Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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106 of 112 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must for a serious chess player of any skill level, March 11, 2005
Though I prefer human players, like most people, I went hunting for a computer chess game because my skills had degraded playing less skilled human opponents. Maybe you arrived at this page with the same motivation or additional ones.
Without hesitation, I turned to Amazon, because it beats the price and selection of any retailer of my knowledge. I really dig Amazon's reviews, *especially* negative reviews (I LIKE a merchant that gives me reasons NOT to buy something...then I usually buy something else anyway). Yes, I even like to see negative reviews that I disagree with. I probably marked any neg. reviews for Fritz as "Helpful," prior to buying it.
I compared Chessmaster to Fritz, really the only major players I am aware of. I did not see that Chessmaster really distinguishes itself, other than notoriously incompatible copy protection, though it is true Fritz has copy protection as well. I have bought versions of Chessmaster in the past (the last was 3000), and it is roughly equivalent to Fritz in play, so if a sizable price difference arises, you might keep that in mind. If you hunger for really funky sets, Chessmaster might be your choice as well. I favor the Stanton wooden 3D design myself.
Things I really like about Fritz: strong, very fast game. Unless you are very, very good (a Master), Fritz can beat you with only 5 minutes/game, assuming you have an average PC. Very good graphics. This is also true of many other chess programs, but I get the impression Fritz is among the stronger programs because of its frequent mention by chessmasters in Chess Life, where there is often an aside that "so-and-so checked his end game play against Fritz and discovered that..." This impressed on me that Fritz had developed a reputation among world-class players that Chessmaster had not. What the reasons for this may be, I am not sure.
Two novelties deserve comment. First, let me mention that Fritz makes witty, rude comments in a variety of European accents. You can turn this feature off if it annoys, but I found it rather amusing, relieving the tedium of playing a pulseless computer, giving game-play more of a human touch. The second novelty is The Coach, a cigar-chomping bald old man who pops up when you mess up, giving the option of taking your move back. You can ask for a Subtle Hint or a Broad Hint. I often choose the Subtle. And sometimes require Fritz to prove it to me.
One minor peeve about Fritz is the mouse pointer is jumpier than normal. But I quickly became accustomed to this and am not bothered by it anymore. The massive calculations Fritz performs in the background is, no doubt, responsible for the sluggish mouse response.
I have not even begun to plumb the depths of Fritz's other features, but it is clearly feature-rich. I do feel as though I got my money's worth and that this will be the LAST computer chess game I buy (please may computers remain backwards-compatible!)
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47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best money can buy, January 7, 2005
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
This is simply unbeatable quality in every respect - This is like driving the best, fastest, & easy to handle car ever built plus all amenities - think Maybach, (best of the best.) The rest of the chess software games out there don't even compare. And none of the others have the free playchess.com membership. Viva also has a live help line, I don't know of any other company that has a toll free number to call for help that has a real person on the end of the line. This is a deal; the price is a bargain when you figure what you get for your money.
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32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Horrible interface, smart chess engine, May 14, 2005
This software literally has the worst interface I've seen on any software in the last 5 years (atleast). Using it feels like you're piloting a 747 running on Windows 95. Sadly, this is an improvement from earlier versions.
You may notice that many reviews mention the "chatter" as an actual feature. That people are highlighting a set of 40 unfunny prerecorded looping sound clips should tell you something about the rest of Fritz's features. Imagine playing chess with an autistic fan of Monty Python that kept throwing gems like "I strike at thee!" at you. Cute for a day, but you'd be crushing Ritalin in his orange juice soon thereafter.
The hardcore chess community has latched onto this product due to a combination of three things.
First and most importantly: near-flawless play. Fritz will destroy you.
Less critical but still influential: high ranked namedropping and the more mainstream competitor's (Chessmaster) recent foray into obnoxious copy protection.
If you're at competition level with chess, Fritz is the choice for you.. but you probably already know that. If you're anything less, go with the much more pleasant, visually impressive, feature-rich and still respectable playing Chessmaster.
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