How often have you attended personal grandmaster lectures or training sessions? With its Chess Media System, Fritz brings the world's greatest chess players into your home via DVD, in full high resolution video and sound and a synchronized graphic chessboard. Listen to Garry Kasparov, Viktor Kochnoi, Alexei Shirov or (former world champion) Rustom Kasimdzhanov while they explain important openings and ideas that lead to success.

A host of famous chess teachers provide instruction in more mundane subjects, like opening traps, middlegame strategy, or endgame skills. Fritz makes it easy for you to play against other human beings, at any time, day or night. It provides you with a one-click connection to the largest chess community in the world, playchess.com (1 year access). You can play quick and informed games at any level, take part in tournaments, or attend live lectures and training sessions.

New Features:

• New engine developed for the Kramnik match and an extended and updated openings book.
• Extended and updated database.
• Dynamic hints: when entering a move, you see arrows highlighting direct and indirect attacks and defenses of each square your mouse moves over.
• Improved pieces for the 2D board. Highest resolution for boards of any size.
• Improved move entry on the 2D board: highlighted start and target squares avoid mouse slips.
• New set of very high resolution, classical wood 3D-pieces.
• Engine animation: while the chess engine is calculating, typical elements of the calculation (e.g. frequented squares) are visualized directly in the board.
• More efficient position analysis (correspondence players!) using the alpha/beta principle. The immediate elimination of bad continuations saves analysis time.
• New multimedia content with world-class players: Garry Kasparov, Alexei Shirov, Rustam Kasimdzhanov, new training lessons in German: Karsten Müller: endgames, and Gisbert Jacoby: opening tactics.

New server functions:

• New ranking list for fairness evaluations, applause and number of games
• Total ranking of all players: where am I on the ranking list?
• Filtering out of bad internet connections during challenges and seeks (formula).
• New video-conferencing or audio-chat functions between two players with an easy-to-use interface. Compatible with modern hardware firewalls.
• New ranks for players: dark piece symbols after players have used the server on 500 days.
• Bullet rating in the Engine Room.
• Easy click-connecting of people in chat.
• Faster transmission of player lists during log-in.
• Direct link to Google Earth from the globe.
• Real-time weather: the DirectX globe will evaluate satellite pictures and show you the prevailing cloud formation. Particularly impressive during hurricane season.

Interface

• New control elements for better window handling.
• Various buttons optically improved.

Features:

• Extended openings book
• Updated database
• Tips for attack and defense
• Live display of the thinking process on the chessboard
• More efficient position analysis
• Filters for challengers with bad Internet connection
• Bullet lists in the engine room
• Animated global weather display
• Direct link to Google Earth
• Windows Vista ready

System Requirements:

• Windows 2000, XP
• Pentium II 300 MHz processor
• 64 MB of RAM
• DVD-ROM drive
• Windows Media Player9