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reviews of 1 December 2019
Wilhelminalaan 33John Elburg
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Chess DVD's
Fritz 17 - The giant PC chess program, now with Fat Fritz
2019
ChessBase
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price:€79.90
€67.14 without VAT (for customers outside the EU)
$75.87 (without VAT)
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
Minimum (without Raytracing and FatFritz): Dual Core, 2 GB RAM, Windows 7 or 8.1,
DirectX11, graphics card with 256 MB RAM, DVD-ROM-drive, Windows Media Player
9 and internet access.
Recommended: PC Intel i5 or AMD Ryzen 3 (Quadcore), 8 GB
RAM, Windows 10 with 64-Bit (current version), NVIDIA RTX graphic card with 6 GB
RAM and current driver (FatFritz on older NVIDIA cards or older graphic cards:
drastic loss of performance, on CPU only for demonstration purposes) , Windows
Media Player 11, (DVD-ROM drive) and internet access. System requirements for
ChessBase Account: Internet access and up-to-date browser, e.g. Chrome, Safari.
Runs on Windows, OS X, iOS, Android and Linux.
The new Fritz17 is astounding and can be in no way compared with it’s previous edition, the use of latest technologies as brute force search and evaluations technology,and Alpho Zero inspired Fat Fritz techniques have made this chess engine unbelievable strong. Fat Fritz is based on LCZero. LCZero is an open source project licensed through the GPL v3 with all due rights. Source code of LCZero and the modifications for Fat Fritz can be found at Github.
As correspondence chess or better said engine chess players I was very curious about Fritz17,every correspondence has positions he or she does not like and I was surprised that Fritz 17 provided with unbelievable hidden moves.
The modern chess player of today does learn chess from books as we did once long ago,no it is much better to play as Alpho Zero.
Other novelties in Fritz 17 are Convenient one-click management of your opening repertoires,Opening training with success control, measure your progress with e-learning technology,Hundreds of ready-made repertoires included • “Blitz & Train“: Fritz generates tactical puzzles from your own blitz games,Perfect analysis of endgames with up to seven pieces, access to “Let‘s Check“ • Improved 3D chess boards thanks to real-time ray tracing plus a six months ChessBase Premium Account Membership: Now with 11 ChessBase web apps for mobile training, analysis,live chess and much more!
Our brain is able to learn from our chess engine,the user will develop after a while a natural feeling with engine moves and don’t forget the engine is able to through up obstacles to avoid loosing where the human prefers a simple resign.Thanks to computers nearly every strong chess player analyses his or her losses with a strong engine and discovers a wide variety of tougher moves that would have put up more resistance.{Chess Logic in Practice by Erik Kislik Gambit 2019}Lovers of 3D enertainment need a powerful graphics card with NVIDIA chip but Fritz 17 did run perfect in my ChessBase 15!
Pleasant to mention are the various installation possibilities so Windows 10 is recommended but not required.
Useful Tutorials about Fritz 17:
All Fritz 17 Tutorials: en.chessbase.com/products/fritz-17
All Fat Fritz Tutorials and Guidance to optimize the Fat Fritz Engine: en.chessbase.com/products/fat-fritz
Setup Fritz 17 Database
Setup Fritz 17 Openings Book
Fritz 17 for Windows 10
Setup Fritz 17 (Windows 7 and 8, 64bit)
Setup Fritz 17 (Windows 7 and 8, 32bit)
Setup Fat Fritz
For the good order Fat Fritz is an extra included engine! Like Leela!
Conclusion: In one word: Unbelievable package!
Mega Database 2020
2019
ChessBase
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price:€189.90
€159.58 without VAT
System requirements: Pentium PC, 2 GB RAM, Windows 10, 8 or 7 and Fritz 13, 14, 15, 16 or ChessBase 15, 14, 13 or 12 and DVD drive.
This brand new Mega Database 2020 comes with over 8 million games, where over 85,000 of these games cover more than excellent annotations, often
analysed by the top players in the world!
Interesting to mention are the high quality references to the games, and correct name spelling of the players.
