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Is ChessBase software compatible with Windows XP? Yes. All ChessBase software is compatible with Windows 98/98 SE, ME, 2000, XP Home, and XP Pro.
Do I have the latest program updates? There are occasional free online upgrades to ChessBase programs to fix bugs and add features. In a Fritz-family program you log in to Playchess.com, go to the Help menu and click "Query upgrade". In ChessBase click Help and "Online upgrade". Please make sure you have the latest updates installed before contacting technical support!
What are 'Fritz-family' programs? Program names like Fritz, Junior, HIARCS, and Shredder are the engines that generate chess moves. The rest of the software - the interfaces - are almost identical. All use the "Fritz interface" and are so said to be "Fritz family" programs. Other than the engine, the differences between them are limited to the styles of 3D board and the opening book, which is customized for use with that engine. In general when we refer to "Fritz" it goes for all the playing programs of the same generation. All the professional engines are of roughly equal playing strength, so the decision is a matter of taste.
In which languages do ChessBase products operate? ChessBase software is produced in English and in German. USCF Sales sells the English versions unless you request a special order. All ChessBase and Fritz-family programs can be set to operate in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, and Slovenian. (Go to Tools - Options - Language.) The databases with annotated games include Grandmaster annotations in English and German (often both in the same game) with a few in other languages.
Can ChessBase products work on Linux or Macintosh? No. ChessBase software is Windows only. Some users have reported success with various Windows emulation programs under Linux and Macintosh, but there is no ChessBase support for this and it is done at your own risk.
How do I install the Playerbase? The Playerbase, a database of tens of thousands of player photos and information, is for use with ChessBase and is included with it and with the Mega Database. You cannot use the Playerbase with Fritz-family programs. The included installation instructions aren't very clear, so here is a step-by-step. 1) Launch ChessBase by clicking the icon or using the Start menu. 2) Insert the Player encyclopedia cd into the drive. 3) In ChessBase click File --> Open --> Players encyclopedia. 4) A dialog box titled "Find encyclopedia" now pops up. Use it to navigate to the cd drive containing the Player encyclopedia CD. You'll see a bunch of folders with names like "PLAYBASE.MMA" "PLAYBASE.MMB" in the dialog box. The "File name:" box should say "Playbase.plh". Click the Open button. The dialog box will close. 5) Click File --> Install --> Players encyclopedia. 6) A dialog box titled "Browse for folder" now pops up. Use it to navigate to an existing folder where you want to put the Player encyclopedia on your hard drive. For example, C:\My Documents\CB. Click the OK button and the dialog box will close. 7) There will be a long pause as the system prepares for copying the huge number of files. Do not panic. Even if ChessBase says "(Not responding)", just wait. It can take five or more minutes before a dialog box titled "Copying" appears. Then it can take another 20 minutes to copy it all, depending on the speed of your cd-rom drive. 8) When it's finished copying, repeat steps 3 and 4, but instead of navigating to the CD, go to the folder where you installed the playerbase on your hard drive. For example, C:\My Documents\CB\Playbase. Click the Playbase folder so it opens and the dialog box shows all of those "PLAYBASE.MMA" etc. folders. Now click the Open button. (This step may not be required.) 9) Test it by clicking Edit --> Search player and typing in a name into the "last name" box. Remove the cd first so you can be sure it's looking in the one on your hard drive and not the cd.
Why am I getting errors installing Pocket Fritz 2.0 on my Pocket PC? Pocket Fritz 2.0 came out before the latest version of the Pocket PC interface and there is a known problem with the installation program on newer Pocket PCs. Download and install this patch to solve the problem: http://www.chessbase.com/download/index.asp?cat=Pocket+Fritz+2 If you are still experiencing problems, here is how to do a manual installation to your Pocket PC, although this is not recommended. After running the installation CD on your hard drive: 1) Find the file "PocketFritz.arm.cab". It should be stored on the desktop hard drive under the path C:\program files/chessbase/pocketFritz2 2) Copy the file "pocketfritz.arm.cab" to the folder TEMP on the handheld. If the folder TEMP contains other files, delete them first. Note: Do not try to open the .cab file with Winzip etc. (If you don't have access to the TEMP folder, use the My Documents folder. This may be done by syncing.) 3) Start the file explorer of the Pocket PC and click on the file "pocketfritz.arm.cab" to launch it. This should install the application. 4) You may need to launch the downloaded patch from the desktop again after this.
