Hi guys,

I am new to this forum. My boyfriend is into chess, but he only began a couple of months ago. With his birthday coming, can you recommend me a good chess software that enables scenario creation, so that he can sort of act out the endgames he reads about in chess books and magazines? Can you recommend me a good chess software for beginners/intermediate players at all? I read in a rating that Fritz was way too difficult for his level. Is it?

Thanks a lot guys,

gizi

If he wants to play against the computer at a variety of levels, then go with the Chessmaster series. Any of the recent versions are very good.

If he's only using it to play out specific endgames, and wants a computer that will play the toughest possible moves and force him to play it out perfectly, then Fritz is probably the better bet. I think Chessmaster can handle that, but I'm not sure if you can play its toughest setting that way.

Also, if he wants to plug his games against other opponents into the computer and have it point out his mistake, Fritz is one of the best programs around for that.

--Fromper

For endgame practice using Fritz, get a copy of "Pandolfini's endgame course", and enter the diagrams in Fritz without looking at the solution (you could do that for him, and save the positions in a database). To practice, play the winning (or drawing) side against Fritz, setting it at 3-10 seconds fixed time per move. First try to find a solution without looking at the explanation, with a maximum of about 30 minutes. After that, read the explanation in the book and try it against Fritz. Keep repeating until they're easy.

thanks a lot, both replies were really helpful.
I think we'll go for the Fritz then.
cheers!

rather than start a new thread this looks like a place to post what I am looking for.

I would like a chess board that allows me to set up end game positions and play both sides myself if I want. Is there something free to do this. Thanks.

If you want to play both sides yourself, why not take a regular chess board and pieces ?

I want to do it sitting at the PC instead of setting up an actual chess board.

Try this one. It's free, and it will let you set up a board, and play against yourself. It also lets you load and save games.

ChessBase - Download

You have lots of choices. Arena 2.0.1 (click on the edit button first), Winboard (choose "View or edit game files" on startup), Scid, and Der Bringer (disable autoresponse). There may be others I can't think of at the moment. I think all of these programs are referenced in the link below:

Zarkon Fischer's Free Chess Programs

Ponz

Hey thanks for the quick replies.