Chessbase issues

[jdart]

I see Chessbase 13 is announced. It is a 99 euro upgrade from Chessbase 12.

I would be more enthusiastic about upgrading if I believed the numerous Chessbase 12 bugs would be fixed.

Some of the issues I have had/still have:

1. I had an earlier version of Megabase installed, but I removed it. Now, I can download updates to Megabase 2014, but after downloading and applying them, the database list still says "not loaded," so there is no record of what I have downloaded.

2. Pasting from a PGN source database into a PGN destination file can corrupt the destination file. It works though if you paste into a CBF file first, then copy that into the PGN destination.

3. Editing games with annotations and variations has many quirks. For example, sometimes "delete remaining moves" removes the result and attribution of a variation, not just the moves.

4. Fairly frequent "Your are running out of system resources" messages. This is on a fairly recent desktop with 8G RAM.

5. Importing a handful of games into the reference database is s .. l .. o .. w.

6. Mysteriously too sometimes searching the database is very slow (using the Reference tab) and sometimes searches just seem to hang with no result.

And so on. It is a great program when it works. But it doesn't work so well.

--Jon

[M ANSARI]

Most likely some bugs were fixed ... but if it is like before then some new bugs would have been introduced. I have a feeling that this product only has one person working on it and thus hunting down all bugs while continuously trying to add features is an almost impossible task.

The biggest change with CB 13 seems to be the addition of a cloud based setup. This can be really good if you have several computers that you work on or if you work on positions with several people. The future is the cloud and CB seems to be jumping on the cloud bandwagon.

[nuno]

Thanks for the insight!
Keep up the good work with arasan.

Regards

[Ferdy]

I see Chessbase 13 is announced. It is a 99 euro upgrade from Chessbase 12.

I would be more enthusiastic about upgrading if I believed the numerous Chessbase 12 bugs would be fixed.

Some of the issues I have had/still have:

1. I had an earlier version of Megabase installed, but I removed it. Now, I can download updates to Megabase 2014, but after downloading and applying them, the database list still says "not loaded," so there is no record of what I have downloaded.

2. Pasting from a PGN source database into a PGN destination file can corrupt the destination file. It works though if you paste into a CBF file first, then copy that into the PGN destination.

3. Editing games with annotations and variations has many quirks. For example, sometimes "delete remaining moves" removes the result and attribution of a variation, not just the moves.

4. Fairly frequent "Your are running out of system resources" messages. This is on a fairly recent desktop with 8G RAM.

5. Importing a handful of games into the reference database is s .. l .. o .. w.

6. Mysteriously too sometimes searching the database is very slow (using the Reference tab) and sometimes searches just seem to hang with no result.

And so on. It is a great program when it works. But it doesn't work so well.

--Jon

One of the features in CB13 that was in CB12.

“Deep analysis”: generates an analysis tree that changes dynamically as with time weaker variations are dropped.

This feature was buggy, it can search only up to 5 plies for long period of time, plus it constantly deleted the variations that are not so good but good for humans to see how a line is refuted. I hope they fixed this in CB13.
This is how they developed CB12.

Code: Select all

CB 12.36
	- Regression: Small databases were not listed.

CB 12.35
	- Regression: Crash in edit player dialog.

CB 12.34
	- Some users had problems with the new ICCF connection.
	- Sorting database lists sometimes produced faulty results.
	- Error in Syzygy evaluations greater than 50 moves.
	- Reference didn't always apply top games filter.

CB 12.33
	- Regression: Opening report was only partly generated.
	- Regression: Delete games from search result didn't work.
	- Remove games via context menu from clip database didn't work.
	- ICCF access changed to secure connection.
	- Formatting error when printing games from a list.
	- Broadcast banner didn't show up with minimized Ribbons.
	- Opening a theme key closed the game list.

CB 12.32
	- Calling "My Databases" from the Ribbon Bar did not select the corresponding icon in the folder tree.
	- Crash in maps dialog to select geo coordinates.
	- Crash when closing a board immediately after opening it.
	- Crash when editing tournament data.
	- Support of Gaviota and Syzygy tablebases.

CB 12.31 (Service Pack)
	- Regression: After positioning in a video it couldn't be started again.
	- Possible crash in edit player dialog.
	- Possible crash in tournament table generation.
	- Possible crash in UCI setup dialog.
	- Feedback function.

CB 12.30 (Service Pack)
	- Possible crash in annotation input of 64-Bit version.
	- Possible error when combining multibyte and unicode texts.
	- Graphical errors on very high resolutions (4k).
	- After install to harddisk databases could be left open.
	- User can select the board orientation with training questions.
	- Next training question steps through all questions of a position.

