Fritz & Chesster Online. The classic among children's chess programs! Learning to think strategically, clever brain training, exciting competition situations, lots of fun and a good portion of chess knowledge - all this and more is part of this unusual chess adventure, which has already won many international awards. Become an Official Sponsor of Fritz & Chesster iOS app. 1 premium Fritz & Chesster iOS app will be offered worldwide one month’s long for free. During this month You (or your organisation) will be listed as a sponsor every time the application is opened, so users can see your contribution!
| Fritz | |
|---|---|
| Genre(s) | Chess |
| Developer(s) |
|
| Publisher(s) | ChessBase |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii, Nintendo DS |
| Latest release | Fat Fritz 2.0 February 9, 2021; 7 months ago |
Fritz is a Germanchess program originally developed for Chessbase by Frans Morsch based on his Quest program, ported to DOS, and then Windows by Mathias Feist. With version 13, Morsch retired, and his engine was first replaced by Gyula Horvath's Pandix, and then with Fritz 15, Vasik Rajlich's Rybka.
The latest version of the consumer product is Fat Fritz 2.0.[1] This version supports 64-bit hardware and multiprocessing by default.
History[edit]
In 1991, the German company ChessBase approached the Dutch chess programmer Frans Morsch about writing a chess engine to add to the database program which they sold. Morsch adapted his Quest program, and ChessBase released it for sale that year as Knightstalker in the U.S. and Fritz throughout the rest of the world. In 1995, Fritz 3 won the World Computer Chess Championship in Hong Kong, beating an early version of Deep Blue. This was the first time that a program running on a consumer level microcomputer defeated the mainframes that had previously dominated this event.
In 1998, Fritz 5 was released including a Friend mode which would cause the engine to adjust its strength of play over the course of a game based on the level the opponent appeared to be playing. Fritz 5.32 was released soon after replacing the 16 bit architecture with a 32 bit one.
In 2002, Deep Fritz drew the Brains in Bahrain match against Vladimir Kramnik 4–4. Fritz 7, which was released that year, included the ability to play on the Playchess server.[2]
In November 2003, X3D Fritz, a version of Deep Fritz with a 3D interface, drew a four-game match against Garry Kasparov.
Fritz 8, which appeared around this time, provided a 3D Spanish room setting for games to take place. Fritz 9 added a 3D virtual opponent, the Turk.
In 2004, Fritz 8 added a Handicap and Fun mode, allowing players to choose the Elo rating and style that the engine will use.[3]
On June 23, 2005, in the ABC Times Square studios, the AI Accoona Toolbar, driven by a Fritz 9 prototype, drew against the then FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov.
From November 25 to December 5, 2006 Deep Fritz played a six-game match against Kramnik in Bonn. Fritz was able to win 4–2.[4][5][6] In this match, Kramnik blundered away game 2, allowing a mate in one.[7]
On SSDF's September 2010 rating list, Deep Fritz 12 placed sixth with a rating of 3110, 135 points higher than Deep Junior 10.1, and 103 points lower than no. 1 ranked Deep Rybka 3 x64. Deep Fritz 11 is eighth on the same list, with a rating of 3073.
On the December 2010 edition of the CCRL rating list, Deep Fritz 12 placed sixth with an Elo rating of 3088, 29 points higher than Deep Junior 11.1a x64, and 174 points lower than no. 1 ranked Deep Rybka 4 x64. Deep Fritz 11 is also sixth on the same list, with a rating of 3097. Fritz has not kept up with modern advances, attaining only 14th on the 2013 CCRL rating list and not participating in any world championships since 2004.
The 2013 release of Deep Fritz 14 switched engines from the original author Frans Morsch's to Pandix, written by Gyula Horváth. A long time participant in world computer championships since 1984, Pandix was substantially rewritten in 2009, and has been a strong contender since then.
Fritz 15 was released on November 25, 2015 with new features, including switching to Vasik Rajlich's famous Rybka engine.[8] Handicap and Fun mode was dropped, but there is now a function for pawn and piece handicaps (e.g. ceding pawn and move).
