavour: the 3D-worlds. For Fritz11, our 3D development team of Stefan Huschenbeth
and Jeroen van den Belt have invented a new abstract personification of the
chess program. In contrast to those extravagant characters called the “Chess
Turk” and “Mia”, the magic eye can be switched on in any of the 3D boards.
Laser beams scan the board, showing the progress of the engine’s calculations
and simulating what the program is actually “seeing” at any particular moment.
See the picture at the top of the following page.
Playing
strength of the Fritz engine
In the
past the development of the Fritz engine was driven by the matches between man
and machine. Since nowadays this subject seems actually to be receding into the
background, Frans Morsch and Mathias Feist were able for once when developing
Fritz11 to concentrate totally on the classic characteristics of a chess
program and above all to improve the efficiency of the search function. The
chess knowledge possessed by Fritz10 and with it the character of the program
were carried forward into a new search function, which thanks to special
heuristic routines “sees” a lot deeper. As a whole, the more speculative positional evaluation, which
is important for chess against humans, becomes somewhat more toned down. As a result we are hoping for a clear leap in Elo strength of at
least 80 to 100 points. This will also be helped by Alex Kure’s opening book
which has been brought up to date and which goes even deeper.
The DVD
is now full
The
capacity of a single DVD is just enough for Fritz11. The reason for this is
that it contains 14 hours of high class video training. Players such as
Kramnik, Kasparov, Shirov, Kasimdzhanov, Korchnoi and others speak to you
directly and put over in the most enthralling manner the most varied chess
themes.
If, when you are finished with your hard training in calculation, you
still want to learn more but in an entertaining fashion, sit back and simply
take a private lesson from a famous player.
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System requirements: Pentium III 1.4 GHz or higher,
256 MB RAM, Windows XP or Windows Vista, GeForce5 or compatible graphics
card with 128 MB RAM or higher, 100% DirectX compatible sound card, Windows
Media Player 9, DVD ROM drive. FRITZ 11 costs 49.99 €uros
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