A Successful Formula: ECO + CA = CAO Chess Openings 2000 Convekta Ltd., CD-ROM, Price: $39.00 Reviewed by Glenn Budzinski Want to learn a new opening to surprise your opponent in that big game on Friday night, but the thought of wading through encyclopedic columns of theory is about as appealing as playing the Latvian Gambit? Well, there is an alternative to the traditional "do it by the book" approach: it's called Chess Openings 2000, computer software dedicated to opening theory. Published by the same folks currently responsible for the Chess Assistant database, CO 2000 is a combination of an abridged version of Chess Assistant known as "Chess Assistant Opening", together with two separate databases: one that contains theory on 500 opening variations from all five volumes of the "Encyclopedia of Chess Openings" (ECO) series and the other, which includes over 300,000 games through 1999. As listed in the manual, the system requirements for running the program are an IBM-compatible PC with a Pentium 75 CPU, 16 MB of RAM, 100 MB of available space on the hard drive, VGA graphics, Windows 95/98/2000/NT, a CD-ROM drive and a Microsoft-compatible mouse. Unfortunately, installation of the software was not without glitches, due primarily to incorrect directions in the manual. (i.e., There was no "setup.exe" file available on my version of the program.) Upon entering the program, the initial screen is split by a graphical board and an alphabetical listing of the major opening lines covered by that venerable source, ECO. [See PICTURE#1] Selecting an opening such as the Sicilian Defense opens up numerous other branches, one for each main line. I chose the popular Najdorf and was then offered five moves for White after the standard sequence 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cd 4 Nd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6. The options of 6 Bg5, Be3, Be2, f4 and g3 coincided with the principal subvariations found in the hard copy edition of ECO Volume B, 1997 version, B90 through B99. One of the advantages of software that consolidates a database with opening theory such as CO 2000 is that, at any point, the user can switch from the standard theory to the games database and immediately be given the capability of playing through complete games of the variation under examination. For example, in variation B99 after 6 Bg5 e6 7 f4 Be7 8 Qf3 Qc7 9 0-0-0 Nbd7, a search of the CO 2000 database for this position turned up 544 games, including 20 from 1999. Games can be immediately replayed, printed, or saved as a "dataset" from which a file can be produced in Microsoft Word, Rich Text or HTML format for later use. Although the opening theory might not be quite as extensive as that found in each of the five volumes of ECO, in the openings that I checked (a number of variations of the Sicilian; Ruy Lopez; certain Queen's Gambit lines, etc.), CO 2000 still did a commendable job of including most subvariations in similar detail. In fact, it is my opinion that the additional features that CO 2000 brings to bear on studying opening theory more than compensate for any omitted lines. One of the noteworthy aspects is the currency of material. CO 2000 includes games through 1999; hard copy ECO volumes A and B, for instance, were published in 1996 and 1997, respectively. But with CO 2000, one has access to material well into 1999. When studying topical openings such as the English and the Sicilian which seem to change almost daily, the more recent the data, the better. Another practical advantage to studying opening theory with a computer database is convenience. Consider how many times one has to reset the pieces when using a board and set. And, to digress from the present variation to analyze a secondary line usually means employing a separate set altogether. With CO 2000, all one needs to do to study a line, whether it be a main line or subvariation, is point to the move with the mouse and click on it. Returning to the previous position is no harder than clicking the mouse button. When studying openings, how often do you come upon a position and wonder what would happen if an alternative to the text move was played? Of course, your move is virtually never addressed and you're left to ponder the position on your own. CO 2000 has solved the analysis problem, however, by including a playing program that can analyze a position on demand. The playing engine, "Crafty", makes full use of all of the Chess Assistant Opening database features. Additionally, CO 2000 can link to external programs such as Rebel, Chess Genius, Hiarcs or MChess Pro. Although much use can be made of the Encyclopedic Table feature, which produces an ECO-type chart of variations for any group of selected games, I found its operational capability to be somewhat quirky. [See Picture #2] For instance, it's not clear how large of a table can be produced. While the quantity of half moves is user-selectable, my copy of the program seemed unable to produce a table containing variations greater than eight moves. Much of the effectiveness of CO 2000 is contingent upon the capabilities of the underlying database program, Chess Assistant Opening (CAO), described in the accompanying manual as an "abridged version" of Chess Assistant. Comparing Chess Assistant 5.0 to CAO found in CO 2000 reveals that both appear to contain substantially the same features. For example, CAO also includes a playing engine for analysis and links to the Millenium Chess System external engines, in addition to links to the more well- known engines Rebel, Chess Genius, M Chess Pro and Hiarcs; a blunder search capability, automatic game commenting; ECO 2000 and Computer Analysis Project data all can be found in CAO; and, presumably, both CA 5.0 and CAO contain the same Tree features. The principal differences seem to lie in the game databases. CAO consists of a 300,000 rather than 1.1 million game database; a weekly download of games is not included, and perhaps most significantly, it does not appear to be possible to access any database other than the two that come with CO 2000. Thus, I was unable to access an external CD-ROM of one-million games in CA format using CAO. Additionally, perhaps the CAO/CO 2000 package is not the most appropriate software for inputting one's own games, although the function can still be performed. But, in summary, there appears to be little if anything the user can't do with CAO/CO 2000 that he might wish to do with an opening database. Although I would like CO 2000 to have the ability to access other databases rather than be forced to rely on Convekta to issue updates with the latest theory and games (presumably, such updates will be made available), I have few other criticisms of this program. The integration of current theory from a source as respected as ECO together with a large game database (even by today's standards, 300,000 is still A LOT of games), is an idea whose time has come. Studying opening theory will probably never be something that many of us will ever truly enjoy. But, with the help of CO 2000, the latest lines are only a click or two away.