Guidance for beginners

Answer

Question: I recently acquired ChessBase 15. The program with its numerous functions is very complex; I will certainly need some time to properly acquaint myself with it. Could you not give me some tips and hints how I can make efficient use of the software right from the start?

Answer: The program offers numerous functions but in our experience it becomes easy to use after a short period of adaptation. Different users have differing requirements, but I will gladly try to give you a brief introduction.  You will rapidly realise that after a short settling-in period working with it goes quickly.   

As a first step, you should specify the pathway to the database in which you wish to store games and analyses. This path is not fixed, you can choose any folder you wish on your hard disk.

The next step will be to open a new board window, This can be done with a click on the appropriate button.

You can, for example, use the board you get to input the notation of one of your games with annotations and variations and then save it into a database.

After you have entered the notation with your comments you can and should save the game in the database.

At any future point you can load games which you have saved and you will have available to you a plethora of useful functions. Navigation within the notation is particularly simple via the keyboard and as elements for your annotations you have at your disposal text, variations, symbols, graphical commentary and diagrams!

Under the tab “Insert” you can see at a glance what functions the program is offering you for the editing of the notation you have loaded.

After you have mastered these basic functions (saving and annotating), the question arises as to what you can do with the annotated games for your training. There are many useful functions; the basic functions which I explain in what follows are those I consider to be particularly important and valuable.

If, for example, you are playing through games with a favourite opening system, if can be helpful if you can quickly play through and compare similar games. A click on the Reference button in the notations window quickly provides you with some help. The program searches through Big database or any other you have nominated as your Reference database. You will see at a glance the most important continuation from the current position on the board.

A right click on a game entry  from the lower pane brings up the context menu “Copy to notation” which lets you transfer this game directly into the main notation.

You have available to you under the menu heading “Analysis” particularly important functions.

The palette of options on offer includes numerous functions for the deep analysis of a whole game or selected positions. Use the various engines in order to get from the program a specific evaluation of critical or unclear positions.

The section headed Report finds for you comparable games with similar strategies, tactical motifs or innovations in the chosen variation!

While here you can highlight specific positions which are relevant for your own opening repertoire. Over time you can completely define the classification positions for your own White and Black repertoires.

Especially when you are studying games which are relevant for your own opening repertoire, it is above all about gaining a deeper understanding for the middlegame positions which flow from the opening. If you know the typical strategies and plans which follow on from your opening you will be able to see much more clearly where you are going in practical play.

Under Report you have at your disposal where appropriate the functions Similar structures/Moves/Tactics etc. Using them enables you to find with a mouse click the games which are suited to your training.  We have already referred to the statistical information found in the Reference display.

Important support is on offer from the numerous Engines. You can use these chess programs for analysis as has been mentioned before. Immediately after you load a game Instant analysis shows you in the evaluation profile an overview of how the game went.

Another valuable resource is your access to Live Book and the Let`s Check analyses carried out by other users.

If as a beginner you work with the functions described here, then after a short period of familiarisation you will be in a position to make efficient use of the software for your daily training. Of course the program offers a whole host of useful functions which I have not described here and which as time goes by you will find out about and learn to value.

 

 

 

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Created on
12.07.2019
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