The newest Chessbase is out. I’d been curious for a while what they could do to improve on the older version. Looks like they’re moving toward trying to include new training modes, which looks to be a nice direction for the company to move to. I guess at some point, it gets pretty hard to add enough base functionality to the database where someone would upgrade. I’m assuming Chessbase’s market plan is heavily weighted toward getting prior owners to upgrade.
I don’t know if the average chess player would really need to upgrade if they have Chessbase 14 or even 13. I have version 11, and I think it isn’t compatible with the newest database like Mega 2018, which it the only reason I’d really need to upgrade. It’s on my bucket list, near the bottom. :mrgreen:
I’ve found other training software to be far more useful in helping me improve than Chessbase.
I think every astute chess player needs some sort of chess database program on their computer, but Chessbase in particular is a bit pricey compared to alternatives. I haven’t looked at alternate programs in years, but one would think the competition would be at least as good as Chessbase from 8 to 10 years ago.
I too have Chessbase 11. It functions just fine except for not being able to load the new mega base. Big database apparently still works. I recently pick up Chess Assistant 18 for much less than Chessbase. It does all that I could ever need and far more. Similar statistical analysis and prep fpr opponents as Chessbase.
I tried Arena. It’s ok. If you have one of the Fritz programs, you can create bases and put games into them. No real need to buy one of the Chessbase premium database programs. unless you really just want to.
I think Chessbase 11 won’t load Mega Database 18 (and 17 I think), due to the player profile stuff. Don’t quote me though.
So in essence, you’d be be wasting your money spending more on the Mega Database 18 instead of just Big Database 18 to use on Chessbase 11. It would still load the games database, just not the players database. If I’m correct anyway. I’m not super sure, but pretty sure.
I have to admit though, if I want to get the latest database, I really want the player profiles. It makes the database seem more robust and complete. But like I said, it’s not a burning need even after 8 to 10 years of using Chessbase 11.
I belong to chessbase.com. I get access to their chess game data base as well as access to the chess cloud. What does Chessbase15 add to that? I have never been able to figure out what the chessbase15 adds that is worth that much money
I stand by opinion that Chessbase is pretty nice, but not essential as a “must have”, and definitely not really needed to be upgraded if you have at least Chessbase 11 anyway. (I’ve only owned Chessbase 11, so I can’t comment on Chessbase versions prior to that.)
I do think that having some sort of chess database, even freeware, would be adequate for the average chess player.
I’ve always used chess databases for looking up stuff in conjunction with using other training software. Like looking up a specific game, or just getting a subset of games using a particular line in an opening. The annotated games are also useful.
Aside from looking up a game or games, which an online database could do, using actual software database give you perks like graphs of stuff. I don’t think Chessbase 11 does graphs, but certainly the newest version does. I think it’s interesting, but not overly useful to have a graph of say, the 10 most common openings used in World Championship matches, broken down by a graph of how popular they were. -Interesting for sure, but not really something that translates into helping me play better.
-I don’t know if you actually could get a graph of the hypothetical I postulated, but I was just using that for an
example.
I’ve never used Chessbase online database, so I have no idea what you can do with it, but I’m sure it’s a small fraction of what the software does.
James
Thanks. Other than the occasional online blitz game and a weekly blitz session with a friend of mine, most of my chess is corresdpondence.For correspondence I need access to a database for my opening play and some decent software for help in analyzing positions-both of which I get by being a chessbase premium member.That costs about $50 a year-think I’ll save my money-doesn’t seem like the chessbase software adds to much to what I need.
Thx again
John
I was just talking to a chess buddy last night about that exact scenario. I was musing that the initial cost of Chessbase is $200. (Apparently the download version is cheaper which didn’t exist 8 years ago), plus I got the mega database when I bought Chessbase which was an additional $175 for an initial cost of $375. (I think the price 8 years ago was similar to what Chessbase charges for it’s newest version).
So after 8 years, I feel like I’ve finally gotten my money’s worth. I was actually specifically waiting for Chessbase 15 to come out, since I didn’t feel that I’d gotten enough of the worth out of Chessbase 11 to upgrade yet. Version 15 didn’t add anything I’d use much. The graphs and stuff they added, could have been done easily years ago.
That’s not to say Chessbase hasn’t collectively improved enough since Chessbase 11 to warrant an upgrade, it’s just that Chessbase 11 is still pretty darn robust in all it does. I will eventually upgrade to a newer version but right now, it looks like I might just wait till version 16 comes out in a couple years.