The latest games of this DVD comes from the middle of October 2020,and that is more than enough to keep abreast of all the latest developments!
Included is the online Mega-Update 20120: With ChessBase15,14, 13 or 12 you can download games for Mega 2020 for the whole year, good for around 250,000 games!
So Mega 2020 will remain up to date till December next year!You only have to use your Mega 2020 key for the update service, that means
5000 new games are dropping automatically in every week.
Included is also a player lexicon for download with over 586,000 player names and 40,000 player photos but pity enough this only works with latest versions as ChessBase 14 and 15.
Conclusion:This is a ChessBase top product! Highly recommended!
ChessBase Magazine issue 192
November - December 2019
ChessBase
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
ISSN 1432-8992
Euro 19.95
System requirements:
Minimum: Pentium III 1 GHz, 1 GB RAM, Windows Vista, XP (Service Pack 3), DirectX9 graphic card with 256 MB RAM, DVD-ROM drive, Windows Media Player 9, ChessBase 12/Fritz 13 or included Reader and internet connection for program activation. Recommended: PC Intel Core i7, 2.8 GHz, 4 GB RAM, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10, DirectX10 graphic card (or compatible) with 512 MB RAM or better, 10
The main database file {from various top tournaments as the Russian Superfinals and FIDE World Cup},data collect comes with a pleasant collection of 1949 entries where a 28 of them are more than excellent analysed as we can see in the following example:
Giri,Anish (2779) - Nepomniachtchi,Ian (2774) [D83]
Sinquefield Cup 7th Saint Louis (11), 28.08.2019
[Giri,Anish]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 0-0 6.Rc1 Be6 At some point this has become trendy and it has quickly established itself as the main line against White's Bf4/Rc1 setups. 7.c5 The most principled. The pawn push is justified by the fact that Black has misplaced his c8 bishop for this structure. On e6 it disturbs the thematic e7-e5 advance. [7.Qb3 c5 8.Qxb7 Here Black gets excellent play with 8...Qb6! but it's important to not include cxd4 exd4 as my opponent once did against Aronian in Wijk aan Zee, as the c1 rook is going to be protected there.(8...cxd4 9.exd4 Qb6 10.Qxa8!) ] 7...c6 8.Bd3 b6 9.Na4 This is a new move, previously White has only tried the more natural way to reinforce the far advanced c5 pawn with b2-b4. 9...Nfd7 Black has too many alternatives to even mention. 10.h3 I had various options here, but finally settled on this move. I had also considered queen moves Qd2/Qc2 when I wasn't sure how to evaluate the sequence 10...Bg4!? 11.h3 e5! 12.dxe5 Be6. The moves with the g1 knight would also run into ...Bg4!? and so I was mainly hesitating between h3 and a3, when after both Black would probably capture on c5 and then try to develop his b8 knight and push c5. 10...bxc5 11.Nxc5 Nxc5 12.Rxc5 Qb6 13.Qc2 Rc8 14.Nf3 Nd7 I must confess I underestimated the whole 17...Nc5!? idea and was anticipating mainly 14...Na6. [14...Na6 15.Bxa6 Qxa6 16.b4 (or the simple 16.a3!? Bf5 17.Qc3) 16...Bf5 17.Qc3 the dark square dominance looks good and Be4xf3 I was not so much worried about, as eventually my king will sit tight on g2.] 15.Rc3 c5 16.0-0 [16.b3 deserved attention, but I still wasn't sure if 17...Nc5, which my opponent later played, was so great for him. 16...Nf6 17.0-0 cxd4 18.Nxd4 Ne4 also leads to complications where Black should eventually be fine.] 16...c4 17.b3 Nc5! I sort of saw this move from some point onwards, but I thought one of the many options I have would give me a pleasant position. Upon a closer look, I dismissed all of them and had come to the realization that Black is just fine. [Before I noticed the move in the game I was mainly anticipating 17...cxd3 18.Rxc8+ Nf8 19.Rxf8+ Bxf8 20.Qxd3 Rc8 with some compensation for the pawn, but obviously such a scenario didn't worry me much. It is a pawn after all.] 18.bxc4 [18.dxc5 cxd3 19.cxb6 dxc2 works just fine for Black.] 