What do I install from a training CD? / What is ChessBase Reader? On most training products there are two things you can install: the game/position databases and the ChessBase Reader program, which is a special version of ChessBase 7 with limited functionality. You can open the databases and run Reader.exe from the CD or you can install everything to your hard drive. Running the SETUP.EXE file on the CD will install the Reader on your computer. You can copy the databases from the CD to your hard drive for rapid access and so you don't need to have the CD in. You can do this manually in Windows Explorer, making sure to copy all the database files of the same name. ChessBase 8 has an automatic install to hard drive feature you can start by right-clicking a database on a CD. Apart from convenience, if you install the databases onto your hard drive you can then write to the files if you want to add your own annotations. If you own a Fritz-family program or ChessBase you can run the training CD material from that instead of using CB Reader.
Why does it say Fritz when I launch Shredder (or similar)? When you own more than one Fritz-family program of the same generation they are basically the same program. To avoid confusion they use the same directories and databases to store your games, Playchess.com login information, and settings. The playing engines, 3D boards, and opening books from all installed programs are available under the same central interface. It makes no difference what name appears in the title screen when you launch the program or which icon you use to launch the program.
How can I use endgame tablebases in ChessBase? All Fritz playing programs include a set of tablebases as part of the default installation. These are huge databases of endgame positions that allow for perfect endgame play with limited material. The engines access them to dramatically improve their ending play. There are also special tablebase-only engines that show all the lines of play. Extended sets of endgame tablebases can be purchased, including the new Endgame Turbo set of five DVDs. In ChessBase go to the menu Tools - Options - Folders to see the path where the program is looking for the tablebases. The path must be where you copied them to. (E.g.: C:\My Documents\ChessBase\TBS) You can access them directly off the CD or DVD, but this is much, much slower than when they are copied to the hard drive.
Why doesn't the position search find games that I know are there? This can happen when your database files are corrupted. Sometimes the database keys (or the search booster) are damaged and you can make a new one. First, make a backup of the database (ctrl+z). Now go to Tools – Database – and select Create Search Booster. If that option is in gray, select Delete Search Booster. If you delete it, go back and create a new one. Creating or deleting/creating usually solves this problem. (You can manually delete a search booster in Windows Explorer by deleting the *.cbb file of the database in question.) If the problem persists you can create a new database (ctrl+x) and copy all the games from the old one into the new one using the Clip Database. (Select all the games, copy them, create a new database, paste the games.) That should solve the problem, although can be a slow process with a large database. Then create a search booster for it to speed up your searches. If the problem persists you may have to reinstall the database from the CD/DVD.
What are the colored squares that appear in some game annotations? These colored squares are “medals” that Fritz awards when it thinks a game represents a certain category or categories. Black means the full analysis mode found a serious blunder. The dark red means tactics. You cannot manually set medals in the Fritz programs. In ChessBase they are part of the “special annotation” option, but these aren’t available in Fritz.In ChessBase you can give 16 different medals. Annotated games in the Mega Database and ChessBase Magazine are usually marked with one or more medals for things like strategy, endgames, tactics, etc.
How do you make colored arrows and squares? Mark square green, draw green arrow: Press Alt key and click square or draw line from a to b. Mark square red, draw red arrow: Press Alt + Shift and click square or draw line from a to b. Mark square yellow, draw yellow arrow: Press Alt + Ctrl and click square or draw line from a to b.
