Fritz 7.0

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Fritz 7 Review

01/03/02

Serious chess players know that Fritz is one of the most popular chess programs around, and with good reason. It has the features that most players are looking for, including a well-designed user interface, and built-in database functions. This latest version of Fritz also includes a built-in internet chess client, with free access to the playchess.com server.

For those that already own Fritz 6, the aforementioned internet chess capability is the biggest change in this new version. Sure, there are a number of other changes, but the chess client is the most significant. This client compares quite well with programs like Blitzin, but is even easier to use. In fact, I was very impressed with the entire package, since I felt that the combination of Fritz 7 and the playchess.com server was quite user friendly.

As I mentioned previously, Fritz is the program of choice for many players. It is a program that I recommend to most people that are getting serious about the game, since it has good features for game play as well as study.

You can think of Fritz as being three programs in one. First, there is the main playing program, which allows you to play against the computer, analyze a game, or conduct engine vs. engine matches. Then there is the internet client. This new client can be used at playchess.com, where you can not only play, but observe games that others are playing as well. Finally, there is a database module that has the core features needed for game study.

Playing Program and Chess Engine Functions

There are many different ways to play a game against the computer in Fritz. Since the chess engine included with the program is so strong, Fritz provides a number of playing modes that weaken the play of the computer in different ways. Of course, you also have the option of playing against the chess engine on its strongest settings, but getting pounded game after game can be a bit demoralizing.

Fritz provides friend, sparring, rated, shuffle, and handicap modes of play. As I mentioned previously, each mode is a little different in how it plays. For instance, in friend mode, the engine adjusts its strength to match yours. In sparring mode, the engine will make tactical errors on purpose, and even provide hints when they occur (the hints can be turned off). In rated mode, the engine plays at a specific ELO that you dictate (starting at about 1600 and going up to the mid 2000s, depending upon the speed of your computer). Shuffle chess allows you to play with a pseudo random initial piece setup. Handicap mode allows you to change many internal engine parameters, like piece weights, strength, value of pawn structure, etc. The bottom line is that Fritz gets good marks for playing modes. Club players will probably want to spend most of their time in either the ELO, sparring or rated modes. Those that are not concerned with improving their time management can use the average time or ply depth limited play options as well.

When playing a game, there are wide number of time controls that can be specified. These are quite standard now among the various playing programs, so I won't discuss them too much here. Suffice it to say, you can chose between tournament, sudden death, increment, etc.

Another important feature of Fritz is its ability to use a wide variety of Winboard engines. Many program authors use Fritz to test their engines, so compatibility is usually pretty good. The ability to use winboard engines is invaluable from the standpoint of program handicapping, and engine testing.

While winboard engine compatibility is good to have, Fritz also supports Chessbase engines, the application programming interface that is used by most of the strongest commercial engines (for instance, Shredder, Fritz, Junior, Tiger, etc). There are additional Chessbase engines included with Fritz 7, including, Crafty and Fritz 5.32. There is also a mate-searching engine as well, for use in problem solving. Incidentally, the standard Fritz 7 engine is said to be stronger than it's predecessors.

Many people also like to run tournaments among the various winboard and chessbase engines. Fritz is a very good tool for conducting these tournaments. In addition to automatically pairing engines up and conducting matches, Fritz can publish live tournament reports on the web (with automatically generated HTML). Games can be played on the same computer, or with two computers using auto-232. Another extremely useful feature is the ability to conduct engine vs engine games over a TCP-IP network (note: both computer must be running XP, NT or 2000).

As most of you know, control of the opening book is an important feature. Fritz provides good control in this area, although you cannot specify a book depth (for handicap play). You can, however, construct a book specifically for this purpose (note: there is a downloadable handicap Fritz book on my yahoogroups page). Fritz has a feature known as book learning, in which it keeps track of previous successes or failures, and uses these statistics to adjust the frequency with which it plays certain book moves.

Of course, you can modify the book weights if you so desire, since Fritz also provides a facility for changing and creating opening books. For instance, you can do things like tell Fritz never to play a certain move in its book, or you can form opening books from game collections.

Fritz 7 also provides a full set of game analysis tools. For this purpose, Fritz provides a plethora of engine analysis modes, including full analysis, blunder checking, shootouts, infinite, deep and comparative. The full analysis mode is probably the most popular among users, since it provides a great deal of control and the ability to produce verbose commentary on the game. Blunder checking is mostly for quick checks of games for obvious blunders, or for checking one's own analysis, since it can function within game variations. Shootouts are used to play out positions on the board repeatedly, so that better position evaluations can be made. Comparative analysis is used when you desire commentary from a set of engines. Infinite mode is more or less meant to be used as you are playing through a game (but it can be used overnight if one desires). Finally, there is deep position analysis, which is most suitable for correspondence players, or in complex positions where the tree of analysis is very wide.

It goes without saying that human analysis is accommodated as well, and Fritz provides capabilities for adding and managing the variations in a game.

The only problem that I noticed in playing against Fritz was that friend mode did not work properly. I expect that Chessbase is working on this problem and will have it fixed in the next update.

Internet Chess Client

Ok, we all knew it was only a matter of time before Chessbase decided to write their own internet chess client. Other software houses have been building this functionality into their software, and Chessbase had to do the same.

