Well, I’m sure there is nothing new about my questions and I’m sure that the answer to these questions ocassionally changes. I am currrently using the “Chess Magnet School”. I like the format and the many evaluations that you recieve after you complete more material. I’ve been told to visit a number of sites and there are just to many for a relative new player to evaluate correctly. I was taught the basics of chess as a child and played only ocasionally with my father… I have now been trying to understand more about chess and what I learned as a child over the past one year. I play only ocassionally online. I really would like to know a good site to paly others on. Are they all the same? Tnx
So what do all of you experienced players think.
Fritz?, Chessbase? Both? Chessmaster 10,11,Collectors Ed or Grandmaster.
Chessplay.com, Instantchess.com, and many, many others… any advice on where to start in this maize of information? Do I really need to spend 400 dollars on chessbase? if so… ok …but why is it so important… Fritz? ok… Which ones General, openings endings middle, 12? etc???
Your help in navigating this maze of information is truly appreciated. If you or your son were starting over… with the wealth of information in books and online available… If cost was not particularly an issue… how would you like to learn to play chess… private instruction, ??? computer or websites as primary or as a suppliment…etc…
Thank you in advance for your time and for sharing your knowledge and experience…
Which site is the best to use to play chess with others to learn from playing online?
I llive in Dallas Texas if that matters at all… Having a hard time finding a club. Dallas Club supports tournaments and notheing else. Do I need to join a club? Should I try to play tournaments? How much should I try to understand before I try to play in a tournament?
I’ll give this a try, but remember that what works for one person may not work for you.
Because I prefer slower chess time controls (between 2-days per move up to 30 days) I enjoy using GameKnot.com It not only offers a great way to play chess online, but they offer a pretty good game database for members to use in learning what was played by others in a similar opening or position.
But I also use Itsyourturn.com, Playchess.com (Chessbase site), Chess.com which has all kinds of helpful articles that might interest you. I’ve belonged to Internet Chess Club (ICC) also, but I’m waiting for my tax return so I can renew my dues there. And I could name a couple more sites but I think you get the point.
As for software, such as Fritz, Shredder, Chessbase (database program), or even the Chess Assistant Pro with Deep Rybka…the bottom line is before you invest in one of these you should ask yourself what are your plans for using it? It is probably true of most players that they do not fully understand all of the capabilities a database like Chessbase offers, so would you really get a useful tool for your chess study? Is it worth the several hundred dollars you’ll spend or should you save it for other useful things (lessons from a GM or other master rated player)?
To be honest, I have both Fritz 12 and Chessbase to help me, but it hasn’t been of much benefit so far. I’m still a low rated player who knows very little of how to use them in any beneficial way. I certainly can’t beat the computer when I play it, so what good is trying that. There is one thing I do like very much is the fact that there are some really good DVD lessons (done by GM’s and IM’s) that are made for Fritz that can be very instructive. However, they get somewhat expensive after you buy enough of them.
There are also some very capable free chess engines that allow you to either play against the computer or perhaps more useful analyze positions to see what all they can find. I use Houdini 1.5 inside of Arena 3.0…it’s free and works great. I also have Stockfish and a few others. But I’m still a weak player who doesn’t really benefit from them as well as I could. And that’s the point of what I’m trying to say…there is plenty of chess goodies out here, plenty of web sites, but you have to know what your wanting to do first.
Some players might tell you to simply invest in some books on tactics and strategy, as well as a good book on endgames. I have done both…Chessbase, Fritz, and lots of books…but I still struggle. Maybe you and others will have better results!!
Chess playing sites for: Correspondence: Chessok.com and Gameknot are two popular and very good sites. Each has learing tools that are accessible at different membership levels. Each also has real time playing. There are many other sites as well.
Real Time: again there are many choices for free (yahoo games for example and free internet chess server). Playchess is good but, even with a premium membership, you will not be able to chat at certain levels or enter certain “rooms” unless you have a high enough level (usually Bishop +) which is gained by frequency of playing on the site plus rating gains. I have raised the inequity of this compared to full access as with ICC and ChessOK (Convecta) Playing Zone. They are considering changing their policy but don’t hold your breath. Playing Zone is excellent and used by many Russian and Central European players.
UBI (Chessmaster) has an online playing ability, but it is quirky in my experience.
