Fritz (chess)

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This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

Fritz 8 - end of game between Fritz and Fruit 2.2.1 on 3-D board

Fritz is a German chess program developed by Frans Morsch and Mathias Feist and published by Chessbase. There is also a version called Deep Fritz that is designed for multi-processing.

The latest versions of the consumer products are Deep Fritz 10 (released November 2006) and Fritz 11 (released November 2007).

1 History
2 Fritz and Chesster
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

Morsch and his friend Ed Schröder produced a chess program in the early 1980s. In the early '90s, the German company ChessBase asked Morsch to write the Fritz chess programs (called Knightstalker in the USA). In 1995, Fritz 3 won the World Computer Chess Championship in Hong Kong, surprisingly beating a prototype version of Deep Blue.

In 2002, Deep Fritz drew the Brains in Bahrain match against the classical World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik 4–4.

In November 2003, X3D Fritz, a version of Deep Fritz with a 3D interface, drew a four-game match against Garry Kasparov.

Main article: X3D Fritz

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 25 November-5 December 2006 Deep Fritz played a six game match against Kramnik in Bonn. Fritz was able to win 4–2^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4], including one incredible blunder by Kramnik.^[5]

On the November 3, 2007 SSDF rating list, Fritz 10 placed fifth with a rating of 2856, five points below Junior 10.1, and 79 points below #1 ranked Rybka 2.3.1.^[6] Fritz 9.0 is thirteenth on the same list, rated 2803.^[6]

[edit] Fritz and Chesster

Fritz and Chesster is a series of introductory chess programs based on the Fritz engine. Each program provides basic tutorials and games based around one aspect of chess, allowing children to learn the basic rules easily without overwhelming them with too many options at once.

Games are based around 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.