Hello... I'm new here and relatively new to chess. I have a bunch of questions regarding the myriad of available software. A friend of mine gave me a program called Chess Mentor deluxe which is not a chessplaying program. I like it, however I'm looking for something to store my games from ICC/OTB tournaments as well as getting a chess program to analyze the positions for me and offer move ideas.

There are tons of programs to choose from. I have looked at

Fritz 9
Chessbase
Chess Assistant


The thing is I cannot tell what sets them apart from each other. Ive also downloaded SCID, however I have no idea how to use it.


Does Fritz 9 have what I need? What do chessbase/chessassistant do that Fritz 9 cannot?

What is the purpose of all of these big game databases? 1 million games and such. There is no way to look through every one of those games. I'm just learning how to study this game so any help will be greatly appreciated.


Thanks and sorry for the noob questions.

Deadchef wrote:

Hello... I'm new here and relatively new to chess. I have a bunch of
questions regarding the myriad of available software. A friend of mine
gave me a program called Chess Mentor deluxe which is not a chessplaying
program. I like it, however

I'm looking for something to store my games
from ICC/OTB tournaments as well as getting a chess program to analyze
the positions for me and offer move ideas.

FRITZ should be sufficient...


There are tons of programs to choose from. I have looked at

Fritz 9
Chessbase
Chess Assistant

The thing is I cannot tell what sets them apart from each other. Ive
also downloaded SCID, however I have no idea how to use it.

Since you are new to chess, you may want to defer looking into
dedicated database programs.


Does Fritz 9 have what I need?

Yes.

What do chessbase/chessassistant do
that Fritz 9 cannot?
What is the purpose of all of these big game databases? 1 million
games and such. There is no way to look through every one of those
games.

These encyclopaedic features are useful to advanced players,
especially those who get a high out of excruciatingly detailed
analysis and classification of opening systems/lines.

I'm just learning how to study this game so any help will be
greatly appreciated.

Use FRITZ to analyze your _own_ games first, including those
against the computer (if any). This should improve your tactical
skills. As for opening, middle-game and end-game theory, just
go through _one_ book per game phase (i.e., 3 books in all) to
familiarize yourself with standard concepts, terminology and
the like.


Thanks and sorry for the noob questions.


I hope this helps.

Major Cat

Thanks for your reply. I picked up fritz today, and it seems complicated with the million games and all. Is there a tutorial i can download or website i can visit with detailed explaination of the features of this program?

Deadchef wrote:
Thanks for your reply. I picked up fritz today, and it seems
complicated with the million games and all. Is there a tutorial i can
download or website i can visit with detailed explaination of the
features of this program?

There's lots of tutorial material at

http://www.chessbase.com/support/index.asp

Some of that may be useful. You probably won't need the existing database
very much so here's a quick explanation of how to create a database of
your own games. (This is for Fritz 8 but version 9 is probably the same
in this respect.)

From the Fritz main window, turn off the engine (from the Engine menu) and
play through the moves of the game. From the File menu, choose `Save as'
and enter a file name for the database and the details of the game
(players, event, date and so on). For subsequent games, you can just use
`save' to add to your existing database. Once you've entered the games,
go to the database window, highlight them and find `blunder check' on the
menu (Tools|Analysis or something like that). Fritz will then point out
all the tactical opportunities you missed.

Don't add your games to the built-in database or you'll never find them
again. :-)


Dave.

--
David Richerby Love Painting (TM): it's like a
www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~davidr/ Renaissance masterpiece that you can
share with someone special!