Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11553 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Excalibur Video games publishing
• Released on: 2007-03-02
• Platform: Windows XP

Manufacturer's Description
Fritz Chess 10 offers a host of new features and brings this bench mark chess playing franchise bang up to date for the 21st Century.  This classic brand has earned its reputation as a formidable opponent, world-class chess playing program and beginner's tutor all in one over its past nine iterations. Its classic status has been further cemented from confrontations with World Champion Vladimir Kramnik in Bahrain in 2002, the classic against Garry Kasparov in New York in 2003 and the revenge match against Kramnik in Bonn, Germany in 2006.

Fritz Chess 10 includes numerous sophisticated coaching functions adjusting its playing strength to exactly match that of any opponent. It graphically displays threats and plans and provides full opening statistics.

For the beginner, Fritz Chess 10 will explain moves and positions or warn you of dangers, commenting on errors in your gameplay in real time. It will also suggest instructive training modules plus amusing handicap levels.

For the club and tournament player, Fritz Chess has become a trusted friend and indispensable advisor, assisting experienced players in studying their games and finding new opening ideas for their next tournaments.

Features also include:

• Database with more than a million games provide the basis for state of the art analysis.
• With its Chess Media System, Fritz brings the world's greatest chess players into your living room in full high resolution video and sound and a synchronised graphic chessboard.
• Listen to Garry Kasparov, Viktor Korchnoi, Alexei Shirov and Rustam Kasimdzhanov as they explain important openings and ideas that lead to success.
• A host of famous chess teachers provide instructions in more mundane subjects, like opening traps, middlegame strategy and endgame skills.
• A one-click connection to the largest chess community in the world, Playchess.com With your free one-year's access, you can play quick and informal games at any level, take part in tournaments or attend live lectures and training sessions.

Customer Reviews

A first rate analysis tool
Comparing chess programs on rating alone is not much use for any but the most advanced player, apart from top GMs most of us can't tell if a computer is playing at 2910 or 2915 Elo. More useful is comparing which program offers the best features for the user. Here it is very much a question of horses for course with the Fritz 10 vs Chessmaster 10th edition debate. Chessmaster is easier to use, has better tutorials and offers a wider range of opponent strength. Fritz excels in the analysis department. Put a game into chessmaster and you generally are told valuable comments such as "this attacks your opponents rock"; fritz will offer full lines of analysis when you put a game in, will keep you apprised of the rough strength of your position (how many 100ths of a pawn you are up or down) and illustrate different lines of the screen. Whether to buy fritz or chessmaster therefore boils down to what you want to use the program for. Less experienced players, those wanting fun matches or those wanting something easy to use should opt for chessmaster. Anyone 130 and above who wants a tool to analyse their games should be thinking about Fritz.
The difference: Chessmaster is a game, fritz is a tool.

Great software for the serious and not so serious chess player
I purchased Fritz 10 and Chessmaster 10th edition at the same time as I was looking for chess programmes which firstly I stood a chance of beating as well as a top quality analysis tool for games I have played at club level.

Although the video card on my PC does not appear to fully support the 3D images on either programme I am not greatly concerned as I am very comfortable playing the 2D versions. There has been some criticism of previous Fritz programmes not being user friendly but I must say that although I am still new to the game and have not explored all the various options, I have so far not experienced any real problems and have in fact added several games to the database which I can retrieve without any difficulty whatsoever. In fact I had far greater problems in installing Chessmaster to my PC than I had with Fritz.

On opening the DVD box I was delighted to find that there was an English language user manual and I have to say that I much prefer having an actual instruction book by my side rather than having to look up a manual on screen every time I want to find something out about the game.

While Chessmaster is probably the better option for youngsters and indeed adults learning the game or for the more casual player, Fritz is an absolutely brilliant analysis tool for the regular player from chess club level upwards. It is also possible to adjust the playing level on Fritz in order to have a fighting chance of winning games played against the computer.

Wow!
I can't believe this product is available at this price. Okay, downsides: the interface is a bit crappy; do not buy this product thinking it is going to be a beautiful virtual teacher from basics of chess; it's purely unnecessary to market this with the videos they bundle in; it is not a fully streamlined user experience. Upsides: my god, the chess it plays; the sheer interest of what it does have to offer. Assuming you have a few books on strategy and simple tactics to hand or already mastered, this is the only chess prog you will need. There are also many great features in terms of game analysis, which can help anyone improve their own game. It handles levels well - although you might note that it does adjust levels by throwing away a move or two at some points (including, this playing with the app at a 100 point/1 pawn handicap, when it was in a technically won endgame position - never did victory taste so stale!). I assure you: there is nothing better on the market. Books to accompany would be anything from the dummies guide through Batsfords Modern Chess Openings - well, some things books do better, but this is the best.