18...Nxd3 19.c5 I wasn't too optimistic here, but White should not be worse and at least I would have some trumps in the arising position. [Originally I thought the simple 19.Qxd3 with idea 19...dxc4 20.Qc2 would give me a pleasant position, which is likely the case, but then I realized that trading a pair of rooks will change the situation dramatically - 19...Rxc4! and here allowing a passed c-pawn is no longer a good idea and so the position is just equal.] 19...Nxc5 20.dxc5 Qa5 I was mostly expecting 20...Qb4 and turns out 20...Qd8!? was a serious move too. [20...Qb4 21.Nd4 Bxd4 22.exd4 Qxd4 23.Be3 Qe4 24.Qd2 was my plan when I thought White has fine compensation for the pawn. The passer combined with some weak dark squares around black king seemed like a good reason for a reserved optimism.;
20...Qd8!? 21.Nd4 Bxh3! 22.gxh3 e5 23.Bxe5 Bxe5 and likely some Qg5-Qh5 perp is incoming.] 21.Nd4 Bd7! cool move, originally I thought my opponent would play the hasty Bf5. [21...Bf5 22.Nxf5 gxf5 23.Rb3 Rxc5 24.Qxf5 Qxa2 25.Rb7 Here I thought I have excellent compensation for the pawn, but to be frank I didn't realize how good it was, as the engine gives a î?S here. 25...Qc2 26.Qd7!] 22.c6 Be8 23.Rc5 Pretty much a bailout. I knew my opponent had to win in order to win the tournament, so I had little doubts this was the right thing to do. [I could have played more ambitiously with 23.Bg3 e5 24.Nb3 but I felt with both the knight on b3 and the bishop on g3 being somewhat passive, I am risking to have my c7 pawn surrounded. It is, however, rea-aa-lly far advanced, so who knows. According to the engine, the position would still be more or less balanced, but regardless, it's a total mess.] 23...Qa6 24.Rxd5 Bxc6 25.Nxc6 Rxc6 26.Qd2 The position is pretty equal, but as we still have to make some moves, mine are slightly easier to make. 26...Bc3?! A blunder, but fortunately for Black, the material is so limited, he is still much within the drawing margin. [26...h5! would be easier, with a complete equality.] 27.Rd8+! Rxd8 [27...Kg7 28.Be5+! is the key cheapo that Black must have missed.] 28.Qxd8+ Kg7 29.Qxe7 Bf6!? A cool way to defend. The 4 vs 3 endgame on one wing is a well known draw. [29...Qxa2 30.Be5+ Bxe5 31.Qxe5+ f6 is slightly icky for Black. What Ian does in the game is a classy solution.] 30.Be5 Qxa2 31.Ra1 Qe6 32.Bxf6+ Qxf6 33.Qxa7 Rc2 34.Rf1 h5 35.Qb7 Rb2 36.Qd5 Re2 There is no real way for white to make progress without trading queens, so I decided while doing it, to at least offer the non-standard 4 vs 3, when perhaps it is slightly less obvious for Black how to defend. However, as I realized later, it wasn't a particularly challenging version of a 4 vs 3 either. 37.Qf3!? Qxf3 38.gxf3 Ra2 39.Rd1 Ra5 40.Kg2 Rg5+ 41.Kh2 Rf5 42.f4 Ra5 43.Kg3 Ra2 44.Rd5 f5 I should have probably not allowed this and started with e4 earlier somewhere. Anyway, the margin for a draw in this endgame is enormous. 45.Kf3 Kf6 46.Rd6+ Kg7 47.Rd1 Kf6 48.Re1 Rb2 49.Re2 Rb1 50.Kg3 Rg1+ 51.Kh2 Ra1 52.Rb2 Rc1 53.Ra2 Rb1 54.Kg2 Re1 55.Rb2 Kg7 56.Kf3 Kf6 57.Re2 Rg1 58.Rd2 I got in a clumsy situation once Black stops me from even pushing f3-e4. Here Black can just wait endlessly with rook on g1 and only after Ke2 go Rh1. However, allowing f3 is obviously also fine. 58...Re1 59.Kg2 Kg7 60.Ra2 Kf6 61.Ra3 Kf7 62.f3 Re2+ [62...h4 is much easier. No way White can ever do anything here. In fact Black could safely push h4 even earlier, because even if I pick it up with my rook, the rook will be stuck on h4 after Kg7.] 