Junior
8.0 - double world champion
£39.95 $49.95
This chess program, written by the Israelis Amir Ban and Shay Bushinsky,
has achieved everything it could wish for. Junior won the Computer Chess
World Championship in 2001 and 2002, and it can look back on a string
of successes against human beings in tournaments and matches. Unforgettable
its performance against Garry Kasparov in the "Man vs Machine"
match in New York in January 2003. With millions of people following
on the Internet, double world champion Junior played exciting, imaginative
chess to hold the world's strongest player to a 3:3 draw.
With Junior 8 you get two chess engines. One is the original engine
that played in the Kasparov match, the second is the most recent, further
developed version. But it is not just the engine that is fully up-to-date.
With Junior 8 you get the latest Fritz 8 user interface which has delighted
fans all over the world. You get the latest training functions for the
opening, middle and endgame; new photo-realistic 3D boards in custom-designed
silver and surreal hot-air balloons. It includes twelve months of free
access to Playchess.com, the world fastest-growing chess server. And
you get the latest Junior tournament book, developed by GM Boris Alterman,
as well as a database of 500,000 high-quality games.
System requirements: Penitum or compatible PC, 32 MB RAM, Win98, Me, 2000, XP, CD ROM drive, mouse.
£79.95 / $109.95
Deep
Junior 8.0 - Update
£54.95 / $79.95
For updates from Deep Junior 7.0 please send in the original program-CD
£17.95 / $27
Multimedia-report:
Kasparov in Dresden
Klitschkos at ChessBase
English/German
£17.95 / $27
A total of 1483 games, almost 500 games with expert analysis, plus reports and openings surveys. The highlight is of course Corus Wijk aan Zee, won by Anand ahead of Polgar. Multimedia reports include interviews with Tkachiev and Almira Skripchenko. Special sections for openings (nine special articles), middlegames, endgame, tactics, computer chess, etc.
Robert Huebner (ChessBase CD ROM)
£22.95/$34.95
The CD contains a database with an introduction by Robert Hübner, as well as Hübner's analysis of Fischer's "My 60 memorable games". The main database contained on the CD has all of Fischer's games, with an introductory text to the most important matches and tournaments. There are exactly 1000 entries, of which 44 are tournament reports, the rest games. About half of the games, 462 in all, are annotated, many very extensively. All the reports are in English and German.
The Fischer CD also contains many pictures and 330 MB of historical film footage.
Chess Assistant CD ROM
£69.95/£99.95
5 programs in one kit!
5 World Champions: Mikhail Tal, Alexander Alekhine, Mikhail Botvinnik, Emanuel Lasker and Jose Raul Capablanca
Each program
contains:
a..
The most complete collection of World Champions games ever compiled.
b.. Biography, tournament and match records
c.. A number of rare photos
d.. Special tutorial section, "Play as ..." with many quiz positions
for you to try and find those strong and beautiful moves played by the
champions in their games
e.. English, German, French, Spanish, Italian versions available
No additional software required.
£16.95/$19.95
Ultimate Game Collection 5 with the following improvements: 2.5 Million Games on the database Duplications under 0.5%
Thousands of new games not included on any other CD-ROMs
Demos of Bookup , Chess School Advance , ICC Blitzin software, Chess Mentor, and CT Arts
The
Isolated Queen's Pawn
Ripperger
£17.95 / $27
There are countless openings and lines leading to a position with an isolated
Queen's pawn. This is a type of position you just can't avoid, so you
have to know how to play it. Reinhold Ripperger presents the basic IQP
techniques and manoeuvres, demonstrating strengths and weaknesses of the
isolani in many classical games. The author says:" The fact is that
in almost all World Championship matches positions with isolated pawns
have played an important role. Studying positions with isolated pawns
intensively is not only great fun, but it also improves one's strategical
understanding as well as one's ability to spot tactics. In short , it
raises one's playing strength!" In a further database with training
questions, you can prove your freshly acquired knowledge sweating against
the clock.
All features
at a glance:
95 extensively annotated IQP games
17 introduction texts
training database with 70 games
includes ChessBase Reader
System requirements: PC,
32 MB RAM, Windows 95,98, Me, 2000, XP
Tiger
15.0
£39.95 / $49.50
ChessTiger by Christoph Théron is the shooting star amongst chess
programs. The rate at which its playing strength has increased in recent
years is sensational. Already in 1999 and 2000 it chalked up a number
of remarkable tournament victories. Then it became the serial winner
of the Dutch computer chess championships, taking its last title there
in December 2002. In 2001 Chess Tiger won the "Republica Argentina"
grandmaster tournament in Buenos Aires, ahead of a number of top GMs,
with an incredible 2788 rating performance. In the SSDF computer rating
lists Chess Tiger is always in one of the top places. So it is hardly
surprising that computer chess fans hold this program in the very highest
esteem. Most of them consider Chess Tiger one of the top chess programs
in the world.