Fritz 16 was released on November 12, 2017 with a new Easy game mode which provides for assisted calculation marking good moves with a green circle and bad moves with a red one.[9] This version again uses the Rybka engine.[10]
Fritz 17 was released on November 12, 2019, and uses the Ginkgo engine.
In July 2021, the developers of the open sourceStockfish chess engine filed a lawsuit against Chessbase alleging that Fat Fritz 2.0 is a derivative of Stockfish and is in violation of a 'central obligation' of Stockfish's GNU General Public License.[11] Chessbase co-founder Matthias Wullenweber replied, 'We expect to win, but this will not diminish our respect for the work behind Stockfish.'[12]
The Fritz engine in other companies[edit]
The American company Viva Media, now a division of Encore, Inc. has been licensed to sell many versions of the Fritz engine and GUI combination. British game publisher Eidos Interactive (now part of Square Enix Europe) published Fritz 6 and 7. In 1998, the German company Data Becker released the program 3D Schach Genie, containing the Shredder engine and Fritz interface. The German company Purple Hills sold Fritz 6 through 12 as Profi Schach 1 through 7. British Excalibur Publishing has published Fritz 9 through 14. American book publisher Simon & Schuster featured the Fritz engine in their Extreme Chess program, as have German game publisher TopWare Interactive in their Battle vs. Chess game.
Fritz and Chesster[edit]
Fritz and Chesster is a series of introductory chess programs based on the Fritz engine. Each program provides basic tutorials and games based on one aspect of chess, allowing children to learn the basic rules easily without overwhelming them with too many options at once.
Games follow Prince Fritz, the son of King White, and his cousin Bianca, as Chesster the rat (among others) teaches them the fundamentals of chess so that they can defeat King Black.
There are three programs available in the series:
- Learn To Play Chess With Fritz and Chesster covers all the rules of chess, from basic moves to castling and stalemate.
- Learn To Play Chess With Fritz and Chesster 2: Chess in the Black Castle covers chess strategy and tactics, chess openings, and endgames.
- Learn To Play Chess With Fritz and Chesster, part 3: Chess for Winners contains opening schemes, tactics, recognizing checkmates, endgame training, and key squares.
Fritz And Chesster App
Reception[edit]
The editors of Computer Games Magazine nominated Fritz 6 for their 2000 'Classic Game of the Year' award.[13]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^'Fat Fritz 2.0 - The new number 1'. Retrieved 2021-06-24.
- ^'ChessBase - Products'. Archived from the original on 2002-08-06. Retrieved 2019-09-11.
- ^'Schach, Schachprogramme, Schach spielen im Internet'. Archived from the original on 2004-08-12. Retrieved 2019-09-11.
- ^'Chess champion loses to computer'. BBC News. December 5, 2006. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
- ^'New chess duel Man vs Machine', Chessbase, 3 January 2006
- ^'Kramnik vs Deep Fritz: Computer wins match by 4:2', Chessbase, 5 December 2006
- ^Susan Polgar: Blunder of the century? Biggest blunder ever?
- ^'Come and get it – Fritz 15 released!'. Chess News.
- ^'Fritz 16 - Easy Game And Calculation' – via www.youtube.com.
- ^'Fritz 16 - your companion and trainer'. Chess News.
- ^The Stockfish Team (2021-07-21). 'Our lawsuit against ChessBase'. Stockfishchess.org. Archived from the original on 2021-07-21. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
- ^Doggers, Peter (2021-07-23). 'Stockfish Developers Sue Chessbase Claiming Copyright Violation'. Chess.com. Archived from the original on 2021-07-25. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
- ^Staff (February 8, 2001). 'Computer Games Magazine announces nominees for annual best in computer gaming awards'. Computer Games Magazine. Archived from the original on February 9, 2005.
