Fritz 5.32
Fritz 5.32 was the first chess program I bought for my first PC back in 1998, and it's now one of the best all-round free chess downloads on the net. Use it for playing, analysis, and managing databases.
https://web.archive.org/.../www.top-5000.nl/dl/fritz532.zipThe program comes with the old, but strong, fritz 5.32 engine, and fritz 6 can be used from Chessbase light. There are also a few other free Chessbase engines for download. Aside from playing against fritz, you can use program to analyze your games, study opening statistics, and organize engine matches. One of its most useful abilities is to create and search large databases in either pgn or cbv format. You'll need an opening book such as the hand-tuned RybkaII.ctg.You could download a large database from Norm Pollock's site, or view the latest games from The Week in Chess.
n.b. to install in Windows 7, right-click on 532Setup.exe, choose Properties, select the Compatibility tab, and Run this program in compatibility mode for Windows 98 / Windows Me.
Useful Short Cuts
F11 (main window) to view the opening book.
F2 (while playing) for the coach's suggestion.
T (database window) for the tournament table.
O (database window) for a game overview.
Ctrl Y to have Fritz analyze and comment a game.
Limitations
The only shortcoming of this program is that it doesn't handle UCI engines. Not bad for free!