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For anybody past beginner level

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 100 / 102
Date: July 25, 2003
Author: Amazon User

If you haven't heard of Fritz, search the web. This is serious chess software.

For a beginner, ChessMaster has a nice interface, and its tutorials are useful. For anybody else, ChessMaster lacks features.

Fritz is great for lots of things...

* Analysis: Whereas ChessMaster shows only the current line, Fritz can show as many lines as you want. It can even show a small chessboard in an analysis window.
* Annotation/Training: If you enter one of your games into Fritz (and you can save them all in a database) Fritz can automatically annotate it, and it can even come up with training questions for you at tactically critical positions.
* Sparring: This is a feature unique to Fritz. It will attempt to play at your level by ocassional giving you some free material, and then mercilessly regaining it. It keeps track of your level over several games.
* Friend mode: Fritz will play its usual game (with whatever personality and level you choose) but it will sometimes make a tactical error. The depth of the combination will be appropriate to your own level of play. In case you miss it, Fritz will flash a little red light at you optionally to tell you to look for something.

Other features:
+ A very nice, useful database. You can search for games from amongst millions by game, player, position, opening, etc.
+ An opening book. I like the way that ChessMaster names the opening as you play it. Fritz does that almost as well. What it adds is a full opening tree, which you can view while you play. It tells you the possible responses and their win percentages in high level play. (This is not really useful unless you are a very good player, but it is still interesting.)
+ Can play Shuffle Chess (piece positions swapped randomly) although it cannot strictly play Fischerandom.
+ Lots of timing modes, including Fischer time (bonus seconds per move).
+ Several personalities and playing styles. I prefer ChessMaster here for the weaker personalities, but Fritz does have a wide variety of settings.
+ Extremely strong and fast chess engine. (ChessMaster has this too. Most programs are well above master level these days, since computers have become so powerful.)
+ Nice user interface. I think ChessMaster is better to look at. The Fritz 3D board is playable, but not really necessary. Its 2D board is attractive enough. Its the GUI that's easy-to-use in Fritz. (Other programs with nice GUIs include ChessGenius, ChessPartner, and ChessAssistant.)
+ And there are plenty of features which are just too complicated to explain.

If you're a beginner, stick with ChessMaster. If you want more, try this. Great bargain. This software used to sell at a much higher price.

Stronger than Deep Blue, and friendlier too!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 88 / 90
Date: October 20, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The Fritz program has been setting the standard for computer chess for over a decade now. It is, simply put, the greatest chess program ever written. World Champion Gary Kasparov himself admitts to using Fritz extensively for analysis. And why not? At an elo rating of, conservatively, 2720+, Fritz is the strongest grandmaster you're likely to meet and is in an elite club of chessplayers with only about twenty flesh-and-bones grandmasters in the world. In addition to its bona fides as perhaps the greatest silicon chessplayer in history, Fritz can teach you to improve your game. Fritz's fantastic "friend" mode determines the strength of your play and plays to your strengths and weaknesses gradually increasing the difficulty of play as you get stronger. Fritz's coach can watch you play and make suggestions, Fritz can rate your play, analyze your games or those of top grandmasters, and you can use Fritz to connect to chessbase's online playchess server and play with human opponents of all skill levels any time of day or night throughout the world! Imagine having a top chess grandmaster at your beck and call for lessons, friendly games, or game analysis all for a *one time* cost of under fifty dollars. Strong enough to take on the world's greatest *with success* (Fritz recently tied current world champion Vladimir Kramnik in an eight game match) yet patient enough to play with and teach your ten year old daughter when she comes home from school. Need I say more?

