How To Make Fritz Chess Software
Play a Specific Chess Opening
  Part One

by Steve Lopez

Two frequently-asked questions regarding Fritz (and its "sister" programs which share the same interface: Rybka, Hiarcs, Junior, etc.) are closely related:

1. Can I make Fritz play from a specific position?
2. Can I make Fritz play a specific opening?

Both are certainly possible using Fritz software, and the questions are closely related - playing a specific opening or variation is similar to playing from a specific position. For example, playing the moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bb5 (the defining position, known as a tabia, of the Ruy Lopez opening) isn't really much different from playing a game after first setting up this position on the chessboard:

So let's begin by answering the first question: "Can I make Fritz play from a specific position?"

The most common way to do this is to just start from an interesting position from a game in Fritz' database. For example, say you're playing through the game Tal-Pachman, Portoroz 1958 and you come across this position (after Black has played 11...Qe7):

The actual game ended in a draw (after a long series of piece exchanges) but you're thinking it might be instructive and fun to play as White here to see how you might fare against Fritz. All well and good - just adjust the time settings as you see fit (in the menus under Game/Levels) and go to it by making a move for White.

Another way to play from a position is to just set one up yourself. You start by going to the File menu, selecting "New", and then "Position setup"; in the dialogue which appears you'd just click the "Clear board" button to get this display:

To place a piece on the board, just click on it (from the two columns of White and Black pieces to the right of the chessboard) and then click on the square where you wish to place it. When you're finished click "OK" and you'll see that position on the main chessboard; then just set your time control/level and play away! This is the best way to go if you want to play a game from a particular middlegame or endgame position. (For more on what you can do with the "Position setup dialogue" just click the "Help" button when you have the dialogue up on the screen.)

Here's where we encounter making Fritz play a particular opening; if you know the first several moves of the opening you can just set up the resulting position exactly as described above and then fire away. An example would be the one given above in which you know you want to play the Ruy Lopez. Just make sure the Fritz opening book is loaded (so you'll get diferent variations in the way the program responds from game to game), set up the position after 3.Bb5, set the time/level, and start your game.

In a similar vein, there's a shortcut you can use which involves the opening book itself. Click on the "Openings book" tab at the top of the Notation pane:

If you select the "Switch off main engine" command in the Engine menu, you can single-click on moves right in the opening book to make those moves on the chessboard. When you reach the desired position, just de-select "Switch off main engine" (by clicking on it again in the Engine menu) and you can start your game from that point.

By the way, if your desired position is one in which you want Fritz to make the first move, just hit the Spacebar on your keyboard - this will start the chess engine, and the program will make a move on the board after a bit of thought.

These are the easiest ways to either play from a specific position or to play a specific opening. We'll look at another way to make Fritz play a specific opening in the next article in this series.

To see ChessCentral's complete line of Chess Playing Software click here.

How to Make Fritz Chess Software Play a Specific Chess Opening - Part 1

How to Make Fritz Chess Software Play a Specific Chess Opening - Part 2

How to Make Fritz Chess Software Play a Specific Chess Opening - Part 3

© 2009, ChessCentral. All rights reserved.