Shredder 11 Chess Playing Software Program on DVD

• World Champion Chess Playing Software Program
• Shredder 11 your Chess Partner for all Skill Leveles
• Shredder 11 has Adjustable Playing Strength
• Teaches Chess from Scratch. Free access to Playchess.com Chess Playing Site
• Bonus! Exclusively from ChessCentral, "Insider's Guide to Revving Up Your Fritz" . Make your Fritz 11 a powerhouse of chess with this free ebook

Very Strong; Only One Problem:
I have Deep Shredder 10, which is for multi-processor systems or dual-core processors. As far as I can tell, it is as strong as Deep Fritz 10, which defeated World Champion Kramnik in a six-game match recently ( 2 wins, no losses). The only problem I have had with Deep Shredder is that it crashes whenever I try to play the Exchange Variation of the Caro-Kann in analysis mode. After 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5, Shredder crashes. There's a way around it: Play the variation in a different move order. But I shouldn't have to do this. Anyway, I'm happy with the product. I can't give it 5 stars because of the flaw I mentioned.

Nothing to write home about:
Pros Very smart program, can outplay 95% or more of the players out . Has got quite a number of game available its database. Has internet play, VIP games, ratings and ladders etc. Has a number of the standard boards and peices to view . Possible to get basic game analysis of matches . Cons Boring layout, 3d boards clunky, found was all too easy to drop/misplace peices.Hard to sometimes perform even basic functions like locate recently played game. Poor Icon design and placement. Uninspired internet design , very poor technical support. Most online play is limited to 3 minute wonders style (i.e. you can be waiting a long time to play a 30 min game ) . DVD had no multimedia or profiles or extras like interviews. Expensive for what essentially is basically an fritz 8 format with a smarter brain. No design upgrades or evolution of approach to computer chess. You only get a years worth of internet play on chessbase. And even then it seems to be given grudgingly. Compared that to other pc games , where online play is free for the life of the game, and there's usually a ton of websites, forums etc. Shredder support is nothing, except you can write them !!! Summary Taste can vary of course and maybe some people like the bland approach to design. I personally thought the style of the Shredder 10 was functional but lacking. The online play layout is like a Bulletin board compared with rivals like Chessmaster X You'd think they would invest some resouces to a dynamic design . Gamewise it can beat 95% of most players, and thats where it good points are. I would like to have the analysis function better, to me it doesn't really give a good overview of the game. It points out obvious mistakes and side lines, but rarely do you get a grasp of the strategic side of the match. I personally wish I'd stuck with Fritz 8 .

The chess software for players, not for dilettantes:
While Fritz 11 is nice and has every bell and whistle, your system will take a serious performance hit while running it. Shredder on the other hand, is built on its ultra-fast and highly intelligent engine, which, year after year, also happens to be the best among all chess software. The graphical choices could be expanded, but Shredder lets you perform every function you'll want when playing chess, from inputting a game, playing puzzles, playing directly online, being coached, annotation and making games public, and for bloggers, creating attractive screenshots or printing out entire games via your printer or sharing them via PGN files. If you're a beginning player, Shredder offers both on-board visuals and a variety of interactive coaching tools to help you gain knowledge quickly. It makes a great introduction to the game. In every way, it's all here in Shredder. Shredder is a good value, as future upgrades are deeply discounted.

I am reviewing Shredder Classic 3:
Amazon doesn't have Shredder Classic 3 but I just bought it elsewhere and am so in love with the program, that I had to give them some props even though this is a different version of the program. Shredder Classic 3 is amazing! The games are fun, the program is easy to figure out, it doesn't have the bugs that Fritz did and it is challenging! Kudos to Shredder! I actually want to play chess on my computer now. Something Fritz and Winboard never accomplished!

Deep Shredder 11:
I have the Mac version of Deep Shredder 11. The engine is very strong but I would like to see more detailed documentation of its features and a stand alone database.