Currently the Best

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 89 / 93
Date: August 29, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I had heard about Fritz beating many of he worlds best players but did not buy this program for a long time. At first it was too expensive. After buying this program I am ashamed to admit I ever owned Chessmaster and Battle Chess. The review on this page by "oblivion95" gives a good run down of the main features. I would just like to add a couple notes:
1. The current version comes with access to their game server (playchess.com) and it is the best internet chess playing interface I have ever used! I have used many to include USCF, ICC,Kasprovchess,yahoo, and many more.
2. It is easy for the average player to buy a program that can beat them time after time. Yes, most programs have adjustable levels but that is where the teaching stops. This program has many more teaching options.
3. The game analysis is awsome. Try this: Have chessmaster and Fritz analyze the same position from one of your games and compare the results. Better yet just save your time and money and buy Fritz.

EXCELLENT ONLINE GAME PLAY

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 64 / 65
Date: December 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

If your searching for the perfect computer chess program, there isn't one. I own Chessmaster 9000 and Fritz 8, both are very nice computer chess programs, and both could learn from each other. If your looking for a tutor, Chessmaster 9000 rules! The multimedia approach for teaching chess is excellent for both kids and adults! I would have to give Chessmaster extra points for it's multimedia approach to game analysis as well. In addition, Chessmaster 9000 will analyze your game, just as well, in a fraction of the time, compared to Fritz 8. Both programs have an excellent game play interface, but I would have to rate Fritz slightly higher for it's 3D graphics, and 3D interface... Chessmaster still needs a little work in this area. However, I'll give Chessmaster extra points for user friendliness, it is much less complicated to use in comparison to Fritz, in my opinion. Where Fritz blows the competition away, is in it's online game play. If playing against a computer grows old, Fritz comes with a one year membership to playchess.com... if you want to play other people online with a nice chess program, Fritz 8 is the program for you! However, if your looking for a tutor to learn the game of chess, even if you know absolutely nothing, Chessmaster 9000 is the program for you!

I must be missing something...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 78 / 88
Date: December 10, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I purchased Fritz 8 in large part due to the recommendations on this and other sites. I had Chessmaster 7000, but wanted to get access to the powerful analysis and better graphics that Fritz had. Here's the thing: the graphics are great, the rest makes no sense at all. I was used to the simple Chessmaster interface where you pick a personality based on approximate ELO rating, set your timer, and off you go. Not here. There are no personalities, instead you set your handicap based on 1/100ths of a pawn. So, are you 2.3 pawns better than whatever you are bench marked against? Or are you only .6 pawns better? Maybe you're half a pawn behind. Don't know? Well, figure it out fast if you want to take a crack at configuring this thing. ASIDE: The instruction manual says it's based on 1/10ths of a pawn, and gives the example that 200 would be 2 pawns, but .1 x 200 = 20, not 2. It's full of logical and grammar mistakes like that. This program is written by German programmers, and having spent a lot of time in Germany as an exchange student, I can tell you that the program has a very German "feel" to it- it makes corny remarks like "Fritz to Enterprise- better have Dr. Spock take a look at this position" and has pictures of monkeys when you set your handicap- perhaps a jeer at the player who will not take on the program at full strength. If you've spent time in Germany, you know that this is the type of humor Germans (not all of course) seem to like. Go to any post card stand in Munich and they will have postcards of monkeys I guarantee it. ANYWAY, moving on... as far as time goes, in Chessmaster it was nice to set a little countdown or some Fisher time. You can do that here as well, but only in the "blitz", "long", or "rated" modes. Here's the kicker- all of those modes have the engine at full strength, and you can't change it, so you will never, ever play those modes, except for maybe once to confirm, once and for all, that you are indeed not the next Bobby Fisher. I also tried to enable the chess coach, which is supposed to give you tips and warn you of blunders. So, I turned it on, and started playing. After a while, no corrections, so I made a small mistake. No correction. Then I hung my queen. No correction. Same thing happened when I used the "Train Openings" option. I trained the Sicilian, and opened with b3, which it correctly said was the wrong move and I should open with e4. Hey, alright! It works, right? Nope. After a few moves it entered a line I hadn't seen before, so I again hung the queen. No correction. I checked the menu, and "Train Openings" was still turned on. Now I'll be fair- I'm sure all this stuff works, and I'm sure it's a great piece of software, and I'm going to do what I can to learn how to use it. My final word of advice is this: if you've been playing a long time, and want to really analyze your club games, and want this program for the strength of it's engine, and are not itching to start playing chess: go for it- I have no doubt it is the strongest program you can buy. However, if you are a beginner or intermediate casual at-home type player, looking for a simple interface where you can be challenged by a good program (it will still beat you at its highest setting, and at many lower settings as well) go with Chessmaster 9000.

