Fritz 9: Play Chess

I got a nice package deal on Fritz 9 and Chessmaster 10th Edition. My last copy of Fritz was Fritz 7. I really don't see much difference between the two. If you already have an earlier edition of Fritz save your money or buy Chessmaster instead. There was not much bang for the buck here.

I had heard so much about Fritz at my favorite chess web site and so, when I found Fritz 9 at a local store, I snapped it up. I've not been this disappointed in a software purchase in a very very long time.

Here's why.

1.) Not intuitive
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Trying to do some of the most simple things takes literally hours to do. You spend more time searching the manual than you do playing chess. The menus are poorly organized and nothing is where you would hope it to be.

Say you wanted to learn a check mate combination by having the computer play a game against itself with pieces you chose. You can do this, but it's not intuitive. First you have to choose between the following menus:

File, Edit, View, Insert, Game, Engine, Tools, Window, and Help.

Which would you choose? Well, "Tools" is the right answer.

Let's try again. Under the "Tools" menu, you have the following choices:

Analysis, Training, DTG Board, Connect Hardware, Book Settings, Design, User Info, Factory Settings, Customize, and Options.

Which would you choose? Well, the correct answer is "Analysis", not "Training". But Analysis has its own menu too. You still aren't done and you still aren't playing any chess!!! Here are your choices:

Full Analysis, Blunder Check, Deep Positional Analysis, Shootout, Process Test Set, Mate Search, and Classify Opening.

The correct choice is "Shootout". Once you finally get to this point, you are presented with another screen to set up the shootout that is just as poorly constructed.

Any other task you want to carry out is just as convoluted and inconsiderately classified. But you always have the manual, right?

2) The Manual
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The manual that comes with the software is 23 pages long and doesn't explain anything. This program is FULL of pop-up windows, and abstract jargon (plies, depth, etc.) none of which are explained.

When you start Fritz, it gives you three options to choose from (Play Fritz,

I finally found a larger version of the manual on the second CD, but the first manual doesn't even tell you that.

3) Slow
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Navigating the labyrinthine menus is bad enough, but every time you kick a process off, the computer takes a very long time to thing through things. This means trial and error learning of how to run the program takes ten times as long.

If you are chess player who makes their living at chess, this is great for you, otherwise, it's not. This is not a game, it's a program, and a poorly designed one at that.

The iPod proved how critical intuitive design is for a product's success. If Chessbase learned from Apple, this could be the most amazing chess program out there. Until this changes, I'll stick to ChessMaster.

I gave my Chessmaster 9000 to a friend and bought Fritz 9 as a replacement. Big mistake. Fritz may have a slightly more powerful engine but there are only a few Grand Masters who would even test the limits of any chess program. For 99% of the people, Chessmaster would crush them.

Fritz reminds me of German shareware. It all has that stripped down, unorganized and low budget look to it. It took me quite awhile to get the analysis panes to do what I want but it still does not have the functionality or ease of Chessmaster. I have experienced bugginess and crashes that I never had with Chessmaster.

If this is for a child, there is no way I would get Fritz. The teaching functions and features for kids are all far superior in Chessmaster.

If you read the reviews on Chessmaster, people say they have problems with the copy protection or graphics load. All I can say is:
1. Quit trying to steal copyrighted material
2. Buy a real graphics card

I also feel better about the company that makes Chessmaster as far as support and updates - Ubisoft.

This game is highly interactive and has the ability to personalize in many ways. I have enjoyed many hours of playing.

