I'm looking into buying Fritz Chess as I don't find that Scid quite has everything that I need. The cheapest I saw was £65 until I came across the website Steam. On Steam I can directly download Fritz 15, for £24. Yes it's a couple of editions older but it's so much cheaper. I was wondering, has anyone downloaded a Fritz software on Steam and does it work okay? I was a bit wary about it maybe not having a valid serial code or something like that. Please could someone let me know if there are any problems using Steam to download chess software.
Many thanks
Anthony.
I don't have Fritz but own many games on Steam. You can reveal CD key for many games - and either way, it's officially published so it probably works.
They might have DRM that requires online validation - very lame if they do. I imagine there will be info on the forum about that.
If it doesn't work you can request a refund if you've played under 2 hours and you're in the first 2 weeks.
Honestly, I'm not sure it's worth the money. If you just want a strong engine, Stockfish is totally free and superior.
Edit: you may want to read the Steam user reviews - this one is very poor value and should be avoided.
Hi thanks, I have read the reviews - some were good some not so good. It's not the engine I'm after, it's the actual database and other features. I will load a 3 million game database into it and will also load Stockfish as well. I just like Fritz as a piece of training software and find the database more user friendly than Scid, I just don't want to pay £65 if I can help it.
Hi,
I bought chessbase 15 from steam.
Pro:
- cheaper than directly from
chessbase.com (still f^%$$% expensive, lol)
Con:
- you need to log into steam to start it
Everything else should be the same wherever you buy it.
Ah that definitely is a con. Hmm... I'll have a think about it.
anyone know about if GOG will be part of the distribution of Chessbase, that must be a Chessbase (includes Fritz, no?) decision to go to steam. since DRM could be not essential to that, perhaps they will look into other dist. venues that don't require internet ombilical chord.