This is the best

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 56 / 58
Date: February 03, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I bought Fritz 8 a while ago and have to say this is the greatest chess software I have ever used. I have CM 9000 and 8000, Majestic Chess and even wasted my money on Kasparov Chessmate.

Fritz 8 is superior in almost all of the aspects chess software can provide.

- Installation is simple and no patches are needed. I run it on a Compaq notebook and a Dell at home. Both are XP and I have never had any trouble. CM 9000 crashed both my computers a couple of times and is still not running properly with the secoond patch they provided.

- Fritz is stronger than all of its competitors and it is by far! But don't worry, you can adjust the playing strengths infinitely or you can play in Friend Mode and Fritz 8 will automatically adjust to your own playing strengths and increase (or decrease) accordingly. This is a feature none of the competitors offer and it is great no matter how strong you play.

- The analysis functions are legendary. Gary Kasparov (who called Fritz "My iron Friend" in his latest book My Great Predecessors) and many other top players use only Fritz for their game analysis. I wonder why Gary Kasparov gave his name for the poorest chess software available (Kasparov Chessmate) instead of giving it for Fritz, the software he is using himself.

- The training functions are good for every level of player. There is no big bla bla but all advise comes straight to the point. There is opening, middle and endgame training available. The program teaches you verbally and in on screen text. The only product that has better training courses for beginners and medium players is Learn to Play Chess with Fritz and Chesster, which also uses the Fritz engine.

- The 3D boards are awesome because you can really play on them. CM 9000 offer a lot more boards in 3D but you cannot change the angle and therefore you don't have the necessary overview over the board and your position. Fritz 8 allows you to change and adjust everything. You can zoom, tilt, reverse the board, and adjust the angle to whatever degree you feel comfortable with. If you have played on the Fritz 8 true 3D board once you never want to play on any other board again.

- Fritz 8 comes with a 500,000+ game database going back to games that were played in the middle ages. The nice thing is that you can select any game from your database and with one click load it into the true 3D game interface and have Fritz re-play the game for you. You can also change the game at any stage and see how you would have done.

- For playing online Fritz 8 is the only choice because you always find a couple of thousand people playing on www.playchess.com. On CM 9000 www.ubi.com you may find up to 5 people but mostly you find 0. The interface and online training courses on www.playchess.com are great and you will always find someone of your playing level or a nice game of chess. With your purchase of Fritz 8 you get a one-year full membership free of charge (the extension for additional 12 months is $24.99). You can even see on a world map and find out where in the world people are playing online.

I bought Fritz 8 for $35.00 on Amazon and I am happy that I have spent 5 bucks more than I spent for CM 9000 and Majestic Chess for a program that is worth I would say at least double.

This Beast is Best

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 42 / 44
Date: April 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I have most of the top commercial chess programs in the world (Shredder, Fritz, Junior, Hiarcs, Chess Tiger, Deep Sjeng, Ruffian 2, Rebel and Chessmaster), and Fritz is my favorite program. I don't even use Chessmaster anymore. Fritz is a Chessbase product, so it is state-of-the art in all respects. I can't imagine why some of the other reviewers had some problems with it. Myself and my chess-playing friends have had none.

