Author: Mike S.
Date: 04:11:45 02/03/06
Go up one level in this thread
On February 03, 2006 at 06:40:54, Ken Driscoll wrote: >Which of these two programs are best for a new chess player, I would like to >know which has the best instructional material included as well as which has >the best game play... Chess programs consist of an interface (GUI) doing the graphics, menus etc., and chess engines which are the software component to do the chess calculations. So, the gameplay depends on the engines, and all the other features depend on that what the GUI offers. If you are a new chess player, strength differences between the engines usually used are unimportant for you. In it's basic retail version, Chessmaster offers the best and most instructional material. My recommendation is clearly: If you are a new chessplayer interested in instructions, learning material etc., go for Chessmaster. It's engine "The King" is very strong too (although not absolute top, but GM level). Chessmaster 9000 (not sure about 10.000) has an option to run WinBoard engines (= engines which use the WinBoard engine protocol), many of which are freeware and there are quite strong engines in this pool. http://chessmaster10.ubi.com/uk/ (has also links to past titles) http://wbec-ridderkerk.nl/ Fritz 9 has functions to support new chess players too, but in my opinion not comparable to Chessmaster. It has an option to run UCI engines (= engines which use the UCI engine protocol), many of which are freeware and there are quite strong engines in this pool. http://www.chessbase.com/shop/ http://www.uciengines.de/ Also, Rybka which is the strongest engine currently, is UCI (not freeware). http://www.rybkachess.com/ These are only basic infos. With advanced user knowledge and experience, you could for example run UCI engines in Chessmaster 9000, or WinBoard engines in Fritz 9, using protocol adapter software each, which is avaiable for free on the web. But these are advanced things. If learning and training is what you want primarily now, Chessmaster is your thing. Regards, M.Scheidl
This page took 0 seconds to execute
Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700
Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.