Hello all,
This week’s review is about the Fritz Technique Trainer software made by Chessbase. As many, I am often frustrated by the feeling that I am in a winning position but that I am not sure how to go about securing my victory. To often, in fact, I go about securing my loss 
. It comes down to that common phrase, “and the rest is a matter of technique”. That is where this software comes to the rescue…
First, I’ll jump to the bad part – in order to use this software you must have one of the Fritz playing programs – Fritz, Junior, Shredder etc… We have discussed these programs in a previous review. But that can also be a good part because it gives you one more excuse as to why you should buy a chess playing program for the ol’ computer 
and these programs are some of the strongest around. The other bad news is that this program does not give you some secret on how to beat Fritz and impress your friends. Rather, it uses the computer as a wonderful training aid – exactly what it should be used for!
So once you have Fritz and the Fritz Technique Trainer what should you expect? You should expect over 100 training positions mostly taken from real games. The beauty of these positions is that YOU should win – even playing against the grandmaster strength program! And trust me, nothing is better than beating down the computer program after being battered yourself time and time again by the silicon monster just because you make one little mistake – oh, sorry, I guess I digress a little. Now, these ‘won’ positions aren’t easy – although there are positions of various levels of difficulty – and you may play the computer and lose anyway (which can be extra annoying, I admit). So the program provides help in two forms – a feature I really like. The first help comes in the form of a hint. That way you can still figure out the ‘technique’ involved. The second form of help gives you the procedure to follow to secure the victory. That is the other nice thing about the program – these positions don’t rely on some immediate ‘trick’ or ‘tactic’ but on your ability to analyze the position and come up with a plan. The win can often be achieved in more than one way – it is the plan that is important.
Overall, I highly recommend this program if you have the software to run it – it can really improve your game. If you have any question feel free to stop by the Delaware Chess Forums and ask away.
Until next time…
Tom Fleetwood