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Part 1 - Basics

1.1 Technical basics, installation and activation

The installation and activation of ChessBase is easy and does not require any previous
knowledge. You do need a Windows 7 or a more recent Windows operating system. Insert the
DVD and run the exe-file your system (32-bit or 64-bit) requires. Follow the installation
instructions. During the installation process you will be asked to enter the serial number. You
do find the serial number in your DVD box or, when you bought ChessBase as download, in
your online account. Before the first start of the program you are asked to activate your program.
This again requires the serial number. You can use and activate your ChessBase program on
three computers at the same time. After the activation you do have access to the online database
and you receive free updates of ChessBase.

1.2 Der ChessBase starting screen

On the left is the ChessBase explorer, a small icon
of your computer. The explorer allows you to
browse your computer and to open files. Below
that is the button that links to our game-update-
service- - and to playchess.com. On the
right is the list of your databases, here shown by
icons.

It is useful to log in with your ChessBase account.

This allows you to access playchess.com, the
update service, the database cloud, the engine
cloud or your sparring partner, Fritz-Online, with
one click.

!
The ChessBase serial number includes a three months Premium membership for the
ChessBase account. A ChessBase Premium Account means access to the entire
ChessBase world with its many modern WebApps anytime and everywhere.

1.3 Databases

ChessBase is a database program. You need databases to use it efficiently. You can create
databases yourself or you can get them from other sources. The program allows databases of
any size, no matter how big, and is thus an ideal tool to maintain your games and your training
materials.

1.3.1 Online database

ChessBase gives you access to the online database. Only the combination ChessBase/Premium
Account gives you access to about 72,000 annotated games in the online database.
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1.3.2 Reference database, Megabase 2019

To use the extensive search functions of the program a reference database is necessary. A
reference database must be stored locally on your computer. Our recommendation: Megabase
2019 with about 7.4 million games, of which about 72,000 are annotated, plus weekly updates
of at least 5,000 games. This keeps your reference database always up-to-date.

1.3.3 Create your own databases

Creating databases is easy. Use the commands

File  New  Database or the shortcut Ctrl+X .
The picture on the left shows the menu that
appears – you can choose where you want to save
the database. Tip: you should create a database to
use as desk. In this database you can save and
analyze games which you can copy into other
databases when you are finished with your work.

You can assign properties and icons/images to databases to access

them faster on the desktop. Right-click with the mouse on the
database symbol and from the menu shown on the left select the
suitable icon for your database. In the example given, the hammer
symbol was chosen for the database “desk”. The properties
Reference- and Repertoire Database are important for the search
functions.

1.4 Enter games and positions, enter variations and annotate

1.4.1 Enter game

With a click on the board symbol or with the shortcut

Ctrl+N you open the board, and now you can play
through and enter a game with the mouse.
Tip: click on the target square. The program usually
proposes the right move and you save a lot of time.

If you notice that a wrong move was entered, just go

back to the position in question and enter the right
move while keeping the Crtl-key pressed. Now
choose from the options.
Tip: When correcting “Insert” is important to keep the
moves that follow (if they are legal after the
correction).
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To save a game you can either use the command File

 Save  Save game or use the shortcut Ctrl+S .
Enter the game data – surnames, names, etc. – into the
mask shown in the picture on the left. To save the
current version of the game again use Ctrl+S for
„Save“. To create a copy of the game use the
command File  Save Game As.

1.4.2 Enter a position

To enter a position just press S – while the board is open – and

the menu shown on the left will appear. With „Drag & Drop“
you can position the pieces on the board. After positioning all
pieces on the board, mark whether it is still possible to castle,
whose move it is, and the move number of the next move. To
conclude, press OK and the position will appear on the board.

1.4.3 Enter variations and annotate games

To enter analyses and annotations is easy.

Just go to the „critical“ position with the
mouse and play a different move than the
one given in the text. ChessBase opens a
variation. A double-click on a move opens
a text editor to enter comments. ChessBase
14 highlights current variations by coloring
them.

Please note the toolbar below the board:

These tools allow you to promote or delete variations, delete remaining moves or enter text
before or after the move, enter or delete diagrams, evaluate the moves or the position or delete
all commentary with the eraser symbol.

Part 2 – Train with ChessBase

The following are only a few of the many options to train with ChessBase. We focus on some
of the new options in ChessBase

2.1 Loading a game

To work with a game or a position you have to

load it. Just open the database and open the
relevant game with a double-click. Game and
notation appear on the screen.
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2.2 Instant Analysis – New in ChessBase 15

Immediately after loading a game a strong engine

starts to analyse the game and provides a first
evaluation after a few seconds. The course of the
game is shown with a bar chart. By clicking on
the bar chart you can go directly to the critical
positions.

2.3 Assisted Analysis

“Assisted Analysis” is the digital form of “thinking aloud”. In this kind of training you speak
your thoughts out loud while a coach gives hints to push you gently into the right direction.
And this is what the “Assisted Analysis” function does.

In the position on the left you want to play the obvious move
13.Qd2 and to do so you click your queen with the mouse. The
program shows and evaluates all possible moves of the queen.
Green = Good and Red = Bad. The program asks you to reconsider
your choice – 13.Qd2. Assisted Analysis stops you from blindly
following moves and helps you to stay active while entering
games or lines.

2.4 Replay Training – New in ChessBase 15

The Replay Training helps you to turn the replay of a game into an interactive and playful
training unit. Use the added database with 100 master games as a start to the Replay Training.

You propose moves for one or both sides,

and hints and points give feedback.

You decide if and in which form the chess

engine helps you and gives hints and
advice.

You decide whether you want to analyse certain positions more deeply (blindfold as
calculation training or on the board) and you decide whether your efforts are included into
the notation and whether they are saved (for checking them later).
The repertoire training is based on the same principle and allows you to check your
knowledge of your opening repertoire.

2.5 Tactical analysis of games

The tactical analysis in ChessBase 15 allows you to the let the program analyze games
automatically. Let a strong chess program (Elo 3000+) check your games to create a basis for
your own analyses, or analyze a whole number of grandmaster games with just a few clicks.
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Select the games you want to analyze in the list of games

in the database. After right-click with the mouse select
the option “Tactical Analysis”.

You will be asked to enter a time. This is the value the

program on average applies to each half-move.
Additional options concern the way the program shows
mistakes (Fine, Medium, Coarse) and how the results of
the analyses should be saved and displayed.

2.6 Fritz – Online as sparring partner

The evaluation of the position on the left is: „And White has a crushing attack“. But maybe you
want to check this evaluation. However, you do not have a training partner who is ready to
serve as punching bag for the sparring that might ensue – maybe for hours on end. In ChessBase
14 Fritz-Online serves as sparring partner. Click on Training and choose „Play Out Against
Fritz“. If you are online, you will be connected to Fritz-Online. The position appears on the
board (right). Before starting you can adjust the playing strength of the program.

Part 3 – Search functions

A significant part of the time available for training can be wasted by searching for suitable
training material. Here, ChessBase helps you to save a lot of time with its new, improved and
simplified search functions. Time which can be used for actual chess training.

3.1 One-line search – New in ChessBase 15

A lot of search requests, particularly the search for certain games,

can be quickly carried out with the one-line search. In the example
you search for the games Kramnik won against Kasparov by
entering Kramnik Kasparov 1-0 into the search mask – then press
OK.
A number of examples which you can adapt as you like further
illustrate and explain this search.
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3.2 Simplifying the Advanced Search – New in ChessBase 15

In the Advanced Search you can enter examples when searching for “Material” which simplifies
the search. The search for “Manoeuvres” now includes a menu that helps you to search for the
most common tactical patterns. This helps you to quickly find instructive examples for certain
types of positions or material to train tactics.

3.3 Preparing for an opponent

One of the most important options of the search functions is the preparation for an opponent.
ChessBase offers a range of options to do that. One of the most efficient and fastest options is
to use the reference database to create a dossier about your opponent.

Open the reference database (currently Megabase 2019) and go to “Players”. Enter name and
surname of your possible opponent into the search bar at the bottom. The names of various
players appear in the list. Select the name you want, right-click with the mouse and select
“Dossier”. Now the program creates a tree and a report about the games of this player.

Instead of “Dossier” there is also the option „Prepare against

White“ or „Prepare against Black“. This option lists only the
games – and merges them into a tree – your potential
opponent played with White (or Black). In both cases you
only need a few mouse-clicks to know the opening
preferences of your potential opponent against your own
opening repertoire.
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3.3 – Reference database

For the search functions mentioned above the program uses a reference
database which you have to define. Such a database should be big (contain
a lot of games). We recommend the Mega Database. The Mega Database
2019 contains about 7.4 million games of which about 72,000 are
annotated. The annotated games provide an inexhaustible source of
material and inspiration, even more so because the database includes
annotations by the world’s best players.

Part 4 – The cloud databases

ChessBase allows you to create databases in the cloud and to work with them. This allows you
to access these databases from everywhere – you can access the material not only with
ChessBase, but also with your ChessBase Account and every web browser.
Go to the “Cloud” menu and you are logged onto your personal ChessBase-Cloud. Your Cloud-
databases are shown on the screen.

4.1 Access with the web browser

In the web browser the App “MyGames” allows you access

to your Cloud databases. You can also work with these
databases in the web browser, that is, you can add, annotate
and analyze games. An engine is available even if the device
you use to access the database does not have one.

4.2 Access via web addresses

You can share cloud databases with other users. You can give them
the right to load the database which gives them access to and the
right to copy the content of the database though they cannot change
it. But a user with writing authorization can revise the games, save
this revision, and he can add and delete games.
Another option is to publish the cloud database on the web –the
cloud database is given an individual URL that will not change.
This allows to embed the database into a website and to access the
database without a ChessBase Account.

Without a ChessBase account the content of the

cloud database is still available via a powerful
replayer. You can play through the games,
analyze with an engine and save the games as a
pgn-file. Training questions will also be shown.

ChessBase GmbH, Osterbekstrasse 90a, 22083 Hamburg, www.chessbase.com

November 2018