Author: Frederic Friedel
Date: 09:01:35 12/04/99
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On December 03, 1999 at 12:50:37, Charles Unruh wrote: >Why is Fritz, called Fritz? What's the idea behind that name, or is it named >after someone? When the first ChessBase chess playing program saw the light of day Germany had just been reunited, and we were feeling pretty good about this. In the brainstorming session all kinds of different names for the program were discussed. Then the ChessBase PR advisor, a very talented young man, said call it “Fritz”! Everyone was stunned, but we knew it was exactly right. Fritz is a derogative name for Germans (like “Kraut”), and it was appropriate to call the program “Fritz -- you got a problem with that?”. Fritz is also a teasing name for Frederic. This fact was not directly responsible for the choice, but it did help sway my vote. Turns out the name was the best we could have chosen. It personalises the program, makes it feel like a friend. Anand always calls it Fritzy, many of his colleagues are following suite (when Judy Polgar says it Fritz melts in the CD drive). It’s ease to speak about Fritz -- “Grandmaster Chess Program thought it was winning” doesn’t do it for you in the same way.
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