CB 12.29 (Service Pack)
	- Regression: Option dialog could not be opened with the mouse any more.
	- Regression: Email from 64-Bit program via 32-Bit Office showed again "Server is busy".
	- More consistent calculation of speed index in Letscheck and Enginecloud.
	- Option to change notation symbols to figurin on playchess.
	- Errors with local player base.

CB 12.28 (Service Pack)
	- Sorting a player list in database window by ELO: only players who match exactly with the player base were sorted.
	- Long links in banner could be cut off, making the link unusable.
	- Graphical errors on very high resolutions (4k).
	- More problems with videos.
	- Mouse wheel could be executed in invisible windows.

CB 12.27 (Service Pack)
	- Regression: The fix when opening a video could cause endless waiting in other videos.

CB 12.26 (Service Pack)
	- Possible error in notation display if "Justify columns" is activated.
	- Player library could be damaged, when using "Improve player names", possible crash.
	- Indexfiles for Libraries could be damaged in certain cases ( => possible crash when opening the database ).
	- Integrity test crashed when library contains a cycle which wasn't corrected automatically.
	- In rare circumstances a diagram was not printed.
	- Small memory leak in docking code.
	- After opening a database through file dialog it is selected in database list.
	- After editing players creating an archive was not possible.
	- Changing reference database also changes reference search in open game windows.
	- Reference search didn't work after closing the window and cancelling the question to save the game.
	- PGN in default list of formats for database file dialog.
	- Copy games from search result, close search result, paste into database didn't work.
	- Possible crash when opening a video.

CB 12.24 (Service Pack)
	- Sound output improved if another sound is already playing.
	- Possible crash when trying to create a 64-Bit UCI engine on a 32-Bit Windows.
	- Import with double check could produce erroneous technical messages.
	- Search mask in playerbase window put main window to front.
	- Improved dialog handling.
	- Regression in 12.22: Classification to opening key could stop after one game.
	- Regression in 12.22: Drag&Drop to "My databases" was not possible.
	- Regression in 12.21: Save dialog, players could not be selected from playerbase.

CB 12.23 (Service Pack)
	- Biography dialog appeared twice if called via keyboard.
	- Search for tournaments failed if only year was set.
	- Searchmask for playerbase switched to main window.
	- Regression in 12.22: Tablebase values were not always sorted correctly.

CB 12.22 (Service Pack)
	- Entering moves in quickboard enabled.
	- Added "Cut" to context menu of anno edit dialog.
	- Database window keeps selection when a loaded game is stored into another database.
	- Possible crash when deleting remaining moves.
	- Added font selection to context menu of live book.
	- Searchmask dialog resetted a checkbox on every user action.
	- Copying games showed the wrong dialog.
	- Textfiles of games are written in UTF-8.
	- Text on board didn't always disappear completely.
	- Improved checks when user tries to load a 64 bit engine in 32 bit windows.
	- Selection of entries in dialog-lists via character input.

CB 12.21 (Service Pack)
	- Possible crash after successfull activation without restart.
	- Improved dialog handling.
	- Improved unicode support in game and list display.
	- Bug in new unicode annotation dialog with figurines and newlines in text copied from other sources.
	- Illegal (training) positions can be entered, stored, printed, etc.
	- Windows 8.1 Support.

CB 12.20 (Service Pack)
	- Send Request Error in program and game update when IE was set to offline mode.
	- Possible crash in 3D board.

CB 12.19 (Service Pack)
	- French messages updated.
	- Display error in notation with unicode annotation.
	- Reference search didn't always find positions with former move repetition.
	- Possible crash when user agrees to remove rarely used DB symbol.
	- Improvements integrity check.
	- Copying games with Multimedia files dropped gif.
	- Possible crash when converting old html format.
	- Permanent fritz trainer activation was not possible after cancelling activation.
	- Random training from DVD didn't work.

CB 12.17 (Service Pack)
	- Fetching weekly MegaBase Update created an undeletable database.
	- French messages updated.
	- Spanish messages updated.
	- New option in find doubles: Keep different annotators.
	- Sometimes flat text on a board was immediately overwritten again by the board.
	- Display database window first before asking to remove unimportant databases.
	- Opening the new chess media system files from DVD was very slow.
	- Installation of ChessBase Reader caused the dialog for activation to appear again.
	- Improved keyboard handling with edit player dialog.
	- When closing the program the correct board window is put on top when the program asks to save a game.
	- Text editor can be closed with ESC.
	- Replaying games with mouse wheel in full screen mode didn't work.
	- Possible crash when activating Letscheck while running several engines.
	- Some diagrams did not appear in printout.

CB 12.15 (Service Pack)
	- New annotation dialog remembers position on screen.
	- Regression in 12.13: Sometimes windows could not be closed.
	- Integrity check improved with opening keys.
	- On huge machines an engine could be started with less threads than intended.
	- Some diagrams did not appear in html output.

