Fritz (chess)
Encyclopedia
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 multiprocessing
.
The latest versions of the consumer product
s are Deep Fritz 12 and Fritz 13.
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
.
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 to 5 December 2006 Deep Fritz played a six-game match against Kramnik in Bonn
. Fritz was able to win 4–2. In this match, Kramnik blundered away game 2, allowing a mate in one.
On the September 2010 SSDF
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 #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 #1 ranked Deep Rybka 4 x64. Deep Fritz 11 is also sixth on the same list, with a rating of 3097.
Claim of Cloning Rybka:
On 2011 October 24, computer expert Kai Laskos concluded "I have _no_ significant doubts by now that Fritz 11, Naum 3.1 and 4.2, Loop 13.6, Onno 1.0 _are_ clones_. In order to get such similarity, _large_ parts of eval must be copied verbatim, some parts of search too."
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:
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
chess program
Computer chess
Computer chess is computer architecture encompassing hardware and software capable of playing chess autonomously without human guidance. Computer chess acts as solo entertainment , as aids to chess analysis, for computer chess competitions, and as research to provide insights into human...
developed by Frans Morsch and Mathias Feist and published by ChessBase
ChessBase
ChessBase GmbH is a German company that markets chess software, maintains a chess news site, and operates a server for online chess. Set up in 1998, it maintains and sells massive databases, containing most historic games, that permit analysis that had not been possible prior to computing...
. There is also a version called Deep Fritz that is designed for multiprocessing
Multiprocessing
Multiprocessing is the use of two or more central processing units within a single computer system. The term also refers to the ability of a system to support more than one processor and/or the ability to allocate tasks between them...
.
The latest versions of the consumer product
Consumer product
A consumer product is generally any tangible personal property for sale and that is used for personal, family, or household for non-business purposes. The determination whether a good is a consumer product requires a factual finding, on a case-by-case basis...
s are Deep Fritz 12 and Fritz 13.
History
Morsch and his friend Ed Schröder produced a chess program in the early 1980s. In the early 1990s, the German company ChessBaseChessBase
ChessBase GmbH is a German company that markets chess software, maintains a chess news site, and operates a server for online chess. Set up in 1998, it maintains and sells massive databases, containing most historic games, that permit analysis that had not been possible prior to computing...
asked Morsch to write the Fritz chess programs (called Knightstalker in the USA). In 1995, Fritz 3 won the World Computer Chess Championship
World Computer Chess Championship
World Computer Chess Championship is an annual event where computer chess engines compete against each other. The event is organized by the International Computer Games Association...
in Hong Kong, surprisingly beating a prototype version of Deep Blue.
In 2002, Deep Fritz drew the Brains in Bahrain
Brains in Bahrain
Brains in Bahrain was an eight-game chess match between World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik and the computer program Deep Fritz 7, held in October 2002. The match ended in a tie 4-4, with two wins for each participant and four draws.-Outcome of games:...
match against the classical World Chess Champion
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007...
4–4.
In November 2003, X3D Fritz
X3D Fritz
X3D Fritz was a version of the Fritz chess program, which in November 2003 played a four-game Human-computer chess match against world number one Grandmaster Garry Kasparov...
, a version of Deep Fritz with a 3D interface, drew a four-game match against Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
.
On June 23, 2005, in the ABC Times Square studios, the AI Accoona
Accoona
Accoona was an internet company having offices in Jersey City, New Jersey and Shanghai, China. Their main product was a search engine that claimed to use artificial intelligence to better understand searches. On June 23, 2005, in the ABC Times Square studios, the AI Accoona Toolbar, driven by a...
Toolbar, driven by a Fritz 9 prototype, drew against the then FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Rustam Kasimdzhanov is an Uzbekistani chess Grandmaster, best known for winning the FIDE World Chess Championship 2004. He was born in Tashkent, in the former Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic...
.
From 25 November to 5 December 2006 Deep Fritz played a six-game match against Kramnik in Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
. Fritz was able to win 4–2. In this match, Kramnik blundered away game 2, allowing a mate in one.
On the September 2010 SSDF
Swedish Chess Computer Association
The Swedish Chess Computer Association is an organization that tests computer chess software by playing chess programs against one another and producing a rating list. On September 26, 2008, the list was released with Deep Rybka 3 leading with an estimated Elo rating of 3238. Rybka's listing in...
rating list, Deep Fritz 12 placed sixth with a rating
Elo rating system
The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as chess. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-born American physics professor....
of 3110, 135 points higher than Deep Junior
Junior (chess)
Junior is a computer chess program authored by the Israeli programmers Amir Ban and Shay Bushinsky. Grandmaster Boris Alterman assisted, in particular with the opening book...
10.1, and 103 points lower than #1 ranked Deep Rybka
Rybka
Rybka is a computer chess engine designed by International Master Vasik Rajlich. , Rybka is one of the top-rated engines on chess engine rating lists and has won many computer chess tournaments...