Chess Tiger 15.0 runs under the original Fritz interface. There are
plenty of functions for beginners, club players and grandmasters: blitz
and tournament chess, handicap levels, analysis. There is a competent
chess coach for beginners, with complete move descriptions, warnings
and real-time help during the game. In a special sparring level the
program deliberately sets up tactical chances for you to exploit. It
has many high-quality print functions, a beautiful 2D board and a state-of-the-art
photo-realistic 3D board in elegant "glass" design. The program
comes with a giant tournament-tested openings book and a database of
500,000 top games. It also includes free one-year access to the chess
server Playchess.com, one of the largest and most attractive Internet
chess clubs in the world.
System requirements: Pentium PCs, Win 98, Me, XP, 2000, CD-ROM drive, mouse
Fritz
and Chesster
£29.95/$39.95
Use your wits, learn to think ahead, have fun and excitement AND learn
a whole lot about chess: this great chess adventure has all of this and
more in store for you! Together with Prince Fritz and his cousin Bianca
learn how to play chess, then test and increase your knowledge in a whole
range of exciting games and situations. How do you set up the board? What’s
stalemate? When do you call it a draw? What does opposition mean? And
what's "up the stairs mate"? Find the answers to these questions
and many more in animated games and contests. Tips and tricks are explained
step by step. Then you can provide and test your skill in the special
games and tasks. And once you’ve got the hang of everything, join Fritz
to take on King Black in the grand finale.
Systems
requirements Pentium II 233 processor 32 MB RAM
(16 MB free memory)
16-bit soundblaster compatible sound card 16 speed CD-ROM drive
Graphics card: resolution 800x600 pixels (16-bit colour) WIN 95/WIN 98/ME/XP
Thorsten Heedt
£17.95/$27
There have been 14 of. cial world champions in the history of chess within a period of more than 100 years. It started with William Steinitz, who won against Zukertort in 1886 and then held the highest title in chess until 1894. Furthermore, Steinitz enjoyed (and still enjoys) the reputation as the founder of the general positional school, the basic principles of which have not lost their unrestricted validity until today. Applying them, Steinitz was far superior to his contemporaries in practical play. Thorsten Heedt’s biography features a comprehensive portrait of the first world champion. An important part are of course the stations of his life – Prag, Vienna, London and finally America (Philadelphia as well as New York) are the places where Steinitz settled down. Naturally, also his 5 matches for the world championship are duly covered. Short texts about "appearance and constitution" as well as "character and manners" complete the picture of the first world champion.
* more than
1000 games
* 42 texts
* database with training questions
* database with special topics such as "Steinitz's provocative openings"
* includes CB reader for reading all data on this CD.
THE
FRANCO-BENONI
Don Maddox
£17.95/$27
The Franco-Benoni Pioneered by GM Gideon Barcza and later revived by
Danish GM Bent Larsen, the Franco-Benoni is, as its name implies, a
cross between the
French and the Benoni based on 1...e6 and 2...c5. This resilient, spring-like
pawn structure is especially effective against unsuspecting 1 e4 players
and can serve as a universal black defense against 1 e4, 1 d4 or 1 c4.
Black has to be prepared to meet Benoni lines after 3 d5, but most 1
e4 players hang back from queen’s pawn structures, often entering a
little known Sicilian Paulsen or Alapin backwater where the black player
is better prepared. Includes more than 13,000 games, 800 annotated,
a discussion of basic ideas and patterns, an Opening Tree, and 37 training
positions.
THE AUTHOR:Don Maddox
Lives in Madison, AL, and teaches at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
A strong correspondence player and former edito of Chess Life Magazine,
he has also written CDs on ‘The Reti’ and ‘The King’s Indian Attack.’
This CD makes chess training fun:
• Ideal for club players
• Full English-language intro texts
• Database containing more than 13,000 games
• Complete English version
• A special training database
Yuri Averbakh
£24.95 / $29.95
By concentrating on the basic principles the average player is not only given a working knowledge of the endgame, but also a firm foundation on this fascinating stage of the chess game. The author, a Russian GM and endgame expert, takes the reader from the most elementary checkmates, through the exploitation of positional and material advantage, right up to the analysis of actual endings from master play. This classic was first published in 1966 and remains the standard guide for practical endgame play.
