An Electronic Classic

Chess Informant 75 (Electronic Edition), 1999 Sahovski
informator, $36.00

For over three decades, the Chess Informant series has set the
standard for contemporary game collections. Grouped by opening
and annotated by some of the best players in the world, it has long
been recognized as one of the cornerstones in any serious player's
library. It therefore was with more than just passing interest that we
undertook to explore and review the newly released electronic
version of the latest Informant, #75.

In the first years of publication, the Informants appeared twice a
year. One volume approximately every six months. In later years, it
went to three times per year. When compact discs were developed,
a CD containing the games of the first fifty volumes was released.
The CD was extremely expensive and accordingly did not sell well.
However, as the power of computers has increased, so has the
complexity and sophistication of the software used with them.

Many publications are now available in what is known as
"electronic editions". Essentially, this is a book, monograph, data
or other material, traditionally only offered previously in "hard
copy" (printed) form, which is now an electronic file, much the
same as a word processing or similar file. With the release of
electronic editions of the Informant, the publisher has
demonstrated it can stay on the cutting edge of technology while
maintaining its usual high quality and at an affordable price.

Special software is required to access and "read" the Informant
electronic publications. It is called Chess Informant Reader. The
latest version is 1.3. It is free and you can download it at the
Informant site, www. sahovski. com. It is about 5 meg in size, so,
depending on your modem speed, it could take a few minutes. It
sets up easily and quickly.

After registering and downloading Informant 75 we launched
Chess Informant Reader. The following appeared across the top of
the screen (ci75b):

The tabs shown are electronic publications that are either installed
or may be installed. In this instance, the tab for Chess Informant 75
is highlighted.

At the bottom of the screen we see (ci75c):

These tabs allow access to the cover of the publication selected, the
index of the games, the games themselves, and the CI codes and
symbols.

With CI75 loaded, we click on Index and a list of all the games in
the publication appear onscreen. Here is a modified version of
what you see. We have limited it for the purposes of this review to
the first fifteen games, and further split it into two parts, as the one
screen needed a scroll bar to be seen. So, here is the "left" part of
the screen (ci75d1):

And here is the "right" side (ci75d2):

You should visualize the "right" side as an extension of the "left"
all on one screen. Let's take a look at what this all means. 

The far left column labeled "Ref." indicates the volume and game
number of the particular game. So, 75/4 in this column refers to the
game Speelman-Berg (i.e., game #4 in Chess Informant 75). Note
the two games just above this game, however. 75(4) is shown for
both. What does this mean? When the number of the game is in
parentheses, it refers to a game given in the notes to the main
game. Thus, Corvi-Vera and Mikhalevski-Tyomkin are both games
that appear within the annotations of the Speelman-Berg game.

The columns White, Black, Tournament, Year, Result and ECO
code are clear and self-explanatory. The next column (see the first
column in the second or "right" graphic above) is the annotator of
the game in question, the game number (i.e., which game this is in
relation to all the games thus far in this volume) and the Elo ratings
of the players.

One of the advantages of the electronic edition of CI is that you are
able to sort data very quickly in ways that may not be done easily
(or at all) with the hard cover version. So, for example, the initial
index order may be changed simply by clicking on any one of the
columns just described. Want to sort by annotator, Elo rating, who
played White, etc. You can do it instantly.

The sorting capability however does not end there. The Reader has
the ability to refine and filter the information in a number of other
helpful ways. For example, clicking on the bottom Index tab
(taking us to the list of games shown above), and then clicking on
the Index tab at the top brings down a menu that has "Filter" as one
of its choices. Clicking on Filter will bring up the following (ci75e)
menu.

Clicking on the other tab, Games, brings up this menu (ci75f):

What we have here with these two filters is the ability to combine
attributes so that a list of games meeting the designated criteria is
generated. Very nice.

Anyone familiar with the Informant volumes knows the familiar
pattern of the printed editions: In addition to the deeply annotated
core games, there are sections of Best Games, Best Theoretical
Novelties, Endings, Crosstables, Combinations and perhaps some
FIDE news. We have always found the Endings and Combinations
sections particularly enjoyable. For better or worse, the electronic
edition of CI75 contains only games.

It contains 874 fully annotated games played between February 1
and May 31, 1999, including games from all the major tournaments
in the period. To select a game, you simply double-click on it in the
index and you are taken to a screen with a board and the moves.
So, for example, choosing the Speelman-Berg game previously
noted and double-clicking on it in the index, we are taken to the
following screen (ci75g) (shown here in thumbnail form; click on
this image to see it full size.)

The game moves are shown in blue, the annotations in reddish-
brown. To play through the game, you can either click on the
moves themselves or use the "VCR controls" at the bottom of the
board:

>  Forward, one half-move at a time
<  Back, one half-move at a time
>|  Go to final position
|<  Go to starting position
>>  Replay automatically
||  Stop

Here is where the electronic version really comes into its own. You
may first have the game play out in front of you automatically.
Click >>, sit back and enjoy. If at any time you wish to stop the
automatic play, just click on ||. Now, what about the annotations?
No problem. If you double-click on any move in the annotations a
small, second board appears! You may play the moves out in the
small board, finish the note, "close" the small board and click back
into the main line to resume the game. Cool.

The moves need not be played sequentially. By this we mean you
may click anywhere in either the main game line or the annotations
and the diagram of the position at that point instantly appears. This
of course allows full review of any significant segment of the
game, with notes, in a fraction of the time of traditional methods.

The inescapable conclusion is that the electronic version of Chess
Informant, combines the power of the computer with well
designed, extremely user-friendly software to produce a great
Informant, an electronic Informant. If you like the traditional
printed Informant, you will love the electronic version.