We are the Computer Chess Community. We control ourselves.

[noobpwnftw]

Not all ChessBase products are bad, people are very specific about some of their products that are in question.

If they are willing to put the entire brand and reputation on the table to defend such wrongdoings, I think it is not going to end well.

As average users, it is time to see whether ChessBase see you as a person who plays chess or a person who carries a wallet.

[Collingwood]

The only problem: Chessbase has the best products (Fritz is just a GUI...despite their current use of SF stuff). So, no...

Agreed. Fritz GUI is definitely the best out there, and I also think Playchess is the best for online play IMO.

But you both presumably already have the Fritz GUI. Why would you need to keep buying more Fritz GUIs?

[Cornfed]

The only problem: Chessbase has the best products (Fritz is just a GUI...despite their current use of SF stuff). So, no...

Agreed. Fritz GUI is definitely the best out there, and I also think Playchess is the best for online play IMO.

But you both presumably already have the Fritz GUI. Why would you need to keep buying more Fritz GUIs?

Me, I just get one every...few incarnations (not for the engine - except for Komodo once). I have Fritz 17 and before that it was as Komodo 8. Unlike say...Aquarium or CA, Chessbase actually does upgrade their products.

[Gabor Szots]

I think Fritz gui looks the most professional and probably has the most functionality. But I find the Fritz gui quite buggy at times. I have several engines where I cannot load the engine parameters at all though it works fine in Arena, a few engines that I can only play engine vs engine matches and if I try to add them to a tournament the engine will crash and ruin the tournament (e.g Rybka 4 and Rodent III).

I have not had any problems with those two in engine tournaments. However, the Fritz GUI has indeed several flaws which Arena has not:
1. Some engines cannot be installed (java, javascript, but even SlowChess and some others can be installed only by creating and editing its eng file manually).
2. No WB support.
3. You can use only default engine names, again you have to edit them manually after installing them.
4. No rearranging/sorting possibility of engines selected for a tournament.
5. You can't add/remove engines from an ongoing tournament.
6. There are no adjudication settings.
7. No easy interrupting of tournaments (you have to watch the games and intervene at the appropriate moment).
...

But these are important mainly only for engine tournaments.

[mclane]

I think Fritz gui looks the most professional and probably has the most functionality. But I find the Fritz gui quite buggy at times. I have several engines where I cannot load the engine parameters at all though it works fine in Arena, a few engines that I can only play engine vs engine matches and if I try to add them to a tournament the engine will crash and ruin the tournament (e.g Rybka 4 and Rodent III).

I have not had any problems with those two in engine tournaments. However, the Fritz GUI has indeed several flaws which Arena has not:
1. Some engines cannot be installed (java, javascript, but even SlowChess and some others can be installed only by creating and editing its eng file manually).
2. No WB support.
3. You can use only default engine names, again you have to edit them manually after installing them.
4. No rearranging/sorting possibility of engines selected for a tournament.
5. You can't add/remove engines from an ongoing tournament.
6. There are no adjudication settings.
7. No easy interrupting of tournaments (you have to watch the games and intervene at the appropriate moment).
...

But these are important mainly only for engine tournaments.

Exactly.

Then comes all the bombastic marketing behaviour.
Companies who tried to come with an alternative product had a difficult time, as concurrent companies against Microsoft had.

Chess assistant, bookup, scid, complete chess system, aquarium, hiarcs chess explorer,


This behaviour of faked reality concerning marketing has its roots long back in the history of this company.

There you have also the reason why I had to critisize frederic Friedel. Because he was not interested in the truth but in his own interpretation of facts.

This was an irritating experience for me. He is a clever person. So you cannot say: hey he is not seeing it because he has not the intellect to understand it.
He insists of a parallel reality, which he campaigns and is not capable to discuss any criticism at all.
Therefore the situation never changed. And the products never changed. How could they.

[smatovic]

"We are the Computer Chess Community..." - and resistance is futile, hehe, j.k.

I thought about promoting some kind of open letter of chess programmers concerning the marketing blabla of ChessBase, but, hmm, open letters did not work so well in the past in here, right?`And there is already some kind of alliance going on across SF, Lc0 and Lichess....hence I am just curious what kind of kowtow Silver and ChessBase will perform to ease the situation, or alike.

--
Srdja

[flok]

Your opinion, not my opinion!
Yesterday many users have written why I like chessbase software so much (after discussions around Fat Fritz II in a German fora).

A very big problem for chess fora.

100% pro or 100% contra.
If not, example 50/50 opinion, others have problems with understandings!

But this isn't my problem!

Best
Frank

hot head ...
Do you really know that your message is seriously?
What do you make for the community, let me have a guess ... nothing!

Aren't you the same guy ranted for weeks about a topic(!) about polish users?

[Madeleine Birchfield]

Frederic Friedel wrote an entire article about scamming other people and how he is basically a scammer in 2016:

No wonder why Chessbase continuously does scammy things r.e. Houdini, Fat Fritz, etc.

[Frank Quisinsky]

Again hello Volkert,

oh yes, absolutely ... "POLISH Users"!

Indeed to 100% my opinion what I wrote here!
Unfortunately, people like to read only what they wish to read only!

Best
Frank

[Frank Quisinsky]

Srdja,

a good message!
I think an Open letter can be a good idea!
On the other hand, chessbase is in my opinion not so important that an open letter is the right way.
An open letter will make the company stronger I think!

"We are the computer chess community" ...
In the past the community are in most of cases not very strong in political questions.
Each one have in most of cases own interest in the brain.
Solidary is not our strength!

But maybe time changed!

This one (after Stockfish 13 ... thinkable, not reality)
We like to inform you that an update for Fat Fritz II is available.
Alber Silver found a new amazing way, in a very short time, to make FAT Fritz 2 35 Elo stronger!
Fat Fritz II.I will be available for you!

With the result Stockfish 14 is available?

Best
Frank