Fritz 16

What's the release date for Fritz 16? 

I hate to buy a 2 year old program, only to have a new version come out the next month! 

I don't have any inside information, but a November release of a new Fritz version, in time for the Christmas buying season, is almost as consistent as the sun rising every morning.

Thanks, that sounds like a well-informed guess, which is as good as I think I can hope for!

Good question…. I wonder if Fritz 16 will come out at the end of the year, I guess time will tell.

Looks like the release date is the 28th of November 2017 (unconfirmed?)

https://www.amazon.de/ChessBase-Fritz-16-PC-Schachprogramm/dp/3866816081

Dieser Artikel erscheint am 28. November 2017.
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Sold also here.

https://www.topschach.de/fritz-16-p-3831.html?language=en

I’m not a big fan of Fritz anyway. I’ve used it on database.chessbase.com, and the evaluations seem kooky, as if no human would come close to these figures.

I just pre-ordered Fritz 16. I presently have Fritz 12. So, I hope I didn't waste my money. I guess Fritz 12 came out in 2009. I would hope 8 years is enough to make some improvements.

I have no idea what AsmFish is? I looked at Wikipedia and still didn't understand, but other than using a laptop I don't know much about computers. And, I have no idea what GUI means either. I guess a google search shows graphic user interface. I am not sure what the advantage there is either.

I haven't used AsmFish, but I hear it's Stockfish rewritten in assembly code. So it's the same as Stockfish, but maybe a tiny bit faster. Maybe 10-20 elo increase? Is that enough to get you excited about AsmFish? I guess it depends on the person.

On my old PC, 1 thread, I got about a 50% increase. (asmFishW_2017-10-04_popcnt vs. Stockfish 8 popcnt). I got 44% compared to the latest Stockfish Dev. What's that, maybe 20 to 25 elo?

(I don't know what the speed increase would be on multiple cores.)

https://www.amazon.com/ChessBase-Fritz-16-Chess-Software/dp/3866816316

Fritz 16 looks so happy! 

Chess programs can be a little confusing, especially chessbase products.  To clarify for those that are interested....

Chessbase basically has two Graphic User Interface programs (GUI):

#1 is Chessbase (currently Chessbase 14), this is most often considered the BEST commercial program for game analysis and database software.  This is what most chess professional use.  This is expensive and not necessary for every chess player that wants a chess program.  This is the most functional chess software on the market and is for super users that spend lots of time analyzing games.

#2 "Fritz", this is confusing, because the program is sold under different names based on the chess engine it is packaged with.  This has some functions the #1 programs does not have like friendly play (look it up on youtube), it will analyze games very well, you can install any UCI chess engine, and it includes a database.  The analysis and database functions are not as powerful as the #1 product, but sufficient for many casual less computer capable players.  This is a great product for someone that wants a product to play games against a computer engine, computer assisted analysis of their games and other games, a database and database tools to make their own database, and computer assisted study of every phase of the game. 

Chessbase offers many other products that all complement the two primary products.  They have a third product for kids that I have never looked at, its called "Fritz and Chester", this is for kids that want to learn how to play and know nothing about the game.  They also have a less expensive version of Fritz called "Fritz for FUN", not really clear on the difference between the regular Fritz and Fritz for FUN.

commercial competition is:

Chess King - I own an older version of this, it not as powerful as the chessbase products, but user interface is much easier especially for younger kids or adults that have trouble with computers.  This is competition for the Fritz #2 product.

Chess Assistant - Have never owned a copy of this I cannot comment.  I'm pretty sure this is competition for the #1 product.

Freeware:

Arena - this is very dated, but a FREE GUI that will run many different chess engines.  This is very similar to older versions of the #2 chessbase product, like 15 years ago.

Chess Engines, there are many of these, the BIG three right now are:

Stockfish - open source and free

Komodo - commercial, older versions are free to download from their website

Houdini - commercial, original version is free to download from their website

There are also many resources on the internet that I am not permitted to mention,  This website is one of those resources.

If you have Fritz 15 I wouldn't be in a rush to purchase Fritz 16, unless you just have to have the most recent software.  I'm sure the chess engine will have some improvements.  Looks like chessbase has made some changes to the "front end" of user interface of the Fritz #2 product.  Seems like an attempt to make it more user friendly for those that find computers not so friendly.  Chessbase may have improved the analysis tools, if so, it may be worth the update for Fritz 15 owners... still not enough information about the new program to say for sure.

Does anyone know if it will be possible to customise the look of the board with your own plain Windows-based colours? You can do this in CB14 for example. I hate the standard CB board colours.

How useful do you find the "verbose" analysis feature in the current Fritz?

Also; having looked at the screenies with the yellow background and the cartoon-like Fritz, it looks like they've dumbed the interface down and made it kinda childish?

Fritz 16 has not been released for sale yet.  I'm sure you can change the board like every other version of the software.  Highly unlikely they would remove this...

Not enough information yet on the new product.  From the screen shots on Amazon, it does look like the user interface may have been "dumbed" down.   Seems to have a few things missing from the user interface ribbon.  Like Analysis, Training, Insert, and Engine.  Seems odd.

Thanks Kenardi. Yeah, I knew it hasn't been released yet, I just wondered how useful players are finding the verbose auto analysis feature in Fritz 15, because it's likely to be similar in Fritz 16.

I see, I use chessbase 14 to analyze my games... Fritz has always been humorous with its analysis commentary.  I honestly can't say I noticed a difference... then again, I wasn't looking.   I purchased Fritz 15 for the modifications made to the Friend Mode play against the computer, found under Training.  I like friend mode because it automatically adjusts the engine to simulate playing against another human "equal" to yourself.  I like playing slow games from time to time and my computer is often the only willing opponent I can find :-)   So, I appreciate improvements to this part of the software.

Thanks. Yeah the Friend mode is interesting. I already have that on my Android phone with Shredder and it works out quite well.

Guys Stockfish is no longer number 1. Check out an engine by name Sugar XPro 1.3 64-bit... This engine beats the shi* out of Stockfish 8 popcnt.