Only the route that Chessbase has chosen is slightly different from the others. Instead of connecting to the existing server, the Chessbase client connects only to the server at playchess.com (incidentally, the domain name for this server is registered to Chessbase). An account on the server is free for owners of Fritz, and registration is a very quick process. Even though many people don't have Fritz yet, there seems to be a healthy number of people on the server already.

Surely there are pros and cons to this approach. On the one hand, you give up compatibility with the other sites, but on the other, using a proprietary server allows Chessbase to build in extra functionality.

Chessbase has blended concepts from other ICSs into a model which is easy to understand, and seems to work quite well. For instance, they have used the concept of "rooms" where people can gather to play certain kinds of chess. For instance, people that want to play with computer assistance have their own room, while the main playing room is for humans only. Chessbase also supports the online annotation of games for the purpose of teaching courses, or to facilitate group analysis sessions. Although, to use the analysis features, you need to remember to "unplug" game transmission, and then re-enable it afterwards.

I have been playing on the various servers for some time now, and I believe that Chessbase has done a very good job with theirs. Most of what you would expect to find on an ICS is there, along with a bit extra. For instance, one feature that I liked quite a bit is the ability to store a picture of yourself, along with biographic information on the server. Another nice touch is a world globe that shows the location of all the players on the server.

People familiar with other ICSs will find some familiar tools here as well. For instance, you have ads/seeks that can be placed, along with a formula and finger notes. Games are automatically saved for later replay and analysis. The command line is not accessible in the software, but I think most people will find that they do not need it, since the implementation of the Fritz client is extremely functional and feature rich.

One feature I liked a lot was the automatic reconnect to the server if the connection is lost. The other servers should take a lesson from Chessbase here. For instance, I have waited several minutes on some of the other servers before I realized that my connection was dead. This is not a problem with Chessbase's implementation.

There are still some minor glitches in the internet capabilities. For instance, in bullet games, sometimes a rook still appears to be on a1/a8 or h1/h8 after the castling operation. This, I expect, will be fixed relatively quickly. Overall though, I give Chessbase's server and client very high marks. As far as I am concerned, they have succeeded in improving upon the online atmosphere. Plus, they have come up with a fairly polished client as well.

Database Module

The database module in Fritz 7 survives largely unchanged from version 6. While this module does not include all the features that a full database program provides, it does fulfill the needs of many chess players. For instance, the capability to search for a game on the basis of header (player names, tournament names, year, etc), and position are both present. There are other search functions as well, but these are the two most important.

You can also copy game between databases, but you cannot have more than one database open at a time. This is one important difference between Chessbase, and Fritz. In Chessbase, you are allowed to have a number of open databases at one time (also, Chessbase has many additional search functions and data management tools). Like Fritz 6, Fritz 7 has support for database keys, although you need Chessbase to edit them.

One important feature that Fritz has is the ability to analyze games in the database. For instance, you can mark several games, and have Fritz analyze them overnight. This is a welcome feature for many people, since computer game analysis can be very time intensive.

Chessbase includes a database of about 350,000 games with Fritz 7. This is not a mammoth collection (how things change ;-)), but it is more than enough to get most people started. The database contains many of the classics, so it makes a good adjunct for game study.

I won't really say too much else about the database module. There are many more functions, but the important thing to understand is that the core features necessary for game analysis are present.

What's New

Users of Fritz 6 will immediately notice that there is now a new menu that appears when the program starts up. In this menu, the user has the option of choosing to start the Fritz chess playing program, or the internet chess client. Since the client is entirely new for this version, I would recommend that you read the relevant section elsewhere in this review. But, there are also some changes in the Fritz playing program, which I will now discuss.

Generally speaking, this version of Fritz has improved in terms of game analysis functionality. For example, there are better tools for handling variations, and a symbol palette for annotating games. Opening analysis is facilitated by the addition of a separate tree window, instead of the tabbed setup that was present in Fritz 6. IMHO, this makes the tree more usable, since you no longer have to toggle back and forth between the game score and the tree.

There are also other tweaks, like a new game animation feature, slightly improved engine management, and better handling of positions (as opposed to entire games). The database module has not changed too much. While the database search/filter dialog is not too different from the previous version, there is one exception. You can now search through variations using Fritz. This feature was added to Chessbase 8 last year, and has now "trickled down" to Fritz as well.

There are other minor improvements to the management of databases and their attendant files. There are also improvements to menu structure and the like. It is nothing to major, but I feel that the changes are an improvement.

Of course, there is a new Fritz chess engine as well - surely stronger than the previous version. I have not had enough time with the engine to really render any subjective impressions. Let's just say that the engine is more than strong enough for game play. Which brings up another change - rated games using the ELO handicapping feature can now be played with a wider range of ELOs. The improvement in ELO choice is mostly at the high end of the rating range

Overall, there are a number of changes to the program since version 6. The major new feature is the internet chess client, but there are many other minor improvements to the playing program as well. For those that are considering an upgrade, I would say that it is definitely a good bet if you want the internet client, or if Fritz is your main software (and say, you don't have Chessbase). Those that use the program for light database work and game annotation will want to upgrade, since the program does have many improvements in these areas.

Conclusion

Chessbase has made a number of improvements in this version. The people that will most appreciate the changes are those that use Fritz as their main playing and analysis tool. The internet chess client is user friendly, and the playchess.com server has a pleasant atmosphere.

Copy Protection

Occasional refueling (insertion of original CD) is required.