Chessbase Complete: Chess in the Digital Age – 5 Useful Tips

by | Jul 10, 2015 | Articles, Book Reviews, Reviews, Technology guide, Training | 0 comments

ChessBase Complete: Chess in the Digital Age

Chessbase complete
Chess in the Digital Age is an enchanting 356 pages guide that explains almost all aspects of using ChessBase.
Let us start with the basics first.

What is ChessBase?

ChessBase is an amazing chess database software mainly used by top professionals and by amateurs. It has evolved constantly from a very basic chess data reference tool to a full-blown chess database software.

Much like the Swiss knife of Chess

What is the book about?

For those who have been using the ChessBase Software (and I am pretty sure at least 75% of chess players around the world have used it at one point in time or the other) for straight forward game collections and annotations or for mundane tasks like viewing a game or playing a game online, this book will show what ChessBase software is actually capable of doing.

Here a small caveat – though the author has done a very good job explaining the key features with real-time case studies, it can by no means be labeled as ‘complete’. However, that does not take any credit away from the utility value of the book which is a path-breaking one.

Why this book?

I am sure most of you would have by now figured out a few basic functions in Chessbase, but a lot of the nerdy stuff features are not obvious unless you see them in the true perspective of results.
You may argue that there is a user-manual in the program as is the case with all software, and pretty much is explained in there, but it’s written more with an eye for technicality, than the utility point. The how is explained, but not the why and when and what if.
When one opens Chessbase it appears as a mysterious piece of software that appears easy to operate but you get a gut feeling that it has some secrets that are hidden deep inside waiting to be unraveled.
After going through this book you will realize that you have been actually right all along. There were many functions that you did not even have an inkling of.

In other words this book is like the hitch-hiker’s guide to the Chessbase galaxy!

How does the book deliver?

Showing hundreds of helpful screenshots from the program, Jon Edwards explains the following tasks with ChessBase:
  1. Effective Opening preparation is de-mystified with suitable examples.
  2. How to get a collection of important games in any opening, middlegame position type, or even endgame positions
  3. How you can install and see what engines think about any given position.
  4. How you can perform an analysis and see where you and your opponents erred.
  5. How you can publish your games in a book or the web/Facebook

What about practical examples?

What the author Jon Edwards has done is to take pains explaining 14 general features (aptly called ‘scenarios’), such as training and teaching, position searches, opening preparation, playing on the Playchess server using ChessBase, etc, and explains clearly how to go about accomplishing these activities.
The fact is that this book is a ready-reckoner because Chessbase is one life-saving utility for 99% of today’s chess professionals.

Do we need to have the Chessbase software?

The book is full of screenshots, which are helpful so that the program need not be open in front of you (though that would be highly recommended) and he does not miss anything major.

So is Chess in the Digital Age a complete reference manual?

Though every little function is explained to the point, I should add that this book is not a complete reference manual. The author merely elucidates how he uses the various features of Chessbase for his specific purposes (scenarios).

That said however if you are a serious chess player, this book should be in your collection of essentials. And although the book was written with Chessbase 12 in mind, it still works with the latest release of Chessbase 16.

Edit: The Author has released an updated version for ChessBase 15

Downsides if any?

The only sore point in Chessbase Complete Chess in the Digital Age is that the images used in the book could have been good quality color images to better illustrate and engage the reader’s eye. Hence my half-star less in the rating. It has nothing to do with the content – which is 5 star!

My rating of this book 4.5 out of 5.

Get it here at Amazon (US)

Get it at Amazon (India)

 

Check out my other interesting suggestion – on what an intermediate level player needs to study.

 

Vishy
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