ChessBase Complete: Chess in the Digital Age Paperback – August 1, 2014

This book has been a long time coming for those of use who aren't fluent in all the uses of Chessbase, a very powerful database for chess players. I don't think I really tried to learn Chessbase until version 12, which came out in the last couple of years. I figured out a few basic functions, but a lot of the handier features were too arcane for me to learn. (there is a manual, and a lot of stuff is in there, but it's written very much like a technical software manual)Mr. Edwards has taken 14 general features (labeled as 'scenarios'), such position searches, opening preparation, training and teaching, playing on the Playchess server using Chessbase, etc, and explained very clearly how to use Chessbase as a tool to accomplish these activities. The book is full of screenshots, which are most helpful, and he does not make assumptions of the reader. Every function is spelled out.I found his sections on setting up databases and manipulating them among the most helpful. I can speak from my own experience, it is easy to get confused and frustrated when trying to learn these things just from the manual.Chessbase is a powerful and fairly complicated piece of software. I'm sure Edwards could easily write a book twice as long explaining many of the useful features. But this is indispensable for the new or confused user. Chessbase is a fairly expensive product as is (especially if you also purchase one of the large databases), it seems to me that buying this book to assist in your learning is a no brainer.

This book explains how the ChessBase programs have changed how one gathers and uses chess information in the modern data age. If you are a serious chess player, this book should be required reading. This book is well written with a lot of up to date and useful chess related information. Although the book was written with Chessbase 12 in mind, it still works with the latest release of Chessbase 13.

If I had known that the Kindle version was in monochrome, I probably would've sprung for the hard copy. That said, It's still worth what I paid. There are a few illustrations that are ambiguous because they don't show the colors. It can normally be figured out by the context. Maybe it's just a Kindle limitation. The supplemental volume is worthwhile as well. Again, If I had it to do over, I would've been more patient and waited for the delivery of the hard copy.

Thank you, Jon Edwards, for writing this book! I'm still working through it and will update this review later, but I want to share my initial impressions.The book is loaded with information on how to use ChessBase 12. The program is covered in complete detail. Every question I've had for years has finally been answered.But given how dense the information is, I'm not sure that the text is organized as well as it could be. Instead of chapters, Edwards organized the book into Scenarios for which ChessBase 12 might be used. But the Scenarios aren't in the best order. For example, Scenario 6 and 13 are about Playchess.com and really should be back-to-back as Scenarios 13 and 14. I think Scenario 3, Working well with ChessBase, should be Scenario 1.But I'm so thrilled to have this book, I'm going to say that I'm just nitpicking. I'd love to see Jon Edwards write a similar book explaining ChessBase's Deep Fritz GUI and how to use it to maximum effectiveness.(Hey Amazon - this should be a verified purchase! I bought the book from you!)

Jon Edwards' book is easy to read, and it is thorough. Until now, I had avoided buying ChessBase for fear of its complexity. I ordered it yesterday, and am happily awaiting its arrival at my doorstep.

I have never written a review on Amazon but I must say I am disappointed in this book. Why? Well almost everything in it I know already. This to me is more of a manual that Chessbase should have included in their program. Given the high price of Chessbase, a manual at 35 dollars (which is what I see this book as) is a bit of a disappointment. Mr Edwards does an excellent job of presenting a Chessbase manual but that was not what I was looking for when I purchased it. However, I will say, for the novice Chessbase user it probably is just what they are looking for. I am going to see if I can return it or sell it as it doesn't help me much at all.

As someone who is generally quite the opposite of tech savvy, I purchased this book, thinking that it would be a good investment. Naturally, having spent a boat-load on the ChessBase products, big database, etc., I figured that it would be foolish to be making less-than-optimal use of these products and services. I was sold on the book, after glancing at the first chapter, which talks about how you can make your own customized opening reports with ChessBase –essentially a pamphlet that you setup ChessBae to design for you on whatever opening you like, with the latest games informing it. That’s pretty cool, and I had not stumbled into figuring out how to do that yet. After all, some of the buttons on the ChessBase interface are not very self-describing. Sadly, everything else in Edwards’ book had already been figured out by this luddite, just by clicking stuff and exploring for an hour or two. Edwards didn’t reveal any special functions or ideas of about how better use of the tools could be made. Nothing. I honestly don’t even see how what this book says could even help a correspondence player. As a competitive USCF/FIDE tournament chess player, I can tell you that you do not need this book. I even had a few questions about training that could be done with ChessBase, but they were not broached in the text, most likely because the author is much more of a correspondence player. The reality is, most of the information in this book is available online.I don’t recommend this book. Aside from that one thing I mentioned, I got nothing out of the text.

I bought the book on kindle just at the same time I got Chessbase 15 and the scenarios and features that it talks about in the book still apply even with Chessbase 15.