Convekta's most recent tutorial offering is called the "Encyclopedia of Opening Blunders". This program is meant to be a reference and exercise book of typical blunders that are made in a variety of openings. Its format is similar to that of a typical puzzle-type book, only the material is organized by opening name.
While this program uses roughly the same instructional format as other Convekta offerings, there are some minor differences. For instance, the program operates in just two modes - Practice and Test. In the first, you can use a chess engine (Crafty and Dragon are included) to give yourself help, or test out alternative lines of play. In the test mode, no use of chess engines is permitted, and you are on your own.
You might want to look at my review of Strategy 2.0 to get a feel for the various features that Convekta puts in their tutorial programs. In a nutshell, multiple users are supported (statistics are tracked for each player), along with a "rate my play" feature. Visual cues like highlighted squares and arrows are used as hints when the user fails to solve an exercise.
There is no written instructional material, but only players with a very limited grasp of tactical concepts would need something like this. As far as a suggested ELO rating goes, it is difficult to pinpoint one. I had one range in mind, but then ran across some difficult exercises. So I think just about anyone could benefit from this CD.
There are a large number of openings represented, with over 1200 exercises for you to pick from. All the exercises come from actual games. For openings like the Ruy Lopez, French, King's Indian, and many others, exercises are further grouped by the names of popular variations (for instance, the Saemisch in the King's Indian). Overall, I thought the selection of openings was quite comprehensive. Because all the exercises are organized hiarchically, it is quite easy to find the variation you’re interested in. I found it much easier to use than information that is organized by ECO code. This program also makes a good tool for learning an opening, since it can give you both a feel for the tactical motifs arising from an opening, along with the typical blunders that are made by both sides.
There was a bug that I found (which is now fixed). During the course of testing the program, I upgraded to a new computer, which was much faster than my old one. I noticed that move animation became extremely slow about 90% of the time. While there is a setting in one of the dialog boxes to control this, it seemed to have no effect. When I informed Convekta of the problem, they quickly set to work on a patch, which is now available. If you have a fairly fast computer and you notice the animation is slow, make sure you get the patch (www.chessassistant.com).
To sum up, this is a good program for just about everyone. It has a comprehensive selection of openings, and is a very good way to learn common pitfalls and traps. It makes both a good reference for learning the typical traps in an opening, while also providing targeted tactical training.
Openings Covered
Rare openings
Alekhine's
Benoni
Bird's
Bishop's
Blumenfeld gambit
Bogo-indian
Budapest
Caro-kann
Catalan
Center gambit
Dutch
English
Evans gambit
Four knight's
French
Gruenfeld
Italian game and Hungarian defense
King's gambit
King's Indian
Latvian gambit
Nimzo-indian
Nimzowitsch
Old indian
Philidor
Pirc
Queens gambit
Queens Pawn game
Reti
Petroff's
Ruy Lopez
Scandinavian
Scotch gambit and Ponziani
Scotch game
Sicilian
Three knight's
Two knight's
Vienna
Volga gambit
Copy Protection
Must have original CD to install, occasional refueling necessary.
Languages Supported
At the time of this review: English and German. Knowledge of these languages is only essential for knowing the opening names. Check the Convekta website for additional language information.
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