Fritz Chess 9? So there have been eight predecessors to this venerable series. When a series has reached such a high number, you start to wonder if the updates justify a new game each time. Certain games use their imagination to generate exotic backgrounds, wild themes and different game styles and variations. But chess? Chess is hard to put in any other context than as a thinking man's board game of choice.

So how exactly does Fritz Chess 9 improve upon its generically monikered prequel? On the surface, not an awful lot, it has to be said. The true changes lie under the outer shell, evident in the truly deadly updated match engine that will mercilessly annihilate your supposed skill and chess ego in just a handful of ruthlessly executed manoeuvres. Don't be put off if you are a chess novice though, as there is a whole training program that attempts to teach you the game, from the simplest basics, right up to advanced techniques.

Your tutorship comes in the form of videos by a fellow called Andrew Martin. Now I'm sure Andrew Martin is a remarkable chess player, but sad to say, his teaching skills might be compared to my own personal chess skills - woefully inadequate. On some parts of the game he spends fruitless hours explaining and then repeating the same point again and again and again, with barely discernible alterations. Then he will whiz through some important bits that it would have paid to dwell on for a bit longer.

For instance, the exercises to find checkmate in one move from a pre-determined board position are pretty futile. Since the pupil knows that a one-move checkmate is possible, he will keep looking until he can find that one move. A much more thought-inspiring approach would be to develop some simple tactics leading up to the killer blow, rather than just setting up the full scene and letting the pupil discover the coup de grâce. It makes you feel simply a pawn in a bigger picture, rather than the master tactician you are training to be.

When you have completed the training and learnt a few strategies to use in your game, there are also some advanced training video excerpts to watch from characters such as famed chess champion Garry Kasparov. But to listen to these, you will need to attach your nurtured Almighty Chess Brain +12 in order to make the slightest bit of sense out of the intellectual observances made by these great men. Plus, since they are just clips of longer videos, you don't get the full flavour of their presentations.

In fact, aside from the overly simplistic tutorial, the whole game seems to be aimed squarely at seasoned chess players rather than novices. Graphics are primarily 2D, although there is an included 3D view, which is still distinctly bland and lifeless. Plus there is a plethora of different menus, options and bits and bobs that serve no end of usefulness for a well-trained chess pro but do little more than map out a checkerboard of confusion for anyone else.

Hence, if evaluated solely as a professional chess aid, Fritz Chess 9 would score very highly indeed. However, it also attempts to expand its remit to novices and intermediates, and that is where it falls flat on its face; there is just too little documentation to guide you through the complex structure of the menu system and options.

Sure, you will still manage to play a game of chess against a damn fine opponent, but we can do that online for free anytime, without having to buy this package. Therein lies the biggest weakness of the game; it offers too little to anyone but chess experts. An included multiplayer option with a year's free subscription to Chessbase.com offers mild recompense, allowing you an online ranking and match up system.

The AI itself is quite charactersome, nattering incessantly to you throughout the match, sometimes making scathing remarks on your inability to play chess and sometimes just uttering random remarks, such as Mrs Doubtfire impersonations amongst many others. But even that exuberant façade cannot hide the fact that behind Fritz Chess 9 is very little new material besides engine updates. A wonderful package if you happen to be a chess Grandmaster, but a pretty redundant expenditure for the rest of us.

Reviewed by Adam Shirley for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).