Best Chess Software?

I have been out of the chess world for almost 10 years. I am sure a lot has changed in the chess software world.

Just wondering what the best chess software is currently for:

1. opening training

2. endgame training

3. tactics training.

I welcome all opinions.

I guess CT-ART was popular. Book Up was used by some to learn openings. Not sure what people used for endgames.

I'm sure a lot has changed since then.

There are many Chessbase DVD videos on openings, do you buy a lot of those? Do you recommend any in particular?

ChessBase is the best.

You will hear complaints about it from people who use it incorrectly and run into problems.

I read ebooks in ChessBase that I buy from Everyman and Chess Informant. I have opening databases, endgame databases, middlegame databases, tactics databases, collections of my games, historic games, …

I use ChessBase to produce diagrams for my blog, worksheets for my students, and self-published books.

I can switch quickly from ChessBase’s database to the playing program in order to battle my choice of engines, including several versions of Fritz, Stockfish, Komodo, and Rybka. I could add others if I wanted them. Then I can switch back to the database program. The engines all work as analysis tools both places and as playing engines in the Fritz interface.

Is there a good video series or software covering all the most crucial endgame positions?

What does Chessbase 17 teach you besides opening theory?

I have a very old version of Chessbase, so all it can do is really go through an openings database.

Like I said, I've been out of chess for a while, software has probably changed including Chessbase.

Tactics puzzles you can download is a good feature.

Okay, but so how exactly does it train you in the endgame, is there a new mode in Chessbase that quizzes you on common endgames using an engine?

In other words, you never learned how to use the software.

I don’t know about 17 because I’m still using 15. Nonetheless, I know they have not removed features I use to study endgames that I started using more than twenty years ago with CB 8.

Okay, thanks for the responses. I'll check out Chessbase 17.

Chess Informant 155 arrived this afternoon. I get the book and CD. The magazine is now installed in ChessBase.

Yeah, I messed around with my Chessbase 10 and I don't see any way to train endgames.

You can of course search for specific endgame positions in the database, but that is hardly the same thing as studying the winning technique of the Lucena Position, etc...

Looking at how players have won such positions is precisely how I learned it. That and books. Mostly Dvoretsky with a superficial overview from Silman.

I do find that playing theoretically won or drawn endgames against a chess engine can be a problem, because the computer doesn't play normally or find the best moves in these positions.

Since there is no way to really win, the computer often just sort of gives up or plays pointless moves that don't put up a fight in the position.

Does anyone agree or have a solution?

I’ve had this problem with some positions, but not with all. It only happens when there are very few pieces.

I’m not sure about solutions. I play many such endings against the computer, but the engine’s failure to challenge occurs only in a small number. Maybe a weakened engine would play harder. I haven’t tested this, but it might be worth a try.

Lucas Chess, its free and its one of the best softwares out there!

Chessmaster is no longer sold. Nor could it compete with Chessbase products after about 1998, although I continued to buy new versions into this century a couple of years.

“Free is often more expensive than it is worth.” Me (originally stated in reference to Free Internet Chess Server).

I had CM 3000 on my first Windows computer. Used it extensively.

The database is too small and cannot be expanded. The search methods are limited. The playing levels are clumsy. It is primitive software by any standard, except for its time (early 1990s).