CB 12.14 (Service Pack)
	- After newline in the new annotation dialog figurines appeared in the wrong place.
	- Conversion bug in new annotation dialog with some languages.
	- Bug in RTF diagram output with new unicode based text.
	- Diagrams in RTF could appear in bold.
	- Entering moves after stopping a video is possible.
	- The new annotation dialog was not dpi aware.
	- Integrity check didn't repair all faults.
	- Playchess: All popup messages ("Opponent resigned") in playing board replaced by flat text.
	- Help button in new annotation dialog didn't work.
	- Right-click menu in new annotation dialog added.

CB 12.13 (Service Pack)
	- Regression in 12.11: Letscheck analysis was broken.
	- Bug in RTF conversion with new unicode based text.
	- Bug in HTML conversion with new unicode based text.
	- Right-click menu in new annotation dialog.
	- Possible crash when playing on the server with 3D-board.
	- Possible crash later when editing a text annotation and using the mouse wheel while the dialog is open.
	- Polish messages updated.
	- Possible Crash in PlayerDossier.
	- One button in annotation palette was empty.
	- Occasionally games on playchess didn't start properly.

CB 12.11 (Service Pack)
	- Possible crash when copying a tournament table to the clipboard.
	- After maximizing the minimized program message boxes could be hidden behind the window.
	- Regression in 12.10: In non maximized board windows the controls in the variation dialog were not positioned correctly.
	- French messages updated.
	- Possible endless loop in LoadNextGame/LoadPreviousGame.
	- Possible crash when sorting a non cbh-database by position.
	- New annotation dialog now unicode-based, allows all characters to be used.
	- Bug when copying several pgn into one pgn.
	- Possible crash in dialog for player selection.
	- Regression in 12.10: "Too many transmission errors" in streams in Playchess.com.
	- Refresh button and flicker reduction for game list in Playchess.com.

CB 12.10 (Service Pack)
	- Possible crash when closing the program.
	- Possible crash after RR on database.
	- Regression in 12.9: Sorting databases for game notation didn't work.
	- Diagram in text before move produced a diagram after the move in text files.
	- Showing a variation dialog also marks the moves in the notation.
	- Variation dialogs store their position.
	- Game links in notation work like links in browsers.
	- New annotation type weblink.
	- Archives with database files larger than 2 GB.
	- Creating archives with databases including a cbtt file could fail.

CB 12.9 (Service Pack)
	- Player encyclopedia could be opened twice.
	- Regression in 12.7: Inline edited database title was not stored.
	- Possible crash in Bitmap-Button if Bitmap could not be loaded.
	- Possible crash in search for same players.
	- After creating a dossier from a player in a database some functions failed with "Database is in use".
	- Minor improvements to the function "improve player names".
	- Opening two boards with reference searches and closing one slowed down the reference search in the other one massively.
	- After sorting the player list in a database, scrolling didn't show info from the player encyclopedia any more.
	- Creating a dossier of a player not yet fetched from the online player encyclopedia was not possible.
	- Regression in 12.8: Sometimes a board window opened without a board.
	- Improved handling of quick reference databases.
	- Old database type will now be set properly again when changing the reference database.
	- Possible crash when opening a text.
	- Possible crash when entering the chess server immediately after program start and logging off right away.
	- Chat color in multi board broadcasts lighter.

CB 12.8 (Service Pack)
	- Possible crash with several open boards and switching one to 3D.
	- It was possible to open a second 3D board, resulting in an empty window.
	- Remove deleted games on game files > 2GB could lead to errors.
	- Searching for games in lots of databases simultaneously could fail because of system limits on open files.
	- Regression in 12.7: Database type could not be changed any more.
	- Regression in 12.7: Cursor up/down in move statistics and database list didn't work any more.
	- Integrity check didn't find illegal moves.
	- Select an engine through cursor up/down without first clicking into the dialog.
	- Sorting database list/icons didn't work if none was selected.
	- Possible crash with download of new games.
	- Mouse wheel support in playerbase list was missing.
	- Reorganizing database could change order of tabs in database window.

CB 12.7 (Service Pack)
	- Live broadcasts on playchess.com: Display the official logo and URL of the tournament in the kibitz window.
	- Possible crash in reorganisation, fix sort order, integrity check.
	- Heumas always showed possible answer, can now be switched off with "Threats as Arrows".
	- LiveBook window can be configured.
	- DGT-board can be used with Chess960.
	- Search for doubles always checked for similar names, even if set to ignore.
	- Clipboard never opened maximized.
	- Improve player names failed in some cases.
	- Sometimes the feedback bar showed values greater then 100%.
	- Regression in 12.6: Special annotations couldn't be entered/changed.
	- "Next game" from game lists occasionally crashed when skipping HTML texts

CB 12.6 (Service Pack)
	- Delete remaining moves always removed game result, even if used in a line.
	- Occasional exception in deep analysis.
	- Occasionally a text won't be shown after loading, refresh needed.
	- Game counting in theme keys always showed 0.
	- Vote for moves in Playchess live broadcasts.
	- Upon entering the broadcast room on playchess the games list tab is activated because in 99% of the time you want to kibitz games here.
	- Possible crash when disabling the player encyclopedia in the player index.
	- Possibly erroneous tiebreak calculation in team tables.