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 #1 ranked Deep Rybka 4 x64. Deep Fritz 11 is also sixth on the same list, with a rating of 3097.
Claim of Cloning Rybka:
On 2011 October 24, computer expert Kai Laskos concluded "I have _no_ significant doubts by now that Fritz 11, Naum 3.1 and 4.2, Loop 13.6, Onno 1.0 _are_ clones_. In order to get such similarity, _large_ parts of eval must be copied verbatim, some parts of search too."
Version history
| Version | Year of release | Platforms | New features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fritz Deluxe | 1992 | DOS | |
| Fritz 2 | DOS | ||
| Fritz 3 | DOS | ||
| Fritz 4 | |||
| Fritz 5 | Windows | ||
| Fritz 6 | 2000 | Windows | revised graphics, improved menu |
| Fritz 7 | 2001 | Windows | online play, highscore lists, chat functions, watch other people play |
| Fritz 8 | 2003 | Windows | photo-realistic virtual 3D boards that zoom and tilt, 500,000+ games database including historical matches between the world chess champions Bobby Fisher and Boris Spassky, Napoleon versus The Chess Automaton |
| Fritz 9 | 2005 | Windows | new preset AI opponents, handicap, realistic sound effects for the various types of chess pieces, several new 3D enhanced playing boards, board customization |
| Fritz 10 | 2006 | Windows | |
| Fritz 11 | 2007 | Windows | |
| Fritz 12 | 2009 | Windows | redesigned ergonomic interface, analysis option, annotate option, 5 minute per side game without any added time option, option to load .PGN files, runs on MacBook Pro when Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (french) is installed, Grandmaster play level, 12 months premium membership on Playchess.com, new Fritz engine, openings book by Alex Kure, 12 hours chess tutorial videos with international trainers and world class players, updated database of 1.5 million games from 1625 to 2009 |
| Fritz 13 | 2011 | Windows | “Let’s Check” knowledge base for chess |
Fritz and Chesster
Fritz and Chesster is a series of introductory chessChess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
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
Rules of chess
The rules of chess are rules governing the play of the game of chess. While the exact origins of chess are unclear, modern rules first took form during the Middle Ages. The rules continued to be slightly modified until the early 19th century, when they reached essentially their current form. The...
easily without overwhelming them with too many options at once.
Games are based around Prince Fritz, the son of King
King (chess)
In chess, the king is the most important piece. The object of the game is to trap the opponent's king so that its escape is not possible . If a player's king is threatened with capture, it is said to be in check, and the player must remove the threat of capture on the next move. If this cannot be...
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 castlingCastlingCastling is a special move in the game of chess involving the king and either of the original rooks of the same color. It is the only move in chess in which a player moves two pieces at the same time. Castling consists of moving the king two squares towards a rook on the player's first rank, then...
and stalemateStalemateStalemate is a situation in chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check but has no legal moves. A stalemate ends the game in a draw. Stalemate is covered in the rules of chess....
. - Learn To Play Chess With Fritz and Chesster 2: Chess in the Black Castle covers chess strategy and tactics, chess openingChess openingA chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...
s, and endgames. - Learn To Play Chess With Fritz and Chesster, part 3: Chess for Winners contains opening schemes, tactics, recognizing checkmateCheckmateCheckmate is a situation in chess in which one player's king is threatened with capture and there is no way to meet that threat. Or, simply put, the king is under direct attack and cannot avoid being captured...
s, endgame training, and key squareKey squareIn chess, particularly in endgames, a key square is a square such that if a player's king can occupy it, he can force some gain such as the promotion of a pawn or the capture of an opponent's pawn. Key squares are useful mostly in endgames involving only kings and pawns...
s.
See also
- Anti-computer tactics
- Brains in BahrainBrains in BahrainBrains in Bahrain was an eight-game chess match between World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik and the computer program Deep Fritz 7, held in October 2002. The match ended in a tie 4-4, with two wins for each participant and four draws.-Outcome of games:...
- ChessBaseChessBaseChessBase GmbH is a German company that markets chess software, maintains a chess news site, and operates a server for online chess. Set up in 1998, it maintains and sells massive databases, containing most historic games, that permit analysis that had not been possible prior to computing...
- Chess engine
- Computer chessComputer chessComputer chess is computer architecture encompassing hardware and software capable of playing chess autonomously without human guidance. Computer chess acts as solo entertainment , as aids to chess analysis, for computer chess competitions, and as research to provide insights into human...
- IBM Deep Blue
- List of chess software
- Pocket FritzPocket FritzPocket Fritz, which is currently at version 4, is a chess playing program for Pocket PC personal digital assistants . Pocket Fritz 4 uses HIARCS as the chess engine. Pocket Fritz 2 used a port of the Shredder chess engine....