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Chessville
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Using Chess Software Two Reviews by Kevin Bidner
Chess: a teaspoon of inspiration in an ocean of perspiration. Are you serious about improving your game? We all know how much hard work it takes to develop and improve. Chess software was created to help us improve; with powerful analysis plus a means of condensing and presenting material, these amazing tools can really have the effect of greatly accelerating our understanding and learning. But which software to buy? There seem to be so many options out there! And once we find the right program (or if you already own software?), how to make best use of the software to get the maximum value from these powerful technology tools? This article reviews two books aimed at helping you select and get the most out of your software, How to Use Computers to Improve Your Chess by Christian Kongsted, and Chess Software User’s Guide by Byron Jacobs, Jacom Aagaard and John Emms.
This is a useful book in many ways, although I thought the author spent a bit too much time analyzing subjects like “How to beat the computer” (31 pages), a subject most of us are not that interested in. Conversely, Kongsted spends not enough time on some of the amazing training programs like CT Art and Chess Mentor (1/2 page), a subject I thought should have been covered properly in a book on this subject. That being said, I believe the information contained in the book was well presented and important. The author used many if not most of the offerings on the market, but focused primarily on the products of ChessBase (Fritz, etc.), Convekta (Chess Assistant, etc.), and Chessmaster 9000. The book starts with a fun to read history of computer chess and goes on to a good description of how chess programs “think”, good basic learning as a foundation. The author has a deep knowledge of the inner workings, strengths and weaknesses of the various “chess engines” available, and uses good game examples to illustrate the various approaches to problem solving. The next chapter explains the blind spots of computer chess in great detail, a good subject to understand as we put these tools to use in helping us understand our own games. Chess programs have certain classic strengths and weaknesses and they are not always right in their appraisal of a position, in fact, especially on strategic sacrifices where material is compensated for by long term positional gains, they can be consistently wrong! The author uses good examples and plenty of illustrations. Building on the foundation of understanding how computers think, the chapter on using the computer to analyze your games is really useful. The author teaches us how to use these powerful tools (and how not to use them) to improve our game… the heart of the matter. Through a deep analysis of an actual game we are clearly shown where the computer works, and where the human power of conceptualization (oh…we are useful after all?) must come into play. How to improve your opening play is treated on its own, and is perhaps the most practical and useful chapter in the book. The tools available are truly amazing, but putting them to full use is daunting! The various subjects of using databases and constructing and using your own repertoire are fully treated, and will be useful to anyone wanting to improve this area of their game. There are also some final chapters on tactics and endgames which complete the story. Overall, a good book that I would recommend to anyone aspiring to make use of the tools on the market today. I thought the author’s approach of using real-world examples drawn from his own experience added greatly to the enjoyment and meaning of this book.
This book could easily have been named “How to get the most out of ChessBase and Fritz” as it focuses on the use of these products only. As these products are the most widely used in the chess world, there is no problem with that, providing you are using, or intending to use the products of ChessBase. In that, the authors do a truly superb job of exploring in depth the power and real-world use of these powerful tools. ChessBase products are easy to grasp for casual use, but to really get the most out of them a lot of learning is required. After purchasing them myself I went and paid a power user to help me understand the confusing morass of database conventions, opening keys, repertoire management, etc. This book is a real shortcut to becoming a power-user, and answers all the questions I paid good money to learn! Every element of the subject is powerfully and practically detailed. The authors use plenty of screen-shots and real game experience to illustrate their points. Managing databases, learning new openings, preparing for opponents and analyzing your own play, relating openings to middle and end games, and general training are all powerfully explained. The authors strike a great balance between software explanation and practical examples that drive the learning in deeply. For example, in the Learning A New Opening chapter, the authors take us through each important step along the way, with plenty of good advice drawn from long experience in using the tools themselves. Not just shortcuts to use the software properly, but the real meaning and value of the effort. The chapter on “Relating Openings to Middlegames and Endgames” is a perfect example of this. Using tools is only part of the task, putting them to good use requires experience. The authors give us the real shortcut to building chess knowledge by giving us what no user’s manual will… how to use the power of ChessBase to gain insight and understanding over the board. Yes, these tools can help us find and sort through millions of games to find the ones we need to learn from, but this book goes to the next step and shows us how to learn from these games by making special use of the advanced features of the software. Really great material that can only be gained from someone who has actually done it. Conclusion The two books take very different approaches. How to Use Computers to Improve Your Chess is more general, with a deeper analysis of the foundations under the software and a good guide to the general application of these tools in real world situations. Chess Software User’s Guide is more specific, showing the user precisely how to get the most out of the ChessBase products, and is a true shortcut that will greatly help anyone with these products. If you are intending to use ChessBase products, definitely go out and buy Chess Software User’s Guide but if you are using anything else, or looking to buy software, How to Use Computers to Improve Your Chess will be a valuable tool.
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