How can I move or e-mail games and databases? Databases in ChessBase format are made up of many separate files with the same name and different extensions. (E.g.: "mygames.cbh", "mygames.cba", etc.) The only one what gets an icon in Windows is the .cbh file. To send or move a database you must include all the files of the same name. Much easier and safer is to create an archive/backup of the database, a .cbv file. This puts all the data into a single compressed file that can be opened by ChessBase or any Fritz program. In ChessBase go to Tools - Database - Backup Database. In Fritz it's in the same place on the database screen. (Or ctrl+z in either program.)
How do you delete games in a PGN database? You don't. PGN is a text format and advanced database functions are not available for those files. You can convert the database into ChessBase format, delete the games, create a new PGN database, and copy the remaining games into the new PGN database.
Do I need other software to use the big databases? Yes. You need ChessBase or a Fritz-family program to access the giant databases like Mega Database, Opening Encyclopedia, and Big Database. Many ChessBase training products include the ChessBase Reader program. It’s a limited version of the old ChessBase 7 program and it’s good for most functions. But it won’t work with giant databases and isn’t included with them.
Why can't I use the photo-realistic 3D boards in my Fritz-family program? First, you must have a graphics card capable of rendering 3D. Any machine less than three years old should have this. The problem is likely one of software or settings. 1) Set your monitor display to 16-bit or 32-bit color. (Control Panel - Display - Settings.) 2) Make sure you have at least DirectX 8 installed. It is installed automatically with the program, but you can decline to have it installed. Download the latest version of DirectX from Microsoft here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/downloads/default.asp 3) You may have to update the driver for your graphics card. Go to the computer or card manufacturer's website's support/downloads area and find the latest drivers for your system.
How do I get the audio/video broadcasts? An online update of the Fritz 8 family of programs added the Chess Media System. It can play recorded and live multimedia broadcasts. Some of these are free and others are "pay-per-view" shows that you need to spend ducats to observe. For live audio during tournament broadcasts, log in to Playchess.com you go to the Broadcasts room, then click the Games tab to see the list of live games. Some of them may be labeled that there is multimedia available as part of that broadcast. There are also "canned" or pre-recorded multimedia broadcasts on the Playchess.com server. Live broadcasts and special lessons and interviews are stored so you can watch them any time. For these go to the Chess Media System room and click around for a selection of available broadcasts. When you open a board window the CMS pane should open automatically. If the media stream doesn't start automatically after 15-20 seconds, press the Play button.
Why can't I pick black or white in rated games? To preserve the integrity of the rating system the color distribution of rated games is automatic. It’s not up to your opponent either. The server balances them out so you play an equal number of whites and blacks in your rated games. When you play an unrated game you can send out a challenge for the color of your choice.
What is the serial number on my instruction manual for? Fritz-family playing programs enable you to play online at Playchess.com for one year. To open your account you need to enter the serial number that is printed on the front of your instruction manual. It is five sets of alphanumeric characters separated by hyphens. You shouldn't need it after you create your account, but should write it down somewhere safe just in case.
Where are the games I played/watched online saved? The database of games you have played against Fritz is the default ("autosave.cbh") that opens when you first go to the database screen. (After that it always opens the last database you opened.) This and the databases for the games you play and watch at Playchess.com ("myinternetgames.cbh" and "myinternetkibitzing.cbh") are in the default ChessBase folder. Unless you specified a different folder during the installation, this is C:\My Documents\ChessBase.
What is a ducat? The ducat is the Playchess.com online currency. You use them to buy access to lectures, Radio ChessBase broadcasts, private lessons, and special activities. Much of the Radio ChessBase content is free, other things cost a few ducats. High-ranking players can compete for ducats or charge others to play against them. The ducat coin symbol will appear on the seek they send out to play. They are also given as prizes for winning tournaments, etc. Only specially registered players, mostly GMs and professional coaches, can sell ducats back to ChessBase for real cash. You can buy them in the shop at www.chessbase.com in the playchess.com area. You get 100 ducats for ten euros, or $12.80. That makes a ducat worth 7.8 US cents. Since the price is based on the 100/10 euro formula, the dollar cost may fluctuate a little as if it were a real currency. More on ducats here: http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=965
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