Need advice Chess Software

Hi. I am an experienced chess player, 1850 USCF rating and I have decided that I want to buy a computer chess program. I have never had a chess program, and I own a Mac, but i can use boot camp to use windows programs. I do not know which program to buy, either fritz 12, rybka 4, chessmaster, shredder, etc. I want a program that can show me my mistakes, opening variants, and databases. I was hoping that someone could give me some advice on what program to buy. Thanks in advance!

I'm almost the same rating as you, but I have been using programs for a looooong time. If you can get your hands on it, then the best program by far is rybka 4.0. It has a very good database and is probably the strongest of all chess engines to this day.

Chessmaster 10th edition is probably slightly better than Deep Fritz 13, so I don't suggest getting Fritz. Chessmaster also has a few tutorials, opening, puzzles and many more and can be bought at a much cheaper price than most programs. It is a strong chess program, stronger than Fritz, computer (impossible) and many others, but not as strong as rybka, robbolito and (possible) shredder.

Thanks for the reply "Deranged"! I have heard that rybka 4.0 is the strongest. If I may ask, which programs have you had in that long time that you have used them? I know that all programs can pretty much whip my butt in chess, but do you know which ones would have good training applications that could improve one's game? Do they all come with a database as well that will show you what are the best theoretical moves as of date? You said that Chessmaster has some of this, but does rybka and Fritz have them as well and are they as good? These are the kind of things that I am looking for in a chess program so that I can improve my game and hopefully reach a title. Thanks for the help.

Rybka 4 comes with probably the best opening book of any engine out there. That's one point in it's favor. I have Fritz 12 and it comes with a decent database, but really if you're looking to invest in software for serious use, I'd also look at getting chessbase.

Chessbase is simply a database, but it's very, very good at it's job. You can search by position, opening, player, rating, etc. It's pretty much the golden standard, and the best news is that you can use an engine inside chessbase, or tie the whole database to a different GUI of your choice.

So far as programs actually go, Fritz attempts to do human annotation when you have it evaluate your games, but with only mild success. It's also extremely annoying that you have to put the CD in to launch it(At least in Fritz 12).

Rybka usually comes with the aquarium GUI, which looks to me to be pretty good. It's also the most likely for another player to be using, so you're studying the same lines(theoretically you both let it run for the same amount of time).

I've never used Chessmaster, but by word of mouth on the forums, it seems to be highly regarded against Shredder, Fritz, and others; however, it doesn't really compare in strength against Rybka.

IMO, you should consider chessbase first and foremost, then look at Rybka 4. If money is an issue, I'd still get chessbase, Rybka 2.2n is free off the rybka site, and it's still a strong enough engine to use in the meantime.

Ok, thanks for the advice. I understand that ChessBase is pretty helpful, but as for an engine to use I want to decide between Rybka 4 and Fritz 12. I understand that Rybka 4 is much stronger, but are the features that come with it better than that of Fritz 12? I know Fritz 12 comes with 12 hrs of grandmaster lectures, and a premium membership to playchess.com, but are these really good and better than the options with Rybka 4 (which I do not know of)?

Fritz12 comes with the Fritz engine and a GUI. Rybka4 is an engine only. The Fritz12 GUI is, IMO, the best out there. I've used the playchess.com feature, it's much the same as Live Chess here (except I prefer the interface). The Fritz12 GUI can talk to the Fritz12 engine and Rybka4 (and myriad others, Stockfish, Hiarcs etc). The GUI that's sold for use with Rykba4 is Aquarium. Some people like it, I don't. If you're thinking of Rybka4/Aquarium I suggest you read some comments on it and may try it out before you buy

Wait a minute. Is it true that Rybka 4 doesn't come with the Fritz 12 GUI? I have read on a couple of sites that it uses the same chessbase interface, and that the only difference is the engine and its extras. Am I wrong?

Rybka4 doesn't come with any GUI. You can use it with a GUI, such as Aquarium or the Fritz12 GUI but you will have to purchase the GUI separately. Fritz12 includes the Fritz engine and GUI. 

