Author: David H. McClain
Date: 09:06:39 06/07/03
Since we have been on the topic of public criticism on some Chessbase programs here is what I have undergone personally with Shredder 7.04. My machine is a PIII 1000mz, 512 RAM with Windows ME. I can assure everyone that Windows ME is not the problem. I am simply attempting to assess whether it is just me or if others have similar observations. I have addressed the first problem only directly with Chessbase support and did receive some help from Peter Schreiner to his credit and I thank him for that. 1. Running "engine to engine" matches on the same computer would leave me with about 40% to 50% of the games with "line" as a decision for the outcome. Chessbase did send me a patch and reduced this to about 3 games in 20. I did not halt any of the games manually. 1. Shredder's "eval" in the engine window is very optimistic but I can live with this. The program has lost games quickly with an evaluation as high as + 3.07 and drawn games with evaluations as high as + 5.0. I have sent these games to several members here that asked for them. This was explained as the "Horizon Effect" which I understand but no other chess playing program I have used had this visual effect of a far off horizon. Not a real problem but since I am not a Grandmaster my horizon view is somewhat shorter. 3. When I load the Shredder 7.04 engine sometimes it's listed as "Shredder 7.04" and sometimes it's listed as "Shredder 7.04 Engine 7.04" in the Main Engine Pane window. Is there a difference? 4. When you delete one of a multiple open window I am constantly resizing the remaining windows. That is if I have the engine and book window open and close one of the you must constantly resize the remaining windows after closing one of them. 5. The "foot line" continually reappears in the database window where you right click then: List Format | Properties | Foot Line Not a big deal but when to you click this choice off why does it constantly reappear? 5. The small replay window that gives the choice of how fast you would like the replay to happen will not close unless you completely exit the program using Ctrl/Alt/Delete to close the program properly. 6. I normally accept all default installations of programs and did so with initial installations of Shredder. However after many problems I bought a second hard drive to dedicate it strictly for playing Chessbase Shredder 7.04 / Classic, using tablebases in an effort to completely isolate these programs from other programs on the same hard drive. After doing this there is constant thrashing of the hard drive for quite some time after every game or when "New Game" button is pressed. And no, my swap file is not too small. Buried in the "help" section there is an explanation that if you install Shredder in any other that the default directories it attempts to back up databases all the time. Was my prudent attempt isolate Shredder on a dedicated hard drive unreasonable? Why does Shredder make it so difficult to choose other than their default installation? Am I the only person that has attempted to dedicate Shredder usage on a separate hard drive in other than its default installation only to find out later the caveats of this mistake? 7. Why is it so difficult to import games into a new opening book for Shredder? Shredder Classic GUI does not have this problem, you simply tell it to "import games" and it's done and you go from there. With the new empty book loaded the Shredder Edit | Openings Book | Import Games | is quite clear. After selecting the proper .pgn to import file how can an attempt to import many games into a new book result in the message of "0 positions added OK?" 8. After a recent power outage while Shredder was running the program's performance deteriorated quickly. I understand this and completely uninstalled the program including all registry entries and reinstalled it as if it was never previously installed. The program will play excellent for about three games after doing this then it deteriorates rapidly. This is using default engine and book settings. I realize the disadvantage of using weak hardware against the big Intel P4s and AMD XP processors but I certainly would like the program to play better than a 33% won / lost percentage. Maybe I am expecting too much from what I have. 8. "Help" windows that are simply don't function: Database | Filter games | Help button not functional Tools | Options | GUI Version | Help button not functional Tools | Options | GUI Version | Tournament Settings | Help button not functional Database Window | right click | List Format | Help button not functional I used to consult Steve Lopez of ChessbaseUSA from time to time with support questions but he is no longer associated with them. Too bad, he was a nice fellow and very helpful. Most of these bugs are tolerable and I work around them and play the program manually at all times on two chess sites that I frequent. I am not a professional chess program user and certainly don't know all the tweaks of Chessbase's Shredder. As a layman I am certainly not a novice computer user and have obtained all the bug fixes offered on the Chessbase server. I understand updates will not always go without small problems but many of these problems I have observed have carried over from Shredder 6 / 6.02. Beginning with Shredder 6 and 6.02, which was reasonably stable, in all my years of computer use I have never used a program that was as buggy and frustrating to use as Chessbase's Shredder 7 / 7.04. I also realize the Chessbase programs are very sophisticated and very in-depth and require much attention. The engine itself has obviously been tested with excellent results by others but my observations of unfixed, unnoticed or carried over problems to the next upgrade and the neglect to small detail simply has me puzzled. All this has seriously altered my assessment of purchasing Chessbase upgrades and "add ons" such as Powerbook or Endgame Turbo in the future. It has not changed my assessment of ICD / Your Move Chess and Games. This company has been outstanding and a first class performer in its sales, service and courtesy. I would continue to purchase from them without question but probably not anymore Chessbase material unless there is a serious attempt to improve quality control.
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