The Ultimate Chess Software Review

With its virtually infinite range of moves and an almost endless number of combinations, chess has so many possibilities that it’s humanly impossible to visualize all scenarios in pretty much any given moment of a match.

That, however, may not be an impossible task for a computer. When Garry Kasparov, possibly the best player in history, was beaten by a computer, people started to realize how evolved chess software became. But what is the best chess software in the market today?

Why Use Chess Software?

There is a myriad of chess software nowadays, and while some of them are focused on analyzing moves and strategies, some others are developing their own strategies and attempting to beat human players.

Surely, chess software is an excellent tool if you’re looking to develop your skills, even the most specific ones.

Chess software can help players improve specific skills that are normally developed when they reach a certain rating. Yes, the rating should also influence the software you use.

Lower-rated players would rarely access all the complexity chess software can offer, and they may end up losing focus on what is more important. However, if you’ve never used any of them, just ask around your chess community and get the same as players of your level.

Chess Software Review

What Is The Best Chess Software?

The most evolved chess software is used by Grandmasters to design new strategies, work on their visualization skills and even exercise on how to outsmart their opponents. Yes, there are programs that can simulate the way GMs play based on the analysis of their matches. That is called an engine.

The difference between an engine and software is that the software is limited to doing the mechanical part, while the engine is capable of thinking over a situation rather than simply applying what an algorithm calculates.

The most advanced nowadays, as most players agree, is Stockfish, a free and open-source engine available for almost all platforms.

On the other hand, if you’re not so experienced and are just looking for a machine to help you develop your game, there is a number of software you can use:

1. Chessquid: great learning material, database management, performance, and stability. Probably the most downloaded software lately.
2. HIARCS: Excellent performance despite the lower stability and database management. A great option for starters.
3. SCID: A more challenging approach due to its high learning curve. Despite looking dated, it’s still favored by most old-schoolers.
4. Lucas Chess: With a slight learning curve, this software is a fairly good guide for the first steps.
5. Chess King 4: Considered the worst chess software ever, it falls behind any of the other ones on the list in all aspects.

As you can see, depending on the aspect of the game you wish to improve, there are different software options. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for when you outsmart the software, as that may be the milestone to upgrade the engine and increase your learning curve.