Eniamar: Fritz12 doesn't need the CD to launch ? I installed it and it runs off my hard disk

I was looking up Rybka 4 on USCF sales.com and in the description it says "Rybka 4 is delivered with the new user-friendly Fritz 12 interface." Is the "fritz 12 interface" not the same thing as Fritz GUI? I do not know much about chess engines and GUI's, but am i correct in saying this? Thanks for your help.

fritz 12 interface = fritz 12 gui

   Before I got Fritz 12, I heard it was better than Chessmaster, which was the reason why I got it. Afterwards, I am hearing CM is better than Fritz 12. I use both and it covers any gaps the other one doesn't. 

   -Mark

Ahh, didn't know that Fritz GUI and chessbase interface were one and the same. Thanks Syrtis!

Common, any free engine will be enough for your purposes! And speaking of engines, I've heard Svidler once saying that he prefers Firebird over Rybka. Well, not to say it is completely free.

On another side, I think it's a shame to install Windows on a Mac :((

I have just run a series of engine matches between firebird and houdini and Houdini won every time with ease. Firebird was my previous champion beating Rybka 4 usually in tight matches with Fritz 12 GUI and using rybka 4 books and chessbase bases in all tests Houdini and Firebird are free engines and the Rybka and Fritz gui's/interfaces are both identical and come from Chessbase. Only difference is the engine and opening books they come with.  so go for the Rybka 4 one from Chessbase.

My rankings on home tests are 

1) Houdini (By a mile)

2) Firebird

3) Rybka 4

If you are looking for the strongest engine, that is Rybka 4. Fritz 12 is quite strong too, and unless you are a grandmaster, there is probably little difference between Rybka and Fritz. Chessmaster is weaker than both and IMO, is more for beginners and intermediate players. It comes with a number of tutorials, and if you are playing against the computer it has more 'personalities' to play against. But both Rybka and Fritz are going to be superior at analyzing your games.

I personally prefer the Chessbase/Fritz GUI to Aquarium, but you can purchase Rybka with Chessbase GUI anyways. You can download Chessbase Light for free, which is a database program. If you purchase Rybka or Fritz, you can load the openning book into Chessbase Light, which is what I did. Chessbase Light will give you an idea of what Chessbase GUI looks like. It is definately the most eye pleasing interface.

Okay, I have a question to build off of the OP.  I also run mac, and I'm looking for a program to play against and run analysis (analysis being the more important part).  I don't really want to have to dual boot to windows- what are my options?  I heard a rumor that rybka can be run on a mac because it can be run on linux, and there is a free version of it, does anyone know anything about this?  Thanks.

Free Interface:

http://www.playwitharena.com/directory/download.htm

Free engines:

http://www.chesslogik.com/index.htm

http://www.cruxis.com/chess/houdini.htm

If you have half an idea what you're doing, you should be up and running in under an hour. Geeks should manage this in about fifteen minutes.

Job done. 

The Fritz12 GUI is similar to, but not the same as, the Chessbase 11 program.

$49:  Fritz 12 (the program) is an engine, GUI, tactics trainer, is able to load opening trees and books, etc.  You can also load multiple other engines into the Fritz 12 program alongside the Fritz 12 engine and run them separately, simultaneously, against one another.

$179 Chessbase 11 (starter package) up to $269 (mega package) (into which you can install your Fritz 12 or any other engine) is the database management program and manipulator.  http://chessbase-shop.com/en/products/5788  and see the explanation here about the engine management within cb11: http://www.cblivestreams.de/cb11eng11

I wish I had bought Chessbase 11 and installed my engines separately, rather than buying the Fritz 12 program.  Maybe I still will.  I have tried using the Fritz12 program for managing my games libraries and databases but it's unwieldly. 

想下载fritz12不知道在哪里可以找到...希望有的朋友可以帮忙找到e—mail address：417171390@qq.com（英语不好请原谅）