CB 12.5 (Spanish Release, Dutch Release, Service Pack)
	- 64Bit only: Fritz could not be loaded as default kibitzer if it was automatically selected by the program.
	- Publish games on internet didn't display umlauts correctly.
	- Publish games on internet: Optional local HTML file instead of one-click-publication to www.viewchess.com.
	- Column Notation in game lists was not always displayed correctly.
	- Parts of the player search dialog in the player encyclopedia where inactive.
	- Adding a variation of a game to the repertoire could mess up the game, even if the function was cancelled.
	- Deletion of all text annotations added to context menu.
	- Crash in Load Next Game (F11) in broadcast. (F11 is not available in this window.)
	- Contract dialog for cloud engines smaller to save screen real estate.
	- For more than one window of a type (e.g. multiple boards), each window position is now stored individually.
	- With a second monitor on the left side of the desktop, the window position was not saved correctly.
	- On a second monitor to the left side of the desktop, background textures (e.g. wood) were drawn incorrectly.
	- Crash in Sort Database / Remove Deleted Games when Database contains HTML texts without additional files ( e.g. positions.jpgs )
	- Player encyclopedia didn't work with less than 2 GB physical RAM.
	- Playchess.com: Both players can enter moves in shared analysis at the same time, no more analysis focus dialogs necessary.
		To analyse together, simply invite your pupil by right-clicking his/her name in the player list of the teaching room.
	- Sometimes a diagram in generated rtf files showed the previous position.
	- Keyboard shortcut (F5) to close the selected board in the multi board kibitzer window on Playchess.
	- Keyboard shortcut (F7) to close all finished boards in the multi board kibitzer window.

CB 12.4 (French Release, Service Pack)
	- 64Bit only: Win7 library "Chess" gets created automatically when user registers file names.
			Hint: Right-click arbitrary folders in Windows Explorer to add them to your "Chess" library.
	- ECO classification of database didn't write the ECO codes
	- Filtering the result list (Right-click Edit -> Filter) of an endgame similarity search did not set the move numbers for a single-click load 
	   (only double-click loaded the game at the filter mask position).
	- Parsing of media files in the background upon opening (faster response when working from DVD).
	- Sorting databases could crash.
	- Search for similar pawn structures sometimes ran with only one thread (slow) if c,d,e-file had no pawns.

CB 12.3 (Italian Release)
	- Login to ICCF was broken
	- Replay-control with buttons was broken
	- DGT-Support 64-Bit (not yet released by DGT)
	- Search doubles improved further, different default settings
	- Fritz 11 SE engine was installed in wrong directory in 64-Bit version
	- Board Window: Search the starting position in online database - Useful because it shows all recent strong GM games.
	- PlayChess Kibitzing database: Mark previous instance of repeatedly kibitzed live game as deleted and/or replace last version.
	- Multikibitz window opens more smoothly.
	- MyPGNDownload: Automatically select the new games in the list for fast copying.
	- MyPGNDownload only used for downloaded PGN databases, not for PGN's double-clicked in other folders.
	- Improved the new media window for live streams and on-demand training videos in playchess.com.
	- Faster login when checking for Mega Updates.

CB 12.2 (Service Pack)
	- Removed "Server busy" message when sending email from 64-Bit to 32-Bit Office
	- Importing/Copying databases could hang if a "Top Games" index was present.

CB 12.1 (Service Pack)
	- Several differently named UCI engines from the same exe were not distinguished properly
	- Font settings in several game lists were not stored
	- Online search, Advanced, Ok closes dialog and sends the search request
	- Tactics of the day now always displayed if window large enough
	- Game import with double check was broken
	- Crash in Openings key with damaged key file
	- Sorting history databases in a meaningful way was difficult
	- Copy in network resulted in wrong disk space message
	- Deleting database in a directory removes icon from desktop
	- Selecting many games in a big database could take a very long time
	- With empty player library not all entries in tournament/team list were updated

[Sean Evans]

Jon, if you write a letter to Chessbase identifying yourself as a chess engine author and these are the bugs you have found I believe CB would give them weight and add them to their bug fix list. CB may not be aware of them or not be aware that the public is aware of them.

Did you do this?

Cordially,

Sean

[mclane]

Next Version The bugs are again in. It's a sloppy software. They never get it ready.

[viriathus]

First Bug:

If I change the "black elo" of a game, always set the "black elo" = "white elo".