11/14/2021 – When's the last time you played a game of chess against a chess program? Normally it is pointless – you get thoroughly crushed, even if you are a 2800 player. But now you can challenge the computer: the brand new Fritz 18 uses its awesome power to set up brilliancies for its opponent! It is the ideal partner to train yourself to spot and execute spectacular combinations. The launch of Fritz 18 is on Discount Day, Tuesday November 16, when you can get the program at a premium price!
new: ChessBase Magazine 225
Chess Festival Prague 2025 with analyses by Aravindh, Giri, Gurel, Navara and others. ‘Special’: 27 highly entertaining miniatures. Opening videos by Werle, King and Ris. 10 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more. ChessBase Magazine offers first-class training material for club players and professionals! World-class players analyse their brilliant games and explain the ideas behind the moves. Opening specialists present the latest trends in opening theory and exciting ideas for your repertoire. Master trainers in tactics, strategy and endgames show you the tricks and techniques you need to be a successful tournament player! Available as a direct download (incl. booklet as pdf file) or booklet with download key by post. Included in delivery: ChessBase Magazine #225 as “ChessBase Book” for iPad, tablet, Mac etc.!
Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally. FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before.
In this video course, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov explores the fascinating world of Dutch and Grünfelkd structures with colours reversed.
€39.90
Instead of just increasing its playing strength – like adding 30 Elo points to its stratospheric rating, which we have actually done! – we decided to also create a new training tool for ambitious chess player. One that will teach you how to find brilliancies in your games. And it is a training tool that can be used by amateurs all the way to the World Champion, because Fritz 18 actually adjusts its playing strength, and the tactical opportunities it offers, to the proficiency of the opponent.
Fritz has fascinated the chess world for 30 (!) years: victories over world champions Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik, innovative training methods for amateurs and professionals, 20 years of Internet chess on the Fritz server, 10 integrated WebApps for mobile training:
Fritz offers you everything you will need as a dedicated chess enthusiast.
Evolving Genius – The new path to playing brilliancies
Fritz shows you what you are capable of being: an attacking player who can conjure up magnificent brilliancies over the board! The new AI-based training method leads you to brilliant sacrificial combinations via clever variant selection and discreet hints.
Also new in FRITZ 18:
Intelligent tips: Fritz provides subtle hints in difficult positions
Visual evaluation: pawn structure, king safety, piece activity and sharpness of the position
New chess board in Direct2D technology with a fresh look and improved animation
New engine analysis: Interesting threats, appealing ideas and the game continuation
Animated engine variations: Intuitive visual display of the best continuation
Improved calculation training to give your Elo a quick boost.
Stronger Fritz 18 engine by Frank Schneider, optimised for short time controls.
The main playing area of Fritz 18 (click to enlarge), with the trainer and brilliancy assistant
Here are a couple of examples of a 1950 rated amateur (the programmer himself) playing against a the 3500-rated program Fritz 18 set to "club level" training. It offers him the opportunity to excel! One is always on the lookout for opportunities to execute a brilliancy.
There are many other interesting features to help you understand chess strategy better.
You can ask of hints, or spoken commentary. On the right the program tells you which pieces are well-placed or in danger, how volatile the position is, etc. Fritz 18 helps understand the position, tactically and strategically, without simply suggesting moves to play.
Stay tuned – we will describe the other exciting features for you in detail in the coming days.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
Minimum: PC Intel i3 or i5 or Ryzen 3, 4 GB RAM, Windows 8.1 (32- or 64-Bit), DirectX11, graphic card with 512 MB RAM, DVD-ROM drive, Windows Media Player and internet access.
Recommended: PC Intel i7, i9 or Ryzen 7/9, 8 GB RAM, Windows 11 with 64-Bit, Windows Media Player, graphic card with 1 GB RAM, RTX graphic card for real time Raytrace board, DVD-ROM drive and internet access.
For ChessBase ACCOUNT: Internet access and up-to-date browser, e.g. Chrome, Safari. Runs on Windows, OS X, iOS, Android and Linux.
Watch Sagar Shah of ChessBase India try a first experimental game, together with his viewers, against a Fritz 18, making use of the new hint and commentary functions:
You can order the new Fritz 18 from Tuesday (Nov. 16) in the ChessBase Shop, and get 25% off, because that is our Discount Day!
YOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY: Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory on one product.
The Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation with 5.Bf4 has a great balance between positional play and sharp pawn pushes; and will be a surprise for your opponents while being easy to learn for you, as the key patterns are familiar.
After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.Qd3, White sidesteps mainline theory and steers the game into less explored, strategically rich positions.
In this course, you will learn the foundations and key ideas of the Vienna Game and discover a variety of systems that make you extremely difficult to prepare for.
Tata Steel 2026 with analyses by Bluebaum, Giri, L'Ami, Woodward and many more. Opening videos by Kasimdzhanov, Marin and Zwirs. 10 exciting opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
In this course, Dutch Grandmaster Jan Werle presents a modern and practical repertoire in the French Advance Variation, focusing on the critical line 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3.
One of the major battlegrounds of the Queen’s Gambit Declined is the Catalan, and against it Zwirs chose an ambitious strategy: accept the pawn and hold onto it with …c6 and …b5, aiming for an unbalanced fight from the very start.
€9.90
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