For those who are saavy about chess programs, yes, I admit that Fritz is the second-strongest program ... Shredder 8 (also a Chessbase product) is definitely stronger than Fritz, but if you aren't Gary Kasparov, who knows the difference? Besides, in my view Shredder suffers from several defects ... its principal variation (PV) in analysis can be complete rubbish (ie: hanging a queen for no compensation), although it's first move of the PV is always first-rate. Also, Shredder's playing style is "dryer" and more technical (e.g. boring) than Fritz. If you want a tip-top program that plays like a boring machine, grinding out wins, then get Shredder. If you want a program that will come at you like a doberman, then get Junior, Hiarcs or Chess Tiger. But if you want the best of both of these worlds, then get Fritz!

Hey, let's face it ... unless you are a Grandmaster, any of the top programs I named, on their top level, will tear you to tiny little pieces every time, especially when you're playing blitz. However, Fritz has many modes (like Friend, Sparring and "personalities") that can lead it to playing like you! There are dozens of ways to change or "dummy down" Fritz's play, and you can have fun with all of them. You can also use Fritz's GUI to play the many FREE winboard or UCI engines freely available on the Internet (I have about 3 dozen, but many more are available). So, it's like having a whole chess club at your disposal, and you can even have the various engines and personalities play each other in matches or tournaments, or help you play against Fritz. (I don't know about you, but I need help against the silicon beasts.)

One observation ... which program does Gary Kasparov (and other top players like Anand, Kramnik, Leko, etc) use and analyze with? Fritz. Did Chessmaster get a match with Gary Kasparov or Vladimir Kramnik? Nope ... only Fritz and Junior did. If Kasparov says Fritz analyzes the best, that's good enough for me!

Fritz's database is also very useful and it's GUI and many features are top-notch. Also, if you are a serious chess player and want to get the top chess database program, Chessbase, then Fritz will fit in seamlessly. How can you go wrong, especially at this discounted price? (Don't hold your breath looking for a discount at Chessbase...ha, ha.)

So the bottom line? Fritz is #1. Get it from Amazon! I did, and don't regret it a bit.

Best Chess Program

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 32 / 34
Date: November 29, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I have rececntly started playing chess with a club and got this program as a training tool. I couldnt find my old copy of Chessmaster 6000, so needed to get something new and will compare it to Chessmaster.

The MOST AMAZING thing about Fritz 8 is the "sparring" mode. This actually feels like playing a real person! Despite all the window dressing and the player bios, Chessmaster was never really able to accomplish this feat. Of course if you play in normal mode, Fritz will devastate you.

Another great feature is the visual opening book which lets you drill on the openings. It makes it very easy to run through the differnt variations of an opening and commit them to visual memory.

The database and analysis tools are top notch and I prefer their interface to the Chessmaster's. The various lines are color coded with statistics which makes it easy to review and make choices based upon the play of better players. Very instructive.

Frits 8 also has free 1-year of online playing which I have not yet tried. Frits will save your internet games to a private log, so you will have records of all your play!

This is a serious chess program and provides all the tools you need.

A must if you want to increase your playing level

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 23 / 23
Date: November 11, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The most impressive feature of this game is the friend mode. After you play a few games it automatically adjusts to your playing strength. As you improve, Fritz increases the playing strength so that it's always challenging but not overwhelmingly so. In addition, the friend mode is able to adjust to your level in a human-like manner. The mistakes that the program makes are similar to what you would expect from an actual human player. This is crucial, since it is probably the most frustrating problem with other programs...

Other modes are also very useful, including the sparring mode, where the program makes intentional mistakes that provide strong tactical opportunities. If you miss them, the program warns you accordingly...

Highly recommended without any reservations whatsoever

Fritz

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 23 / 26
Date: July 12, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Professional Chess Program for the serious club player. Supports DGT board (wood electronic board with piece and move recognition - hooks up to your PC - search for DGT chess to find sellers). Supports Win 2K while CM9K does not. Extremely stable - supports engine vs engine matches and engine tournaments. Supports UCI engines and most winboard engines via the wb2uci adapter. Many UCI and Winboard engines are free. There is also method to import the Chessmaster engine, but that is rather tricky for the beginners. Instructions for doing that are not documented but can be found on the web. Database capability as well.

Extremely strong program

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