Hi, I'm new and have some questions

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Date: 20 Jan 2006 16:53:15
From: Deadchef
Subject: Hi, I'm new and have some questions

Hello... I'm new here and relatively new to chess. I have a bunch o
questions regarding the myriad of available software. A friend of min
gave me a program called Chess Mentor deluxe which is not a chessplayin
program. I like it, however I'm looking for something to store my game
from ICC/OTB tournaments as well as getting a chess program to analyz
the positions for me and offer move ideas.

There are tons of programs to choose from. I have looked at

Fritz 9
Chessbase
Chess Assistant

The thing is I cannot tell what sets them apart from each other. Iv
also downloaded SCID, however I have no idea how to use it.

Does Fritz 9 have what I need? What do chessbase/chessassistant d
that Fritz 9 cannot?

What is the purpose of all of these big game databases? 1 millio
games and such. There is no way to look through every one of thos
games. I'm just learning how to study this game so any help will b
greatly appreciated.

Thanks and sorry for the noob questions

--
Deadchef

Date: 21 Jan 2006 10:08:07
From: Major Cat
Subject: Re: Hi, I'm new and have some questions

Deadchef wrote:
>
> Hello... I'm new here and relatively new to chess. I have a bunch of
> questions regarding the myriad of available software. A friend of mine
> gave me a program called Chess Mentor deluxe which is not a chessplaying
> program. I like it, however

> I'm looking for something to store my games
> from ICC/OTB tournaments as well as getting a chess program to analyze
> the positions for me and offer move ideas.

FRITZ should be sufficient...

>
> There are tons of programs to choose from. I have looked at
>
> Fritz 9
> Chessbase
> Chess Assistant
>
> The thing is I cannot tell what sets them apart from each other. Ive
> also downloaded SCID, however I have no idea how to use it.

Since you are new to chess, you may want to defer looking into
dedicated database programs.
>

> Does Fritz 9 have what I need?

Yes.

> What do chessbase/chessassistant do
> that Fritz 9 cannot?
> What is the purpose of all of these big game databases? 1 million
> games and such. There is no way to look through every one of those
> games.

These encyclopaedic features are useful to advanced players,
especially those who get a high out of excruciatingly detailed
analysis and classification of opening systems/lines.

> I'm just learning how to study this game so any help will be
> greatly appreciated.

Use FRITZ to analyze your _own_ games first, including those
against the computer (if any). This should improve your tactical
skills. As for opening, middle-game and end-game theory, just
go through _one_ book per game phase (i.e., 3 books in all) to
familiarize yourself with standard concepts, terminology and
the like.

>
> Thanks and sorry for the noob questions.
>

I hope this helps.

Major Cat

Date: 23 Jan 2006 01:38:07
From: Deadchef
Subject: Re: Hi, I'm new and have some questions

Thanks for your reply. I picked up fritz today, and it seem
complicated with the million games and all. Is there a tutorial i ca
download or website i can visit with detailed explaination of th
features of this program

--
Deadchef

Date: 23 Jan 2006 10:14:18
From: David Richerby
Subject: Re: Hi, I'm new and have some questions

Deadchef <Deadchef.222sty@chessbanter.com > wrote:
> Thanks for your reply. I picked up fritz today, and it seems
> complicated with the million games and all. Is there a tutorial i can
> download or website i can visit with detailed explaination of the
> features of this program?

There's lots of tutorial material at

http://www.chessbase.com/support/index.asp

Some of that may be useful. You probably won't need the existing database
very much so here's a quick explanation of how to create a database of
your own games. (This is for Fritz 8 but version 9 is probably the same
in this respect.)

From the Fritz main window, turn off the engine (from the Engine menu) and
play through the moves of the game. From the File menu, choose `Save as'
and enter a file name for the database and the details of the game
(players, event, date and so on). For subsequent games, you can just use
`save' to add to your existing database. Once you've entered the games,
go to the database window, highlight them and find `blunder check' on the
menu (Tools