Stockfish is free and you can download it. However, I would recommend using Chess.com's live server engine. You can create an "analysis" session and set up any position, play through your OTB games, analyze positions, and even download pgns and FENs from there. It's pretty robust and I think it should meet your basic needs of what you've asked above. Hope this helps!
Chess engine?
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Also, chess.com's live analysis comes with a version of stockfish.
I use Droid Fish on the Android and you can get Arena with Stockfish for Windows. You can also use chess.com as suggested above.
Dec 19, 2016
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#5
Rodolfopaiz, trying to visualize moves in your head without a board and read through a chess book the way you read an ordinary book is tremendously difficult. It is the greatest thing you could do for your practice. It requires a lot of effort and trying. Until you can do that I recommend a little magnetic portable chess set or any portable chess set like a chess passport that you can carry with you at all times and wherever you go for the purpose of going through the moves when you are stuck trying to visualize in your head and are unable to.....
Dec 20, 2016
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#6
Stockfish is maybe the strongest chess engine out there. Said this, what I need (yes, i'm a ~1100 too!) are two main things: analyzing my own games, thinking about my plans and what get wrong or what could i do in a position and then, after my analysis, tell chess.com, Fritz, Arena, Tarrasch to use Stockfish. Believe me, I found so much interesting things! I don't need advanced books but basic books (Pandolfini, just an example) and a LOT of analysis.
My fault? I don't play so often. At least, not until few months ago.
Dec 20, 2016
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#7
I think the software and chess engine topic is (or was) covered in the prodigy program somewhere. As someone else mentioned, the analysis board on chess.com is really good. I don't know why Silman's The Amateur's Mind is so difficult for me. I fall asleep every time I read it.
Dec 20, 2016
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#8
One thing that I am doing now is only purchase books from Everyman Chess, because they also provide a database with all the PGNs. It just makes a lot of sense to do that way.
Unfortunatly, Silman's books do not have this option. What i have been doing is opening on Kindle on computer, copying and pasting the text on ChessBase. Usually I need to fix a few things, but it also works.
Dec 20, 2016
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#9
Thanks to everyone for the feedback and suggestions -- especially the "tough love" from a couple of you! :-)
I've only been playing for 5 months, and I'm trying to put about 8-10 hours a week into improving my chess. That means 25 tactics/day on Chess.com, 3-4 concurrent daily games, and watching as much of the Prodigy program as I can. Not as much OTB or live play as I'd like yet, but then my time only goes so far.
I enjoy immersing myself in somewhat more advanced topics as I go along, so they have time to sink in; and I am (happily) seeing my play improve pretty quickly. My goals are a Chess.com rating of 1500 and play in at least one real-life OTB tournament by the end of 2017. That's why I'm putting a little time (not much) into The Amateur's Mind (TAM). Gradual growth.
Still, there are times when I'm offline (air travel for one) and would like to spend a little time with a book or an app testing things. In particular, I know all of ONE opening so far and would like to learn a couple more. Based on your recommendations so far, I looked at Tarrasch and Arena and I'm going to start with Tarrasch for now.
Thanks again for the recommendations and the contributions!
I have a couple of tasks which I'm thinking require a "chess engine"... but tell me if I'm barking up the wrong tree, please. First, I'm trying to work through Silman's "The Amateur's Mind", but I'm finding it next-to-impossible to follow the game moves in my head. I'd like a digital chess board that I can set up with any position and then make moves for both sides, so I can follow along with all the examples in the book. And second, I'm going to start to work on learning new openings, and I'd like something to both help me do that and to analyze my moves.
Thanks in advance!