Pocket Fritz 2
A strong chess program that teaches you while it beats you
A review in Pocket
PC Magazine, September 2003
By Doug Mackey
Excerpts
Among chess players, "Fritz" is a name to be spoken with respect
and perhaps fear. Pocket Fritz 2 by ChessBase (www.chessbase.com)
is the latest Pocket PC version of this software, a scaled-down version of its
elder PC brother.
How good is it? "Deep Fritz," has a grandmaster rating of 2760, Pocket
Fritz probably plays closer to a 2450 level – still, that is an awesome
level of chess mastery to be carrying around in your pocket. Your Pocket PC
can be among the best hundred chess players in the U.S.
With my lowly 1421 rating I cannot come close to beating Pocket Fritz, but
I can be taught by him. As the game progresses, Pocket Fritz tells me what my
best next move is (if I ask). By selecting the analysis view I can watch him
calculating variations, thinking progressively farther ahead (ten moves or more)
and looking for the best continuation. I can load games that I or somebody else
has played and ask Pocket Fritz to render his opinion on the relative merits
of each move. If you are playing with Pocket Fritz and you make a move that
is significantly inferior to the "best move" that it has determined
for you, it will ask you if you want to take it back.
The recent man-computer match between the highest rated human, Gary Kasparov,
and Deep Junior, the first chess event to be broadcast on television since the
Fischer-Spassky match of 1972, I was able to sit on my couch with my Pocket
PC and enter the moves as they were made, and see what Pocket Fritz regarded
as the best continuations.
Pocket Fritz is much stronger than any other Pocket PC chess program. For $50,
it will provide you many hours of entertainment and competition. It will also
help you improve your game. If you're a chess player and have a Pocket PC, this
one is a must-have!
If
you agree with Doug Mackey you can get yourself a copy here.