You want a simple chess program? Go search for WinBoard. If you want to play 3D Chess just for the look, then I am sure you can find all sorts of swanky looking 3D chess boards out there. If I want to play on-line I can go on yahoo games and play any one of the thousands of chess games for free for as long as I want. If however you are interested in chess engines (the AI behind the chess software) then obviously you are considering getting a decent piece of chess software with some brains rather than just a ritzy looking chess board (why not actually spend on a ritzy look chess board instead!). The Fritz 9 package is basically offering the latest Chessbase software and the Fritz 9 engine. There are many engine players out there who like to play with the best engines such as Rybka, Hiarcs, Shredder, TOGA II, Deep Fritz or Fruit. Fritz from Chessbase currently offers the best chess analysis software. Most people who want to play chess complain that it is too complex for their needs. Chess players, who play computer chess, play it with Chessbase. Even the GMs (grandmasters) are known to use it. So for people who just want to play chess, then Fritz is probably not for them, especially at the price tag, which is near a whopping $40 for chess and can be upgraded to a $100 worth of chess software if you go with the latest engines. Let us just state for the record right now that there is a very cheap and excellent Chessbase product called "Deep Fritz: Grand Master Deluxe" for $20. It comes with the Deep Fritz 8 engine and the Fritz 8 Chessbase software. That is a very powerful engine and a very nice piece of Chessbase software, which has all the same analysis tools as the latest Fritz 9 Chessbase software update. For $20 that kind of chess power is an absolute steal. The problem is that it is just not the latest Chessbase software. Before we talk about engines we should talk about the Fritz 9 Chessbase software which is at its cheapest in the Fritz 9 chess package. The Fritz 9 manual is a bit better than any previous offering. It is in full color. There is also an entirely separate manual for the on-line Playchess feature. Fritz 9 loads quicker and runs quicker. It defaults to a blue and white board that is not so harsh on the eyes. The icons are nicer. The arrows indicating movement are transparent and do not look as stark. There are some new game types. The 3D board is greatly enhanced with a new 3D control panel for moving the board and camera. There are expanded 3D settings with new character animations, such as the Turk, Mia and the Fritz room with enhanced visual effects with fully rendered backdrops. The manual however is probably what sets Fritz 9 apart from it predecessors as the tutorial is much easier to follow and if you spend a bit of time you can learn all there is to learn about Chessbase just by reading the manual, something that was not really possible with earlier versions without asking someone who knew what they where doing. Is it worth the extra $20 to go from "Deep Fritz: Grand Master Deluxe" to Fritz 9? The answer to that depends on what you want. If you find that Deep Fritz 8 does not offer much of a challenge anymore then you will probably want to improve your engine. The problem is that Fritz 9 might not be the best improvement available to you. The "CSS - Rating List" is a good chess engine rating list. The "bff-liste" is also good and so is the "SSDF Ratings list". Although Rybka leads them all there is some discrepancies between Hiarcs 10, Shredder 10 and Fritz 9. TOGA II is free from UCI and Chessbase can import UCI engines. That is a phenomenal free upgrade. If you want to pay for the best then Rybka is where it is at, but that costs a whopping $70 without Chessbase software. Hiarcs 10 and Shredder 10, come with the new Chessbase software but at a price of $50. Fritz 9 is $10 cheaper with an engine that can compete (note compete, not always beat, but compete and even loose) with Hiarcs 10 and Shredder 10. Fritz 9 is currently the standard Chessbase offering. It is available almost everywhere. Hiarcs 10 and Shredder 10 are a bit harder to get because they are professional chess engines and not mainstream like the Fritz and Deep Fritz offerings. The truth is that your best deal is "Deep Fritz: Grand Master Deluxe" for $20 which gives you Deep Fritz 8, the last Chessbase software without a great manual but with full analysis and an import function for the UCI Toga II engine. That is a very powerful piece of chess software for $20. If you really want the latest Chessbase software then Fritz 9 gives you just that for $40 plus the Fritz 9 engine. Fans of Hiarcs or Shredder would probably feel better shelling out the extra $10 for their favourite engine that comes with the Fritz 9 software package. The top professional players will probably get Fritz 9 for $40 just for the Chessbase software update and buy the Rybka engine for $70 for a whopping $110 chess software package. Right now it is all relative to how much you want to spend and if you have a preference for Hiarcs or Shredder. Also Chessbase software is not the most stable software in the world. Fritz 9 chessbase software does solve some its old crashing problems and analysis bugs. A lot of the mystery lockups and functions that cease to work in previous editions are working now. The bottom line however is that there is nothing like Chessbase software out there, but there are optional versions of this software. Since nothing can compete with it we should be lucky to get a Chessbase upgrade at all, even if it is a poor one, it at least tries to correct a few things... but it could correct a whole lot more. If you own a previous Chessbase I don't think you should be worrying too much. If you have bought Hiarcs 10 or Shredder 10, then you have the latest Chessbase and some of the nicest engines out there. What you really need to know is that you can work out a better engine configuration than Fritz 9 with "Deep Fritz: Grand Master Deluxe" plus TOGA II, for half the costs ($20). For $40 you spend an extra $20 on the latest Chessbase software, but the TOGA II engine can beat the Fritz 9 engine. The very existence of TOGA II for free with Chessbase's ability to import that engine is why I would say doing a bit more research is important. However you can easily slap down $40, get Fritz 9 with the latest Chessbase software, and TOGA II for free also. You can pay an extra $10 and have the same configuration with Hiarcs 10 and Shredder 10 with a free TOGA II. "Deep Fritz: Grand Master Deluxe" offers the best value overall. Fritz 9 is nice to have but absolutely not necessary, but it is still a great engine, and not as bad as many would like to make it out to be. I am sure many software users are waiting until Deep Fritz 9 comes out... and probably rightly so. Maybe then we would have a new Fritz engine worth talking about.

Pros
- Quicker
- Better manual
- Some bug fixes with analysis mode
- New 3D

Cons
- Deep Fritz: Grand Master Deluxe is $20 and comes with Deep
- UCI TOGA II is free
- Fritz software needs a big improvement.
- Deep Fritz 9 will probably solve these problems