At the end of October ChessBase will release the long-awaited Fritz 7. It is the program that was to play BGN world champion Vladimir Kramnik in October – due to the recent terrorist attacks in New York and Washington the match has been postponed to early next year.

Fritz 7 will be considerably stronger than its predecessor. But it is another feature of the program that will generate even greater interest. Fritz 7 gives you direct and uncomplicated access to the ChessBase Playchess server. With just two clicks you can log on and start playing against other people all over the world.

If you are interested in trying out these features you can download a beta version of Fritz 7 – it has the whole chess server functionality, but not the other Fritz 7 functions (which are very close to those of Fritz 6). No engines are included, however the server client will use any Fritz-compatible engines you already own. You can use these to play against other computers or to analyse games after they have been played. You cannot start an engine when you are playing againt another human on the Playchess server.

1. Download the file F7setup.zip (7 MB) from the link given below.
2. Unpack the zip file in a directory on your hard disk
3. Start the program Setup.exe and follow the instructions. Allow the program to be installed in the directories it suggest (in Programs Files/ChessBase/Fritz7/).
4. Start ChessProgram7 (which should appear as an icon on your desktop)
5. Set up an account for yourself (don't worry, it's completely free).

Once you have started playing you may notice problems or errors on your system. Please report these using the report page given below. Please report each problem individually. And please do not use the report page to ask questions regarding the operation of the program. They cannot be answered in this way.

Many thanks for your help and hope you enjoy playing chess on our new server.

• Download Fritz 7 Beta
• Report page

When you start you should first set up an account. You can also enter as a guest, but you will have fewer rights.

It is good to give your town, country and geo-coordinates, as you will then appear as a dot on the world map when you are online. If you cannot find your town in the "Find coordinates" dialog you can do so at MapBlast. Enter your city and street and copy the geo coordinates on the top right of the map that appears. Your picture must currently be in BPM format and no larger than 100 KB. A good size is 130 x 180 pixels.

Once you have filled out the account data you will be prompted for a password. You should also give a password hint which will be sent to you in case you forget your password. In the future, whenever you go to the Playchess server you will get the dialog box on the right. You simply need to click "OK" or hit Enter to log on. Note that all of the above – personal data, password – can be changed at any time from within the program. Naturally none of the information will be passed on to any third party or used for advertising purposes.

The main Fritz 7 server screen (picture compressed)

On the bottom right you can see the different rooms, which you can reach by clicking. The rooms appear on the top left, with tabs that allow you to view general information, the players currently present, the games in progress and a world map with the location of all visitors.

Note that you can play with computers in the special room set up for them (Computers and Centaurs). In the main playing hall computers are strictly forbidden. This is only for human vs human games.

In the players window you can see all the visitors who are currently in the room. Note that you can sort the list by clicking on the headers on the top. You can challenge any visitor who is not playing or paused by clicking "Challenge" (or double-clicking the name).

In the challenge window you can suggest time controls, colours, etc. "Challenger sends game is if you want to continue from a given position.

If you are challenged you can accept, decline or modify the challenge (i.e. negotiate the conditions).

You get a special playing board for the game. Simply enter moves onthe board. You will not be able to start a Fritz engine to assist you, and a number of other normal Fritz functions are disabled.

In all rooms you can chat with other visitors. Click the name of your chat partner and type in messages (hit Enter to send). You can also send a message to all visitors, but only use this if you have some general announcement to make. Note that you can Ctrl-click a number of visitors to chat with them all. The chat has no word-wrap. You get one line per message. So keep your remarks brief, otherwise they will be difficult to read.

If you click "Games" in any room you can see the games that are in progress (and the last set that has been played). Double-click a game to load it on the board.

When you are "kibitzing" a game you can switch on one or more chess engines ("Engine" menu). If you want to analyse on the board you must "unplug" the transmission, which is done in the "Game" menu. You can also press Ctrl-U to unplug and plug back into a transmission.

• Note that you can save a game by simply pressing Ctrl-S and selecting a database in which it should be stored. All games you play are automatically saved in \My documents\ChessBase\Autosave.

A full documentation will be supplied with the program when it is becomes available at the end of October. Keep checking out on the ChessBase web site for the latest information on Fritz 7.

In the meantime have fun with the Fritz 7 beta and our new Playchess server!