I’ve written a couple of times comparing the merits of Chess Assistant and ChessBase. Since I’m no GM and so don’t get my copies for free, I can only afford to keep one database going and up to date, so which one is will it be?
(drum roll, please)
Chess Assistant.

I’ve been spending some time the last couple of years teaching chess classes (numbering from 5 to 36 kids). I have used both major databases in support of that goal, and I’ve been getting more and more annoyed with them. They both have some drawbacks, and I’d fully switch to one that lacked those drawbacks.
Here [...]

Started working with HTML files generated by Chessbase. I have *never* in my professional career seen such absolute shoddy workmanship. Period. The HTML and javascript it generates should be taken out and shot, just to put it out of our misery. Just because I’m sick and twisted, I popped it into the W3C’s HTML validator. [...]

“Thus the computer doth make cowards of us all.” So might William Shakespeare write if he were to view the current chess scene. We sit down with our silicon friend to select strategies and openings, and we close doors.
Our friend sits beside us, looking over our shoulder, and he makes comments on our move selection. [...]

Continuing along the series of real-world testing comparisons between CA and CB, I created a set of test positions for my students. Neither db did the job as well as I could have expected, nor even as well as they should.
In order to print out the list of diagrams for me to give to my [...]

As the year ends, the natural tendency is to look back and re-evaluate. I’m not immune to it. Some observations:
1) I may not be cut out to be a chess coach, but I can be a chess teacher. The difference? The amount of time you spend with individual children. I’m finding it personally draining to [...]

OK, so I liked the Opening Report. Turns out that this is just about the only feature of working with an opening that I like in CB9. For example, when building a repertoire database, CB9 decides where the appropriate place in the tree is to add a particular game. This is a decided headache (I’m [...]

I’ve been given a chance to review how CB9 works, and so far, I have to say, I’m not all that impressed. It has some opening study tools that seem quite useful, I’ll admit, and I’m taking advantage of the short time I have to work with it to get some value out of it, [...]

A lot has been written about the road to chess improvement. But the question comes: How much is accurate and how much is written to fill someone’s purse? How many books are necessary?
We’re not likely to be confused with a grandmaster any time soon, but that doesn’t stop us from having an opinion on this.
In [...]