Good chess program

I want to be able to analyze my games. What is a good chess program in 2013?

Hmmm, I usally use it when I think I played well...the computer always proves me wrong :)

Then I analyse with my brain...from my first big mistake.

I also use it to memorize the first few steps in an opening...I figure I can't go wrong right from the start that way :)

Chess King is by far best chess software available.  It uses the Houdini 3 engine, and has every bell and whistle that you could imagine in a chess program, and it's very simple to use and perform analysis.  Also the price is unbeatable compared to what other sites offer like Chessbase.

I'm not so sure I share the same amount of love for that program as you. Yes, Chess Kermit does have a good price point, but my main criticism is the degree that the GUI is designed around a single engine (Houdini). You'd better like the opening book that comes with Chess Kermit, because it's not possible to use a different book. Also, if you read the marketing information closely, it seems to imply that the Houdini engine can't be exported to a different GUI. (It would be nice if someone who owns Chess Kermit could verify this.) If that's indeed true, then you're basically stuck with using the Houdini engine only in the Chess Kermit GUI. Not a very flexible design, if you ask me.

Also, the marketing information seems to state that it's possible to add a different engine to the Chess Kermit GUI, but they don't make that process easy. You'd have to either rename the new engine to the same name as the old engine, or you'd have to edit some XML file. It doesn't sound like a very simple process. What happens in a few years when some new engine eclipses Houdini, and everyone abandons Houdini for the newest and strongest shiny bauble? You'll find that you're stuck with a GUI that makes it difficult to use a new engine. I don't particularly care for buying designed obsolescence.

Oh, and why do I keep calling the program Chess Kermit? You'd better like the color green, because to can't change it.

She's cute ^_^

All this talk about the expense of ChessBase. It is less than $200 if you get Big Database instead of Mega Database. What's the difference? Annotations.

CB supports multiple engines, has countless features for creating, maintaining, and using databases. It offers one-click access to the Online Database.

I've used CB daily for ten years for a total cost of $225 ($125 for CB 8 in 2003; $150 for CB 11 in 2010). I've paid a few hundred more for several versions of Fritz, Hiarcs, and Rybka.

My total cost for state of the art software: less than $0.12 per day. I can find that much laying on the sidewalk if I walk a mile per day.

Aquarium has some revolutionary features. I don't know of any other framework wich offers Interactive Deep Analysis. This means that you are able to build a tree of moves analyzed by the engine of your choice, minimax it out and have the whole thing permanently as a book of your own with every move having a minimaxed value attached to it. The whole process is automatic but you can interact with it in several ways (hence the name). You can promote moves to be analyzed, and also disable moves. You can ask for alternatives etc. It is a wonderful thing. I own ChessBase too because I have bought Deep Fritz and then you get it for free. I know what I'm talking about.

For a free solution Arena is very good!

You are confusing the database features of the Fritz GUI (limited) with the database program (comprehensive).

Everything that you describe doing with Aquarium is easy in ChessBase 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 with one difference. The software requires your oversight; it is not automatic. That feature of Aquarium is nice for lazy and busy users, but for most users it is poor compensation for the vast array of features lacking in Aquarium.