£17.95 / $27
Multimedia report:
- Chess Olympiad Bled
- Keene on Fritz
Databases:
- maindatabase: 1.460 games, 500 games with expert annotations
- Theory: Grand Prix Attack and Jaenisch Gambit 6
- Strategy: "The very real complexity of Colour Complexes
- Endgame by H.J. Hecht
- Tactics by Vaöery Atlas
- ICCF Telechess
Alexander Bangiev
£17.95/$27
The main focus of Alexander Bangiev’s repertoire CD is the Grand Prix Attack of the Sicilian Defence, featuring a wealth of introduction texts, playing suggestions and annotated games about this sharp attacking weapon. Yet this is only the starting point of a complete White 1.e4-repertoire which offers a playing plan against all common replies by Black. The point: the suggested lines have a lot in common, often transpose and many times lead to similar middlegame positions - effective opening study guaranteed.
This CD makes chess training fun:
• suitable for advanced players
• more than 600 games annotated by the author
• 8 databases with more than 60,000 games
• training database
• ChessBase-Reader included
• complete English version
£36.95/$59.95
The Chess Informants 81-85 in PGN CD brings a selection of 5,239 fully annotated theoretically important games played between February 2001 and September 2002.
This collection features games from 11 world champions: Smyslov, Spassky, Karpov, Kasparov, Khalifman, Anand, Kramnik, Ponomariov, Chiburdanidze, Xie Jun and Zhu Chen, as well as major contributions from the chess elite, including M. Adams, Lékó, Bareev, Ivanchuk, Morozevich, B. Gelfand, Grischuk, Shirov, Svidler, Ju. Polgár, I. Sokolov, N. Short, Smirin, Van Wely, Zvjaginsev, Dreev, Z. Almási, J. Lautier, Rublevsky, Ki. Georgiev, Sutovsky, Kasimdzhanov, Bacrot, Krasenkow, S. Movsesian, A. Beliavsky, Al. Onischuk, Sakaev, Kaidanov, Je. Piket, Ch. Lutz, S. Volkov, R. Hübner, M. Gurevich, Korchnoi, Motylev, Tiviakov, Seirawan, T. Radjabov, Bologan and many others.
£36.95/$59.95
This fully annotated database is now compatible with many other commercially available software products, thus combining widely accepted format with Chess Informant's treasure box, and framing them into a package that should meet everyone's needs.
The Chess Informants 76-80 in PGN format CD brings a selection of 5,374 theoretically important games played between June 1999 and January 2001. The world's most prominent chess players annotate themselves the games they played.
Chess
Fundamentals Vol. 1 (CD)
Mikhail
Shereshevsky
£24.95/$29.95
"The
Methods of the Russian Chess School, Volume 1, Chess Fundamentals"
by the respected instructor and theoretician Mikhail Shereshevsky.
Chess Fundamentals
1 is an interactive multimedia program with more than 4 hours of Flash
and 3D animation, many tests, an original soundtrack and a robust playing
module - Chess Fun. The software combines an attractive game-style interface
with the system of the Russian Chess School, time-tested and proven by
years of teaching experience.
Features:
Learn the Chess Basics The Rules of Chess 18 Lessons 200 Tests 4 Hours
of 3-D and Flash Animation Original Soundtrack Play against the Computer
The author, Mikhail Shereshevsky, is well known as one of the leading chess coaches in the former Soviet Union, as well as the author of many best-selling books including the famous "Endgame Strategy" series.
System Requirements: Windows 98, ME, 2000 or XP, 266mz processor, 64MB RAM, CD-ROM Drive, Sound Chip, Modern Video Card, Mouse, 300MB for full installation on the hard drive, 21MB minimum. Instructional pamphlet included.
£39.95 / $49.50
For computer experts Shredder is the number one choice. Nobody can ignore (its amazing four computer championship titles, won at Jakarta 1996, Paderborn 1999, London 2000 and Maastricht 2001. So in this box you have the reigning blitz world champion, ready to play and analyse with you. The world chapion chess program Shredder 7 for a single and multi-processor systems. You can configure the "engine" the module that calculates chess move - and change the program parameters to actually improve its performance in practical games. After "tuning" your Shredder you test the engine in Internet games played automatically on the ChessBase chess server.