63.Kg3 Kf6 64.Kh4 Re1 [64...Rf2 was the easiest: 65.Ra6+ Kg7 66.Kg3 Re2 67.Re6 Kf7 68.Re5 Kf6 and it's an easy draw.] 65.Ra6+ Kf7 [65...Kg7 is much easier too. 66.e4 fxe4 67.fxe4 Here Black can try to be subtle or just go 67...Rxe4!? 68.Kg5 Kh7! (or 68...Re3!? 69.Rxg6+ Kf7 70.Rf6+ Ke7) 69.Ra7+ Kg8 when White can't make any progress: 70.Kxg6 Rxf4 71.Ra8+ Rf8] 66.Kg5 Actually, while I realized full well that this should still be a draw, I was absolutely shocked to get this far. Now the king comes in and Black needs to calculate a little bit. 66...Rg1+ 67.Kh6 Rg3 68.Ra7+ Kf6 69.e4 Rxf3 [69...fxe4 70.fxe4 Rxh3 This is a draw, but not too obvious - 71.e5+! (71.Ra6+ Kf7 72.Rxg6 Rh4) 71...Kf5! 72.Rf7+ Kg4! 73.Kxg6 Re3!] 70.e5+ Ke6 71.Ra6+ Ke7 72.Ra4 This is actually a great attempt, because White's only chance is to keep both his f4 and e5 pawns alive. Black has to now calm down and start thinking clearly, because the situation is becoming critical. 72...Rg3?? The black rook had to keep an eye on the f4 pawn, and defending g6 had to be done by the king. 73.Ra7+ Ke6 74.Ra6+ Kf7 75.Rf6+ Ke7 76.Rxg6 Rxh3 [76...h4 was a better defense, but actually it is totally lost too, for example 77.Ra6 Rxh3 78.Kg5 and the two passers will decide, as the h-pawn will be controlled by White's rook from behind.] 77.Kg5 A confusing end! 1-0.
Interesting to mention are also the so interesting included video files: Daniel King:
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Nb3, Erwin l'Ami: Petroff Defence 3.d4
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 Nxe4 4.Bd3 d5 5.Nxe5 Nd7 6.Nc3 and 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e5 7.Nb3.
A must to have are also the well made opening files as: Symmetrical English A37:1.c4 c5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.Nf3 e6 by Evgeny Postny,Benoni A68:1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.f4 by Tanmay Srinath,Caro-Kann B11: 1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 Bg4 4.h3 by Alexy Kuzmin,Sicilian Alapin Varation B22:1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 by Petra Papp,Sicilian B30:1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 by Robert Ris,Sicilian Dragon B77: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0-0 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.0-0-0 Rb8 by Igor Stohl,Queen’s Gambit D37:1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 by Lars Schandorff,Nimzo Indian E88:1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 c5 5.dxc5 Na6 by Imre Hera,Grünfeld E60: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.Nc3 Nc6!? By Romain Edouard,King’s Indian E94:1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 0-0 5.Nf3 d6 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nbd7 8.Qc2 Nh5 by Rainer Knaak ,King’s Indian E94:1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 0-0 5.Nf3 d6 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nbd7 8.Qc2 Nh5 by Rainer Knaak,Kings Indian E62: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.Nc3 d6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.0-0 e5 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.Bg5 Be6 by Krisztian Szabo,Queens’s Gambit D37:1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 by Lars Schandorff and at last the Benoni A68 : 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.f4 by Tanmay Srinath.
Other contributions are from Williams,Rogozenco,Marin,Reeh and from the great endgame specialist Karsten Müller {Power play by the knight!}
Include is a two language booklet in two languages.
Conclusion: Super material for a bargain price!