Why not get 9 if its cheaper. Check on the chessbase site for info. but i heard 9 is stronger, you get free lectures, and they have some new 3d boards, turk etc...
I heard people say the graphics suck and some other stuff but just use the 2d board and give errrrrr........
I don't care about the graphics much on any chess prog. because I just want to use it for chess not because it looks pretty.
Originally posted by RahimKNot impressed with fritz 9? why not, I find it clearly superior to fritz 8 and i'm not even expert enough in chess to notice subtleties, it is obviously stronger and faster than fritz 8. by faster i mean not nodes per second but just the amount of time it takes to correctly analyse a position. i remember looking over fischer games with fritz 8 and being confused by fischer giving a position a big advantage for white and fritz 8 saying something like -.27 Fritz 9 disagrees with GM analysis about half or even a third as much as fritz 8 did. It seems really powerful. Also, the new attack defense and check training methods are really ingenious and helpful. And three hours of video training material in and of itself could sell for 30 or 40 dollars. So what is there not to like, and support for many boards at once on playchess.com and a fischer 960 and suicide chess engine. no fritz 9 is significantly better than fritz 8. if you are going to buy one definitely buty fritz 9. however if fritz 8 satisfies all your needs then fair enough but i definitely am glad i bought 9.
Fritz 8 is great. 9 had 3+ hours or lectures I heard but from the previous comments posted in different threads people are not to impressed with 9.
Originally posted by RahimKThere's been a long discussion over at the Chess Exchange regarding the graphics. I didn't sense disappointment in the graphics, but there was some protest that ChessBase considers graphics of merit. The poster argued that all creative energies, time, and money invested by the developers should go towards developing the strongest possible engine.
I don't have fritz 9. I just read the comments posted in a different thread about fritz 9 a month ago when it came out. People were dissappointed in the graphics and other stuff. I can't recall what the other comments were though.
Others pointed out that graphics development and engine development do not detract from each other, as they are developed independently by different people.
While listening to Dennis Monokrosses's lecture on playchess last night, several other viewers were running Fritz 8 and Fritz 9 and commenting on the differences. Similar reports are filtering in from numerous sources. Although all my informaration is second-hand, I am convinced that Fritz 9 is a markedly stronger engine, as well as coming packaged in an interface that is much improved n its training features.
Fritz 9 is positionally stronger, but so far as actual overall game strength I did my own testing that is conclusive enough for my purposes and they are essentially equal when given lots of time to think. In faster games Fritz9 beat 8 with brutal regularity. This was determined by doing my own engine tournament between 8 and 9.
The 3d graphics are nice, but do have some bugs and nobody seems in too much of a hurry to fix them. It has been out for quite some time now and not a single patch has been released for any portion of it. I happen to like 3d chess boards in chess programs because I find it helps my OTB vision, which will tend to suffer if I use the 2d board too much. The more realistic they look, the better. When I turn on 'physics' for the pieces they all disappear. If I leave that feature off I can have all the shadows and reflections on and the board can look really nice. The Turk is nice as well for realism because it does annoying things similar to what regular jerk players do, like hovering over the board after he has moved.
The lectures included in Fritz9 were sample clips from their various products, so all they gave you were teasers to hopefully entice you into buying the full product.
The functionality on playchess.com is greatly improved over Fritz 8. If you play there the upgrade is worth it for that alone.
Edit: Oh, one more thing that is sometimes annoying is that Fritz9 will oftentimes claim 3 fold repetition when it actually does not exist.
Originally posted by TippedKingif fritz says that there's a 3 fold repetition, there usually is one. Three fold repetition does not have to be the same position in 3 consecutive moves, it could be any three positions that are the same throughout the entire game.
Edit: Oh, one more thing that is sometimes annoying is that Fritz9 will oftentimes claim 3 fold repetition when it actually does not exist.
Originally posted by darkassassin9512Usually you are right, and I never saw an instance with Fritz8 when it was incorrect. But, I have had several instances in Fritz9 where I am playing and it will alert 2fold repetition, then the very next move it claims 3fold. It is definitely a bug.
if fritz says that there's a 3 fold repetition, there usually is one. Three fold repetition does not have to be the same position in 3 consecutive moves, it could be any three positions that are the same throughout the entire game.
Another thing taken out of Fritz9, or at least it doesn't work for me, is keyboard entry for your moves. In Fritz8 you could open with e4 by just typing 'e4'. You seem to have to use the mouse in Fritz9.
An addendum for Fritz 9. Apparently someone has figured out they have been forgetting to post the patches to playchess.com because tonight I patched from the original veraion 1 up to version 4.
No idea what it fixed yet, but it is only fair to mention it since I was just commenting the other day how it had bugs and no patches had been released yet.