External links[edit]
Fritz And Chesster Download
- Fritz player profile and games at Chessgames.com
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Fritz & Chesster – Learn to Play Chess Vol. 1 FREE STEAM KEY
Fritz & Chesster – Learn to Play Chess Vol. 1 Free Steam Key. Register now and get Fritz & Chesster – Learn to Play Chess Vol. 1 steam key FREE! Free steam keys and free steam games unlock immediately!After you have acquired some coins, you can immediately exchange the coins into Fritz & Chesster – Learn to Play Chess Vol. 1 key to download your game on the steam platform.
Learn to think strategically, try out tricky mental exercises and master fun and exciting challenges - all with a generous helping of chess knowledge. These things and more await you on this unusual chess adventure that has already received great international acclaim.
Start playing Fritz & Chesster Volume 1 and join Prince Fritz and his cousin Bianca on their journey through the rules of chess and many tactical motifs.
Once upon a time there was a small country, a very, very small country. And this very small country was ruled by a very wise king. In fact he was the wisest King there had ever been. And he was called 'King White'
This is the beginning of a very interesting new product by ChessBase: Fritz & Chesster. It is possibly also the most important piece of software created by the company, for a very simple reason.
Like none of the other products, Fritz, Junior, Shredder, or even ChessBase itself, Fritz and Chesster is one that can recruit new players to the game.
We predict that tens of thousands of children will take up chess because they had access to this program.
Fritz and Chesster does not teach chess in the usual way. It does not set up a board and explain how each of the pieces move. Instead it targets children who have never played chess before in their lives and teaches them the basic rules in a Sesame Street like environment. There are cartoons and stories for the children to follow, and then there are tasks for them to solve interactively.
Oh ye, Oh ye, Oh ye!
Listen all young heroes well
Whom the chess game doth compel:
Aspiring masters of the game
Come and enter here your name
Then I beg click on the seal
The world of chess awaits your zeal
Each piece and each rule is explained in a subgame, which you can play against the computer. Many of them are far away from the actual game of chess, but at the same time they give the children full insight into the sometimes daunting rules of the game.
Take for instance the first sequence. Young Prince Fritz has to stand in for a while for his father, King White. Together with his cousin Bianca Fritz embarks on a journey through their kingdom.
On their journey they are joined by Kalaidoscope, a jolly instructor, who tells them all about the kingdom. In each scene the children can click different elements, like the mouse traps in the above picture, funny things happen. It encourages the young users to explore the scenery.
On their trip around the kingdom the three encounter the daunting King Black, who challenges them to a game of chess. But Fritz doesnt know how to play. Thankfully he is able to learn the game on the rest of his trip.
The first lesson comes when they see two sumo wrestlers fighting in a ring. The wrestlers are too fat to approach each other directly, so they always stay at least one square apart. They move around the board blocking each other off.
If they do it properly Fritz and Bianca can push their opponent off the board. After that they try to occupy chairs before their opponent, and while trying to do so the program explains how they can use 'opposition' to outwit the opponent. At the end of this lesson the children have learnt everything they need to know about the king move, including the concept of opposition.
Learning the rook moves is equally entertaining. In a pacman-like game the children learn to move the rook and avoid capture by the enemy spiders. There are sound effects and high-score lists to keep their attention.
The bishop move is learnt by bouncing a ball off a rectangular paddle to destroy toilet bowls (the kind of thing young children find hilarious). Since the ball moves diagonally they are learning to operate the bishop. Mind you, these games might also create some problems. Very often the parents start to play them and compete against their offspring. There can be ugly scenes when it turns out, as it usually does, that the children are better.
Naturally you do not need to or indeed should leave your child alone with the program. In fact we have discovered that it is often usually children and their mothers who pick up the game. The fathers usually get hooked on the subgames, battling to keep ahead of the kids.
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- OS: XP / Vista / 7
- Processor: Intel Pentium 4 Processor
- Memory: 512 MB RAM
- Graphics: Graphics card
- Storage: 1 GB available space
- Sound Card: Sound card