Chess Engine

Hey Chess.com!

I was wondering that in late june, i am planning to buy myself my 1st chess engine. After looking around, it seems like Fritz 12 is the way to go but i just wanted confirmation that this is the right engine for a player like me? I am really looking for an engine that can store all my games in a database, can show my mistakes in these games and possibly suggest how they were errors (as well as a 'correct' variation). is it also wise to go for Deep Fritz, or just the normal ones?

Thanks for any comments,
Ravi

rybka 4 is out (or coming out very soon) and is allegedly the strongest engine out there.

yeah ive heard of rybka 4, but i dont know if the strongest engine is necessarily the best if you know what i mean

Ravi

Almost any engine is good enough if you wish to play or analyze your games for tactics.

If you are a very very tough player, you should look at the best. Otherwise, I seem to prefer either Fritz or Chessmaster; the personalities in chessmaster are what keeps a feel of a tournament for me and push to improve.

the game collection in chessmaster is also more than sufficient for most people.

What I feel is the greatest advantage of Fritz is that ALL(ok ok, most) internet downloads (games, databases etc) come in Fritz format.

and do u recommend the deep version or the normal one?

Ravi

If you're looking only for an engine and happy with the free Arena interface, there's no need to waste 100$ when you already have such strong free alternatives like Firebird, Ivanhoe and Stockfish.

If you're looking for a commercial easy to use interface, than that's different.

ok so what is the difference between these engines to others like Rybka or fritz?

They are all much stronger than Fritz. Firebird and Ivanhoe are about the same strength as Rybka 4 and slightly stronger than Stockfish, which is expected to be the strongest engine with its major next release.

Oh, and Rybka is 90$ while these are free and open source (except firebird, which is free but not open source).

interesting, but then there must be a reason why one costs more than the other?

Sorry for the questions i just want to be sure lol

Ravi

Well, one (Rybka) steals code from open source engines like Fruit and makes collaborations with commercial giants like Chessbase and Convekta, securing a lot of promotion and marketing to make money out of that, while others just as good, choose to share their work for free and openly. Not a rare occurance in the digital world under capitalist conditions.

I always wonder how  good a player has to be to be able to tell the difference between the "best" engine and one a few points lower?    Something I'll never have to worry about........

thats interesting, so there isnt any difference, except some try to get profit

ill look into it then

Ravi

i feel fritz 12 is the best computer for storing databases and also showing you mistakes from analysis. If it's endgames you're looking for, fritz isn't at its strongest and for the first few moves it will tell you entirely the wrong opening moves unless you put an opening book in it! I don't know much about deep fritz, so can't help ya with that. I find the normal fritz just as good.  Rybka is strongest out there, and its endgame analysis is superb. With Fritz 12 you get a year free with playchess.com, a live chess thing which comes with fritz, or you can download an application from playchess.com and then pay for membership for another year (thirty euros i think) So I'd reccomend fritz 12 to you for the whole package of analysis (and hilarious stupid comments at times!!) and also for it's ability to give you the advantage/disadvantage of a certain position

thanks brfc for that. out of interest, what stupid comments?

And how would you implant an opening book?

Ravi

yes, you cannot go wrong with fritz.  it has a HUGE aftermarket support (videos, databases, engines, etc) and won't let you down. 

when it comes down to it, analyzing a game with a 3000 rated engine vs a 3200 rated engine really doesnt' make that much difference to us players.  :)

I always thought the Buick 3800 was a great engine.  Alas, it has been discontinued.  You can't go wrong with a straight six, though.

did that come with the GUI by Fischer? 

Download SCID or Chessbase Light, add Stockfish or Robbolito to them and you have some free software that will analyse your games for you. Both engines are incredibly strong, so there's no worries there. Mimicing what Skwerly said, any 2800+ elo engine will certainly be good enough for your needs.

Now, if you want to give me the $60 you would've spent, I'll be more than happy to have it... 

I posted a question last week which may shed some light on the topic of "engine shopping"...

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/when-does-engine-strengthquality-actually-matter-for-you

I think the body of the Buick Park Avenue--which had the 3800--was built at Fischer Body.  Is that close enough?