A question from a (sort of) 'noob': I played competitvely many years ago in the age before chess databases! Now I'm starting to play again, I'm interested in feedback on whether it is worth buying Chessbase.

 

From the little research I've done so far , Chessmaster or Fritz augmented by Chessbase Light or other low-cost (or zero-cost) programs, and downloads from chessgames.com (by opening or player of interest) would seem to satisfy most needs.

 

Is there really use in a database with millions of games, most of which are irrelevant to your repertoire?

 

For those who've purchased Chessbase, what makes it worthwhile to you?

 

I have purchased fritz 5.32 (something like that) and fritz 9.  The database is very extensive.  I also realize that fritz does not have as big of a database as others you can buy or whatnot.

I enjoy it because of how far you can narrow down the opening systems.  You can sometimes go up to move 3 or 4 still narrowing down your search for openings.  However, I have no explored it enough to search by player (not really into knowing the players too well).

I think fritz 5.32 is like 10 dollars now, so I would say that if you are looking for a chessbase with many thousands of games (maybe millions) I would recomend this.  And if it is not your style then you wasted 10 bucks  (i hope 10 bucks will not break the bank).  Basic, simple, cheap.

Howlingbanshee

 

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm not particularly concerned about the cost. I already have a copy of Chessmaster 8000 lying around which I think has about half a million games. Given that I can supplement this with more recent master games downloaded from the Internet, I am curious to hear from Chessbase users who think it's worth spending something like $400 for the database with millions of games and what is the additional functionality they get which makes it worthwhile.

I think that the database features on Fritz are enough for 99% of chessplayers.  Unless you are at master level already, buying a database program is just throwing money away in my opinion.

 

If you really want to see for yourself you could try out a free database program. 

I'm curious to know if anyone here uses Chess Assistant in lieu of Chessbase, and, if so, what are its advantages?

i have chess assistant 9 and i think it is a good program.i think the main advantage of assistant over base is the fact that shreeder 9.11 is stronger than fritz 5.32 and crafty.and the fact that it comes with more engines to analyse and play against.it is also only about a 130 dollars less!!

There's no need to spend hundreds of dollars for a games database. You can get a free database with over 3.5 million games.

 

I personally find the database with millions of games useful. There are times when I am analyzing a variation and find that the only people who have played it are in the 2100-2300 range and even in a database of 3.5 million games there are only a dozen games or so. 

there is also a free data base called jose which can be had with about 3 million games and engines to analyse for free.

I use Chessbase 9. What makes it worth $400 to me?

 

1. It costs $200 from chessbase.com... I received it as a gift.

2. It comes with a 3.5 million game database that's updated weekly for you.

3. It makes it easy to find games and statistics for a specific endgame.

4. It makes it easy to find games and statistics for an opening line.

5. It makes it easy to analyze games with multiple strong engines.

6. Annotation features likes highlighted squares, arrows, variations, etc.

7. And there are the odd features such as player profiles, diagram generation, playchess membership, quickly finding games in your repertoire, etc.

You could do many of these things for free by combining SCID, Arena, chessgames.com, chessup.net, Chess Position Trainer, and games you find online.

I would definitely take the professional software if it was gifted to me. . On the other hand, I am very cheap -- and there are a number of things that are in line for my money ahead of chess. So I manage to do the things you list above to my satisfaction for free. Though I admit that "to my satisfaction" is probably not with the ease and aptitude that you do them with.

in reply to loomis's comment i think that the critical thing is what you want from the software?once that has been answered then one can figure out what software is the best for them wether it be free or commercial.

what i find amazing is what is available out there that is free.if one is willing to learn how to work some of the freeware chess programs out there one can do almost anything and possiablly anything that can be done with the commerical programs.and some of the strongest engines are free as well and it is much easier to find engines that play below gm strength to play against amongst the free engines then the commercial programs.

Hi can anyone recommend a simple free download 'analysis board' tool which can be used off-line ?

I travel a lot by air & train and I would like to be able to play out the games in the chess books I am studying with a chess-set on my computer.

Suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

murphypt, I use chesspad for exactly that purpose.

Thanks likesforests, that's just what I needed !