ICC is expensive and has lost about 30% of it’s membership by accounts in the chess press that I’ve seen. IMO, it is not worth the money today given the alternatives. Also, I have always found its user interface clunky.
Chess Programs: Many good ones to choose from. Fritz 12 has a new GUI that was developed in response to the Aquarium GUI with Rybka from ChessOK. One really neat thing about Fritz is its ability to “learn” from your play and adjust its handicapping to always give you a realistic challenge to develop your skills.
Chessmaster has several excellent training modules by Josh Waitzkin and Larry Evans. It also has an opening tutorial that is quite good for beginners and as a general reference. What I don’t like about Chessmaster, and this is confirmed by many users I’ve spoken with, it that its play levels are only accurate until the late middle game and endgame when the program appears to go up to a very strong level after playing the opening and early middle game at the more accurate level selected by the user.
Aquarium with Rybka 4 is excellent and fun to use. As a teaching program it is probably better for more advanced players.
Database Programs: There are many, both commercial and freeware. There was a discussion on another thread recently that discussed Chessbase 11, Chess Assistant 11 and Chessbase Light Premium. Take a look at it.
Books: Ah, if you have money to burn and limitless shelf space, you will be in heaven. I would recommend several books to start. My System by Nimzowich(sp?) Questions of Modern Chess Theory by Isaac Lipnitsky How to Think in Chess by Przewoznik Modern Chess Openings (MCO)
Everyman Chess has many excellent ebooks using the Chessbase software. It’s nice to play through variations on the computer screen rather than having to set up the board. BTW, The Art of Attack is available here as an ebook.
You don’t need to spend $400 on ChessBase! Stockfish is a open source server (completely free!), and there are many free PGN readers.
You’d probably benefit most at this stage from playing other people face-to-face, perhaps supplemented by reading a couple books. The Dallas Chess Club’s Friday night events are absolutely wonderful, but might feel a bit like a shark tank. But I’m sure you could find folks there interested in casual play on other nights of the week.
That matters very little. You need to play over the board in person or over the Internet. Study endgames and concepts of opening play. Consider focusing for a while on perhaps the Kings Indian Attack and the Colle or London System as white. As Black you might want to focus on two King Pawn and two Queen Pawn defenses. Consider the Center-Counter with 3…d6 and either the French or Caro Kahn. For 1d4 consder the Slav or Queen’s Gambit Declined.
When the great Belgian cyclist Eddy Merckx was asked how to become a great cyclist he responded, “Ride lots.” For chess, play lots over the board.
So, Thanks to all of you for your advice and I do appreciate the help and advice on how to play better, which online live programs are better, free or not, and which books, which dvd’s, which clubs or other modes of play are best.
I will try to take atvantage of the Dallas Chess Club friday night events and at least meet some people I can play with …“casually” durring the week… I will check out …stockfish and houdini and look at a couple of the books that have been suggested …
I’m still trying to figure out if I need to consider Fritz as a computer software chess program instead of chessmaster… as someone said it seems “quirky” to me… unnatural… when I play it at lower levels it seems to play “like a computer” for the first forty or so moves… difficult for me and then… it gives up and lets you do what ever you want… at higher levels I can see how it wouyld play then… “acurately” for 40 and then turn up the volume…I appreciate any help in helping me obtain the best one for me… I think I’m probably an intermediate player…
I truly appreciate everyone’s help and advice… there are so many books… so many programs and so many sites…thanks again…
I use Fritz to analyze my games, but I rarely play against it. I agree with you that its play at lower levels feels very unnatural.
If you join ICC, the client program (called Dasher) has an offline option as well as letting you play online. Its offline players are computer opponents at different rating levels. I think they are a lot more fun to play against than Fritz.
