Twelve minutes for the new ChessBase 11
10/16/2010 – You know the feeling: the new program has arrived – as it did this morning at our doorstep. We want to install it, but that is going to be very tedious. Will everything stop running? Are we going to ruin a working system? Maybe we should do the installation tomorrow, or on Monday?! This time we took the plunge and started the DVD. In twelve minutes everything was running perfectly. Proof.
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Installing ChessBase 11
With ChessBase 11, the product description says, chess becomes even more fascinating and all the more exciting. It lists a plethora of new functions that include:
- Repertoire database completely revised (including automatic saving from existing games)
- On playchess.com the last 40 games of a player can be downloaded as a database (as long as the player has activated this function)
- “Try out” moves. If you hold down the mouse button, ChessBase 11 will show you by means of an arrow the best reply
- Improved super functions “Opening report” and “Dossier”
- Generation of e-books for Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader
- Single click publishing of games on the Internet, even without your own web site
- Games can be played through directly in the main window via an embedded board without having to open a separate board window
- More comfortable solution of training questions
- Layout of Reference search and Online database adjust independently and ergonomically to the screen format
- Better access to MegaBase update subs: shows what is on offer with tournaments, strong players, etc. Direct choice of which individual databases to download
Sounds tempting, and since we have heard a number of good things about the program, e.g. the new “Fashionable Variation” function. ChessBase 11 apparently shows you not just which continuation was played most often but which on is currently fashionable – an important distinction. It weeds out old or amateur games and places the latest games between the strongest players at the top of the games list. Also there is the fact that ChessBase 11 gives you very fast access to the ChessBase Online database with over five million games, which is kept up-to-date by the company.
Okay, we decide to take the plunge – an protocol how long it takes to make the switch. It took us all of twelve minutes to complete, as you can see from the times given below.
11:15 a.m. – we insert the disk and the Autoplay comes up
11:15 a.m. – After permitting "Run setup" to run we get
the Install box
11:16 a.m. – The Setup Wizard asks for permission to start. We click
"Next"
11:16 a.m. – We accept the default location for the program files
11:16 a.m. – We start the installation (Windows may sometimes ask
for special permission)
11:17 a.m. – The installation is under way. It took under four minutes
on our computer
11:20 a.m. – The Setup Wizard informs us that the installation is
complete
11:21 a.m. – We find ChessBase 11 in our start menu
11:23 a.m. – We drag the program with the right mouse key into our
quick start menu and click it to start
11:24 a.m. – ChessBase 11 offers to install standard database.
We politely decline, since we have all we need our our hard disk.
11:25 a.m. – This will cause ChessBase 11 to be fired up when we double-click
a CBV, CBH or PGN file in the Windows Explorer or in an Internet browser
11:26 a.m. – We need to enter the activation key, which is printed
on the front of the short
instruction manual. We also type in the four characters, NSBK, to prove that
we are human.
11:27 a.m. – ChessBase 11 now starts, with the new "ribbon" look, a lot crisper of course than in the compressed picture show above. We are glad to note that it has adopted all the defaults from our previous CB 10 installation. There are new icons for the database types, but one gets used to that very quickly.
The rest is quite painless – there is no substantial interruption of our workflow. On our quick start bar we see that ChessBase 10 is still there and can be started as before, so we have a backup plan if we suffer a bout of new program trauma. So far that has not occurred, and we are merrily on our way to finding out about the new functions that ChessBase 11 has in store for us.
Addendum: We are told by some readers that it is highly advisable to reboot your computer after the above procedure, since otherwise some of the screens – e.g. the Fritz or Rybka analysis – might appear mangled. So the procedure takes a little longer – let's say fifteen minutes for the switch.
Chessbase 11 Workshop
Nick Murphy shows you how to handle ChessBase 11 with ease
How to proceed? Most people want to learn the functionality of the new program without looking into the manual? Well, there is an excellent alternative to that: you can watch the video instructions recorded by Nick Murphy, who explains the most important features of the new interface. Just click on the video image to start the first lesson:
More videos:
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