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Chess Software Buying Guide

by Steve Lopez

The question and answer columns in chess magazines (both in print and online) are always enjoyable reads; you can pick up a lot of tips from them. One of the best, most perceptive Q&As I've ever read appeared in an old issue of Chess Life in the 1990's. A chess player of my acquaintance sent a question to Larry Evans; the player was rated in the mid-1400's Elo and seemed to be "stuck in a rut". He never seemed to improve, so he asked Larry for his advice on how to get better at chess.

Larry's answer stuck with me and I've repeated it often, both in person and in print. It's the best improvement advice for beginning to intermediate chess players that I've ever heard.

A similar question that I've often been asked in my former role as tech support contact for ChessBase and in my present role as a ChessBase columnist is "What chess software should I buy to help me improve my game?" It's a good question and one that's often asked because of the bewildering array of chess training software CDs and DVDs that ChessBase offers.

Consequently I've decided to merge these two questions and create a sort of "training course" which will give you pointers on which chess software training tools to use and also help you improve your game. Since I'm a ChessBase columnist, all of my recommendations (save one) will naturally be ChessBase products. It's not a reflection on the quality of competitor's products; it's only because I'm (naturally) most familiar with the ChessBase offerings. And since this article is being presented to you by ChessCentral, nearly all of my recommendations will be products available at ChessCentral (and I'll provide links to the appropriate web pages from which you can order them).

I'll frequently be referring to various levels of chess player - beginner, intermediate, and advanced. These classifications are a slippery slope. I've met low-rated chess players who are really great at endgames, but who have trouble just getting to one (they frequently lose in the opening or middlegame). I've met intermediate chess players who excel at chess tactics but who are terrible at chess strategy. And I've known strong players who excel at chess openings and middlegames but who can't play an chess endgame to save their souls. Complicating this is the fact that many ChessBase training CDs are geared toward more than one level of player; software about chess tactics might contain many one-move tactics problems that are suitable for a novice but also contain other advanced positions that require long calculation and thus provide a challenge for advanced players. So you'll see some overlap between these classifications; certain training materials might be suited to more than one classification of player.

For what these classifications mean, here's a very rough guideline:

Chess Novice - a chess player completely new to the game or someone who's been a casual player for a long time. A ten year old kid just learning to play or eighty-five year old Uncle Bob who plays maybe two or three chess games a year just for fun would fit into this category.
Chess Beginner - someone who knows the chess rules, has played mainly for fun, has maybe played in a couple of rated tournament or an "in-house" school event, and knows they have a long way to go to "get good". In USCF terms, this might be a player who's rated below Class D.
Chess Intermediate - a chess player serious enough to play regularly in USCF events or at a chess club, who wins some and loses some, and wants to learn more. This is probably a USCF Class D through Class B player.
Chess Advanced - a serious chess player who's one of the "top dogs" down at the chess club, or who maybe finds himself just behind the top dogs. This might also be a titled (Expert, Master) player who's looking to improve his skills. This category would cover USCF Class A and Expert players and, in some cases, might even apply to Masters.

Note that this is a very rough guideline for the reasons stated right before I presented the list. The best thing you can do is try to determine your strengths and weaknesses as a chess player and guide your own study accordingly (for example, you might be good at chess endgames but know that you're a bit deficient in positional chess - so you'd categorize yourself as a strong intermediate endgame player but maybe a beginner to low intermediate player positionally).

With the preamble out of the way, let's move on to the advice - after all, it's the whole reason you're reading this article!

1. Play as much chess as you can

I usually present this tip later in the list, but since we're talking about electronic training materials it's more appropriate to list it first instead.

You can study chess for hours a day but all of that study won't do you a bit of good unless you practice. By "practice" I mean any game of chess you play, regardless of whether it's against a human or a computer and regardless of the level of your opposition. You can learn a lot about chess just by playing the game, too. (As an analogous situation, I've been a five card draw poker player since I was five but just recently discovered the joys of Texas Hold 'em. I've read a bit about the game's strategy, but I've also learned a lot by simply playing a few hundred hands of Limit Hold 'em. This in turn leads to an increased understanding of the printed strategy material I've been reading).

In short, you can't get good at chess unless you play the game. And this is where chess playing software comes in very handy. You can get a game of chess anytime you like, day or night, against any level of opponent (just by changing a few settings in your chess playing program). More importantly, you can have your program analyze the games you play to show you where you went wrong (as well as what you did right); we'll talk more about analysis features later on in this article.

The big thing is to play the game as often as you can, since every game is a learning experience. Chess programs give you an excellent opportunity to do this.

Novice/Beginner Chess Player:

Here's where I'll make a non-ChessBase recommendation. Chess is a game and thus should be fun. A program which gives you a ton of "bells and whistles" to make playing against the computer a fun experience is Chessmaster. You're provided with a host of "characters" to play against - virtual people who come complete with a photo, biographical info, and even some tips as to their playing style. Chessmaster also includes full game analysis abilities and some basic tutorials for novices/beginners.

While advanced players will also be challenged by the tougher computer opponents, I've chosen to rate Chessmaster for lower-rated players because of the mass-market bells and whistles and the basic tutorials. The program is overall geared more toward casual/new players than to ones who've already been around the proverbial block a few times.

Intermediate/Advanced Chess Player:

I recommend the line of ChessBase playing programs; in my opinion the interface is much cleaner than Chessmaster's and there are more tools for the "serious" chess player (statistical game trees, better database functions, multiple game analysis options, etc.). The ChessBase playing programs also allow you to make full use of the other training materials we'll discuss later.

The question then becomes "Which chess playing software program should I buy?" The interface and features of each program are identical; the difference lies in the "brain" of the program (i.e. the chess engine). Since each chess software program is created by a different programmer, each brings something a bit different to the table with it; the programs will play/analyze in slightly different styles. The differences might not be apparent right away, but over many games with each program you will see differences in how they approach the game.

Here's a list of the chess playing software programs offered by ChessCentral ranked roughly by playing style (from tactical to positional) with additional comments provided:

Junior: The most tactically-oriented of the four. Junior will sometimes even make speculative sacrifices (and this can be intensified a bit with one of the tweaks available under "Engine options").
Fritz: Of the four choices, this is the "middle-ground" program. While still being positionally sound, Fritz' strong suit is still tactics. This may change a bit with the introduction of the forthcoming Fritz9, which has been pre-billed as containing advanced positional qualities.
Hiarcs: Until the introduction of Shredder, Hiarcs was the most positional chess engine on the market. The programmer (Mark Uniacke) has been building positional knowledge into Hiarcs since the program's introduction more than a decade ago.
Shredder: Easily the most positional chess playing program on the market. Shredder plays in a "solid" style and it's difficult for the average player to induce Shredder to make major positional errors.

Note that these rankings are relative to each other; all chess playing software programs are still tactically-oriented and you currently won't get "Steinitzian" positional play from any chess program.

Some players are still hard-pressed to make a decision. In this case I recommend Fritz; it's the "flagship" playing program offered by ChessBase.

All of the ChessBase playing programs also come with a year's subscription to Playchess, an online playing site where you can play against hundreds of other chess players around the clock. No other software is required, either - you play using the normal interface of the any of the above chess playing software programs.

You can take a look at the list of ChessCentral chess playing software programs and get a bit more information.

1. Chess Playing Software
2. Chess Tactics Software
3. Positional Chess Software
4. Chess Endgame Software
5. Chess Openings Software
6. Chess Advice