Continued Thanks for your comments and advice. I’ve looked now at Playchess.com, Fics, ICC, Chessmaster, Playzone, Gameknot, Chessok, instantchess.com, and a couple of others… still haven’t made up my mind… Guess it does not really matter which. I probably won’t know how I like them till I try them out for a while… Some are more expensive then others, however the interfaces claim to be better… Play chess has a nice interface look albeit the chat ability is compromised… I’m concentrating on playing so much that I seldom chat at this point… so?? ICC is a little expensive but offers a ton of activities, many of the videos are quite a distance above my ability to understand…
If Fritz is not that much fun to play and is just used for analysis? I’m not sure I’m ready to pay for it IE if the two free Houdini and stockfish… are close… So I’m torn between Chessmaster Grandmaster Edition or Fritz…
Online… I think I’ll just toss a coinl… lots of good ones
It seems that playing across the board like was advised me will lend me the best practice, fun and information. I’m calling a couple of numbers I found through this site for clubs in other suburbs of dallas that offer times that are convienient in towns not too far away. I hoping thiis will work out. Thanks again for all your advice
One way to use the playchess online environment is to buy a shrink-wrapped older version of Fritz on eBay. You can usually get 'em pretty cheap, and they include a year’s playchess membership. As I write this, a Fritz10 is available for $13.47 with free shipping.
LOL! I just bought a Fritz11 today at Target to give as a prize in the ladder tournament at my high school club. It cost $9.98. I don’t think I’ll ever pay full price for Fritz again.
Hi Everyone,
I have really appreciated everyone’s help in getting me started again. You know… it is my impression that things have changed a great deal over the past few years to 5 years. Schools are teaching more programs, software is mre sophisticated and obtainable, chess is more popular… So… the rankings are not the same in my opinion
I used to think I was an intermediate player… and now I think I’m more of a “beginner” with some experience…
I found a site, “Chess Central” that gives a great definition of the novice, beginner, intermediae, and advanced players. It suggest Chessmaster for “lower level players” in the novice and beginner catagories and chessbase systems, fritz, hiarch, shredder and something else for more advanced and experienced player who have been as it described, “around the block already”… This is the same advice I got here from Chess Spawn… thank you
For anyone asking this same question with all the available software and sites , I thought it offered a good explanation.
I would like to say that I continue to enjoy working all the puzzles, and reading the lessons I am studying on…chessmagnetschool.com
I like the interactive learning and feedback that it gives me and the lessons have been very good. It is quite reasonable…“free for first 30days” and as little a 6/month for a long as you need it or cheaper of course if you by 3 mos to a year at a time. … if anyone chooses to do this… be sure to download mozilla firefox browser… there are directions there for this option… just do it and save yourself the headache of trying get the program to work well with explorer…this is the old netscape browser and just works better with their program…
Well, thanks for everything … I’ll keep in touch and be back when I feel srong enough to ask about private lessons… to me seems I should study enough to be able to get more from instructor who doesn’t need to be teaching me vocabulary or chess notation skills…I’m not quite that new … but you get the point.
have a great day …hope maybe this helps someone else.
One more or so update,
Well my new Chessmaster software should arrive today and I am anxious to get started. There is a tournament in dallas this weekend that I am considering. Though I’ve never once played in one and have never met anyone there. The only adult club I can find in Dallas is a tournament club only… all others are restricted to children… so… in order to meet some people to gain some raport with to play accross the board chess… I’m going to enter a tournament… what the hey… right? Hard to believe in a city of this size I can’t find an adult’s club… I’lll keep looking.
I’ve tried Gameknot… and have gotten smashed 3 times so far. I’m still reading and practicing. I will try a different online chess server today fics and see if I like it any better. Or maybe the software I recieve today will help in that direction.
I have found a few GM’s in the area online and they are willing to teach for 50/hr… probably the going rate I guess. But, not quite ready for that yet… soon … I am going through as many of the chess puzzles and quizs and lessons on ChessMagnetSchool.com that I can… I have reached the 1000 ranking… no skill particularyly required… mostly endurance and dilligence… I’ve leaRNED A LOT. Things I’ve forgotten and things I somehow failed to learn
Last but not least in my research for a chess software program appropriate for beginners discovering chess… I find that for the price … you should buy both Chessmaster Grandmaster Edition. online for about 17 shipped and Fritz 10 for about 10, or Fritz 11 for approximately 20 shipped and not worry about which is better or more suited for you… You can get the large database programs and other extras later… for now like all of you have said… play…play and play and have fun…
The responder below makes a great point! You sure don’t have to buy both programs, I just mean for the money, you could buy both and decide which one you like to play best… One at a time of course would be logical.
I don’t know what extra goodies you get with Chessmaster, but with the various older Fritz versions, you do get the large database – it’s just missing the last “x” years since the version you ordered was issued. This should not make any difference until one becomes quite strong OTB. And I’m not quite seeing why one would need two separate programs. Either would probably do just fine.