Call me old-school, but I have managed to get by without any chess-specific software at all for many years. Back in the 1990s, I had the very first version of Chess Assistant, and also a version of Bookup and numerous chess-playing programs. But when that computer (an old IBM PS/1 or PS/2) became unreliable, I stopped using it. That would have been around 2003 or thereabouts. Since then, I have had no chess-related software at all, and for the last 6 months or so, I haven’t even had a working computer at home (I’m posting this from work).
And life goes on. If I were a rich man (wasn’t there a song that started that way?), I would buy another computer and stock it with chess software, including a database and at least one “engine” – but I’m not a rich man, and I find more urgent uses for the disposable income I do have. I manage to go to tournaments and play chess, and even win a few games here and there, with no electronic help at all. ChessBase may be a nice thing and a useful thing, but it’s only “essential” for that small handful of people who make their living by playing chess.
CB15 with Mega is about $275, a good deal. And the annual updates to Mega are very nice & affordable. If you look at it as a multi-year investment in your hobby, it can make sense…for retirees, parents of B players, busy folks with disposable income. But I know players who are stronger than me, better theoreticians, AND have more disposable income who don’t use CB. You are right that it’s not essential!
The premium package is $425, and I don’t know who needs that.
Check out the iTunes app CBOnline - affordable and powerful.
I haven’t bought a chess engine in 10 years. I’m thinking about getting Komodo 12 in the Fritz interface, but half the reason is just to get a more updated Fritz interface.
… but you need a device onto which you can load Stockfish. I have no such device, and would have to part with quite a few pennies in order to get one. I choose to use my discretionary income otherwise.
I also use regular paper and pen/pencil to keep score during my games, and I analyze them as best as I can by myself (or, if possible, with my opponent – but hardly anyone wants to do that anymore) before I even look at a computer – and my “computer” is one of those sensory-board Fidelity machines from the 1990s. It wouldn’t stand a chance against Stockfish, but it’s more than good enough to show me where I’ve blundered. Call me a Luddite, but “cheapskate” is closer to the truth. I refuse to spend great gobs of money on fancy electronic devices. My one weakness is digital chess clocks – I have several of those. But at least one such clock is a necessity with delay and increment time controls. I never again want to have the crushing experience of time-forfeiting in a position that I could win or draw in my sleep (and I don’t want to win games that way either).
What device are you using to access this forum? Even on my smart phone, I’ve got Shredder installed which will analyze any pgn that you import into it. IIRC, Shredder for android is <$10. There are also some free apps that will allow you to do analysis.
I’m accessing the forum from my computer at work. I’m guessing that my employer would frown on me loading any non-work-related software onto my work computer. Smart phone? What’s that? My cell phone is a 10-year-old flip phone that’s not much more than a phone. Smart phones are out of my price range.
I’m not looking for pity, though. For my purposes, my own analysis and my 25-year-old Fidelity computer are adequate (as is my “database” (of my own games) consisting of a foot-high stack of scoresheets (over 1000 of them!)). If I felt I needed a modern engine, I would spend what it takes to get one. I don’t find it to be a necessity, though. I’m not a grandmaster and never will be. My livelihood does not depend on cutting-edge analysis of my chess games. I’m just playing for fun, and I have fun – with no need for expensive electronics.
ACID CHESS on android is free, and it comes with chess engines and you can download even more chess engines. I have Stockfish 9 on it, which was free to download.
Your personal database seems about the size of mine, which dates back to 1959. But mine has migrated to electronic form. It is fun to replay old games with a few mouse clicks, to identify blunders and maybe brilliancies from the good old days, review opening strategy, etc. And it’s nice to know those games are (relatively) safe in the cloud as well as in a drawer. Investing a few hours in transcribing those one-thousand-plus score sheets into a personal database? I feel it’s been worth the effort.
Something that has proven useful as a tournament strategy: when learning a new opening or variation, screen that line in the big database for a rating range of players you are likely to face, see what THEY tend to play, and make sure you’re ready for THAT. One may rarely encounter the GM moves.
Yes, the GM moves are very infrequent visitors to my games. I find that I’m most likely to encounter “book” lines when playing people in the middle range of ratings. The lowest-rated people don’t know the book lines, and the highest-rated (which for me, would be Class A and an occasional expert – I very rarely play masters) tend to avoid book openings – maybe they’re confident that they can outplay me in a generic position, and don’t want to mess with theory. But even the people who do play book lines don’t seem to stay in them very long. Theory may be important at the GM level, but in my games, we’re usually on our own pretty early. When I do play a book line, it’s often done unwittingly – my knowledge runs out at move 4 or 5, and when I check the books afterward, I find that we stayed in book for 4 or 5 moves after that, even though I was just playing on “general principles”. So I tend to think that extensive book knowledge is overrated unless you’re a GM. We peons are almost playing a different game (in a sense) than the GMs.
who don’t use CB. You are right that it’s not essential!