Recommended chess software for game/position analysis

Hello- I am looking to buy chess software for analysis of games and positions. I would appreciate any recommendations...Thanks...drfell

fritz 13 is good. have heard good things about houdini 3 as well.

Go for the best. Included are 1.5M games database.

Thanks......

This may be a bad idea.  Chess computers do not assess positions the way the human brain does.  To get a real idea of this, try to have a computer assess Go or wei chi problems such as at : http://tsumego.tasuki.org/  Good luck, because the computer cant do things a human brain can easily.  Kasparov commented that most computer programs want to take material quickly and they can be tricked.  What may work better for your training is to look at players you respect and review their pgn games, ask yourself why they are doing what they are doing, try to understand, and see if you would have done differently and why.  By going through this conscious assessment of position, long term and short term implications, immediate tactics, and strategic plans and commenting on them mentally by going through the games you will train your unconscious mind.  Free, worth the time, and better training than some robot to assess positions when computers are no better than idiot savants!

I am planning to do both. I am working through Master chess games with books and would like to add the computer for insights into tactics or obvious themes with new positions. I also realize most people don't play like computers and I don't ever enjoy a game vs a computer, but always do with people. People have characteristics which manifest in a game. This is fascinating to me.  I agree with you that a true understanding will reap the best rewards and I am seeking the best resources to accomplish this. I find the 'chess mentor' "from beginner to master" pawn and king exercises useful in this way.Thanks for you reply and see you on the board some day...drfell

Hi Dave,

Nice to see your pic/name and post!!

I was doing well for a few games and now need to beef up on my lessons again;]  Of course!!

See you Saturday

Good input about human brains functioning so much differently than the computer

For best human analysis, Chess Informants Best 1000 games. Not explained verbally but in variations with characters like +/-, ?, !, +-. I'm used to it.

The free lichess engine is good enough.

Personally I do not recommend Fritz. I own Fritz 14 and while it has a database and analyzes well, it has a horrible and confusing user interface shell. It just makes using the software extremely unpleasant and cumbersome when you probably do not want to be distracted by these problems.

I think a better idea is to use a chess analysis app on a mobile phone because there are very excellent apps that give you many options to adjust how you want a game or position to be analyzed. They are also either free or very cheap. Fritz is expensive.

I also had good experience using Lucas Chess and software called Chess Arena or Arena Chess. I am not sure.

More importantly, these days with advancement of computers you can analyze you game online on chess sites and not waste too much money. Using chess.com computer analysis on “deep” is more than sufficient and you can save this analysis for using with chess app or any software

The problem with chess analysis apps on phones is the processor load they use (if analyzing locally) or more complicated setups (if analyzing remotely).

So, unless the phone portability is really a must, a PC program is actually easier to use.

I've written a phone chess analysis app, so I'm very aware of the limitations: battery, small screen, weak processor, etc.

I use Stockfish and Fritz 14 on a PC.  Fritz is actually harder to figure out; but once I invested the 2-3hrs, it is actually pretty easy to use (the key (for me) was that I wasn't using it in analysis board mode, by clicking one of the top tabs).  Stockfish was very simple to use and learn with its command line interface.