£39.95/$49.95
Fritz 8 is identical to the one that fascinated the world in the man vs Machine duel against the human world champion. Millions of chess fans watched the games live on the Internet - the match ended in a 4:4 tie. "Deep Fritz is stronger than Deep Blue," said world champion Vladimir Kramnik, who had carefully studied the program. But don’t be afraid, Fritz is not just a chess playing monster. It is a friendly chess partner for beginners and amateurs. It will teach you to play chess from scratch, and can automatically adjust its playing strength to suit your needs. It will warn you when you go wrong in a game, giving you hints on how to play better. In any position it will explain all possible continuations to you in plain language, and it will display all pieces that are attacked, defended or "hanging". Afterwards it will analyse your games and point out mistakes and blunders. It has many handicap and friendly levels. In the sparring level the program will actually set up tactics for you to discover, teaching you to keep a lookout for opportunities throughout the game. Fritz has a photo-realistic 3D chessboard and will chatter humorously during the game. It has a giant openings book with a very wide repertoire and full statistics on every move. It has a built-in database with half a million top-quality games and is the companion and analytical partner of top players all over the world. Even Garry Kasparov admits: "I use Fritz regularly for my analysis." Fritz is also the only chess program that has been in space.
In April 1999 it was transported to the space station Mir to entertain the cosmonauts who were spending many months in orbit. Fritz is also your key to a completely different world of chess. The program has a no-hassle connection to the Internet chess server Playchess.com where you can play with chess enthusiasts all over the world. You will find hundreds of opponents, day and night, you can start a blitz game, play a tournament or simply watch and chat. You can also find the latest chess news, live coverage of international tournaments and online training sessions. This is what chess is all about.
System
requirements: Pentium PC, 32 MB RAM, Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP,
CD-ROM drive, mouse
£17.95 / $27
This issue contains 1527 games, including Russia vs the Rest of the World, the French and BCF Championships, the Biel GM and the Duel of the World Champions. 484 games are annotated. There are special sections on openings theory (Paulsen B47, Najdorf with 6.Rg1 B90, Four Knights' Defence C47, Jaenisch Gambit C63), strategy, tactics, endgame and telechess. The multimedia section contains part one of a report on Kramnik vs Deep Fritz in Bahrain, with over an hour of video footage.
£39.95/$49.50
Contains more than 2.3 millions games from 1530 to 2002 in the highest ChessBase quality standard, with ChessBase opening classification with more than 54,000 key positions, direct access to players, tournaments, middlegame themes, endgames. With all the top tournaments of 2002 like Cannes, Dortmund, Linares and Wijk aan Zee.The most recent games of the database are from the middle of November 2002, so the complete Chess Olympiad Bled 2002 is included.
£99.95/$150
The exclusive annotated database. Contains more than 2.3 millions games from 1530 to 2002 in the highest ChessBase quality standard.50,000 games contain commentary from top players, with ChessBase opening classification with more than 54,000 key positions, direct access to players, tournaments, middlegame themes, endgames. The largest top-class annotated database in the world. The most recent games of the database are from the middle of November 2001,so the complete Chess Olympiad Bled 2002 is included.
For the first time, Mega 2003 also features a new edition of the playerbase (2nd CD). As usual, this is where most of the work was done. As the player index now contains already more than 150,000 entries, it made sense to use an adapted playerbase which includes about 150,000 names. Doing this, the photo database was extended as well to contain 14,000 pictures now.
£39.95/$49.95
THE CHESS MASTER FOR YOUR SHIRT POCKET
Pocket Fritz
2 is a chess partner with mobility built in. Take it with you wherever
you go and leave boredom behind. Pocket Fritz 2 is much stronger than
its predecessor and has an estimated blitz performance rating of 2450
Elo points. The younger brother of the world’s strongest chess program
has made great strides in the area of design, functionality and user friendliness.
New pieces and board colours, formatted, colour-coded notation, all contribute
to optimum clarity, even in deeply annotated games. The moves of the computer
as well as hints and threats are displayed with coloured arrows. Pocket
Fritz 2 has many diverse playing levels that make it an entertaining opponent,
while the database functions and new commentary options fulfill the needs
of even strong professional players. The program gives you mobile access
to the ChessBase Online database with well over two million games. There
you can search for the games of specific players, tournaments or openings.
You also have online access to a giant state-of-the-art openings book
with over seven million positions and full statistics for each of them.
Other new functions: extended, user-friendly move entry and annotation;
automatic game replay with adjustable speeds; special energy-saving mode
for longer battery life. Have fun, play chess. Anywhere and everywhere
with Pocket Fritz!
System
requirements:
Pocket Fritz runs on Pocket PCs with Windows CE 3.0 or Pocket PC 2002,
with the processors MIPS, SHG, ARM or Xscale. Installation requires a
PC (notebook or desktop computer).
Language of user interface and helpfile: English, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch