Make PowerFritz 18 Your New Power Partner

Let’s get clear from the start and accept that neither PowerFritz 18 nor any other chess engine can replace a human training partner or coach. Chess engines can step in as a substitute training partner when needed.

PowerFritz 18 makes an excellent training partner when you are stuck on your own due to a remote location, weather conditions, or investing time healing.

Always remember that chess engines are an excellent assistant in your journey to chess improvement. They are helpful when you get stuck and are looking for alternative moves or seeing if your brilliant sacrifice is sound.

Always engage your brain before turning on the engine. After you’ve analyzed your game, check your analysis with the engine.

Play A Training Partner At Your Level

Sometimes there are no players online at your playing strength, or they want to play blitz when you are looking for a longer game. GM Simon Williams suggested playing thirty or sixty-minute games rather than blitz chess because then you have time to apply what you are learning.

Finding an online opponent who wants to play games this long can be tricky. Fortunately, PowerFritz 18 doesn’t mind how much time you want.

PowerFritz 18 allows you to play against the engine set at about the same level as yourself and with your desired time settings. This will help you improve your time management ahead of a tournament.

Getting Started With PowerFritz 18

The opening screen has a crisp, clean look and is easy to navigate.

The best way to familiarize yourself with the software is to start with an easy game (the top left icon).

You get to choose your color, which is helpful if you want to practice a particular opening.

Before starting a game, it is best to set the skill level. You can choose from beginner, hobby player, club player, strong club player, master candidate, and grandmaster.

Although there is no way to set the playing strength by Elo rating, choose one of the first three levels if you want an opponent rated below 2000 Elo.

If you select a level slightly above you, there is no need for concern because an accommodating assistant is willing to give you suggestions. You can, of course, turn off the assistant by unchecking “Automatic Hints,” “Talk,” “Click and Check,” and “Automatic Play.”

You can close the Easy Game panel, but you then lose a beneficial training tool -  the piece heat map. This map is situated on the far right and shows how well or poorly the pieces are placed.

Learning which is the best and worst placed piece in your position is essential knowledge. This wisdom will deepen your understanding of the typical middlegame positions arising from your openings.

It is crucial not only to know which of your pieces are weak, but you can also see which are your opponent’s best pieces. In future games, you will know which weaknesses in the pawn structure you can attack.

One of the many excellent features of PowerFritz 18 is the ability to play a game and analyze it in the same app. The analysis includes diagrams of the position at critical moments in the game.

Putting What You Learn Into Practice

Before you begin your training program, use your ChessBase account to play a few games to have a reference point. Getting an idea of your current playing strength is more important than playing the perfect opening or how much you struggle in the endgame.

If you don’t feel good about the results now, you can use this unpleasant feeling to make you train harder, and after a few weeks of training with Fritz 18, you can laugh at them.

The middle panel of the opening menu is where you will find everything you need to play online against other chess players.

The shortest time control you want to get an accurate rating is a 15-minute game with 10-second increments (15/10).

When you purchase PowerFritz 18, you will get a one-year Premium ChessBase Account with all the benefits this brings, including access to online databases and many training apps.

The Online Apps That Make Improving Dead-Easy

Sometimes we don’t always have time to play a full game, but you can use your spare time to practice your openings and tactics using apps.

There are drills to help you remember the openings and ready-made repertoires to save time. You can choose to follow current grandmaster games that include moves from your repertoire.

There are repertoires suitable for all playing strengths, so you need not worry the one you choose is too advanced for you to follow.

Apart from the openings and tactics apps, you get access to a live database which is extremely helpful in learning middlegame strategies in your chosen opening repertoire.

In Conclusion

PowerFritz 18 is an excellent, user-friendly training aid that will help you improve at chess.

You get access to one of the strongest chess engines available today, and you can start playing against it at an enjoyable level. Nobody enjoys playing a game if you are sure to lose every game.

This is not the case with PowerFritz 18, thanks to the adjustable skill levels and the hints.

Included in one app is access to many different features that you can use to take your game to the next level. The year-long ChessBase Premium Membership allows you to test your progress against other players and reassures you that you are making progress.

No matter how small the progress knowing you are getting better will keep you motivated to train harder. PowerFritz 18 will ensure that your training is both efficient and pleasant.