ChessBase Fritztrainer Review

A FritzTrainer is a one-off video course you buy per title from ChessBase, and six of the first 12 products on the shop's category page were priced at 29.90 EUR on 8 November 2026. It is worth considering if you want one strong player's full treatment of a specific topic and will check the release year, running time and device support first. It is a poor fit if you want built-in spaced repetition, or a stated rating range on every course.

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Test depth: Public information only. Nobody at ChessCourseFinder has taken this course. This review is based on ChessBase's shop pages, its terms and FAQ, and reviews on ChessBase's own news site, read on 8 November 2026. It is a judgment on paper, not a report on what studying with one is like. How we review explains the limits.

This review has no star score. Fit, price and limits are set out instead, and how reviews are made is public.

What the shop sells, and what a bundle really saves

ChessBase's FritzTrainer category sells video courses per product, as a download or on DVD, and bundles numbered volumes. Its category page showed "Showing 1-12 results of 298", though we are not fully certain that 298 covers only courses, and we read only that first page of 12. There is no subscription on the pages we read. Prices are euros as displayed on 8 November 2026, which we do not convert, and the per-volume figures are calculated from them.

A bundle only saves money on the volumes you will actually study. The three-part sets save 9.80 EUR, or about 11%, so at 29.90 EUR a volume (89.70 divided by three) the bundle costs more than buying two volumes (59.80 EUR). The Müller set takes off about 29% (120 of 419), the largest cut in this sample, but at the implied 29.93 EUR a volume its 299.00 EUR equals roughly ten volumes. If you would stop before the tenth, the set is not the cheaper route. Fourteen volumes is also a long commitment, and listed hours are not study time.

Release date also affects price. A ChessBase writer says older titles are still sold at their original release prices, which are usually lower than current ones. In our sample, the March 2026 London course at 59.90 EUR is exactly twice the 29.90 EUR of Simon Williams's London course, which its page shows as published in October 2019.

Is a FritzTrainer worth it? Four checks

Whether one is worth buying depends on the topic, the title's age and how you will use it. These checks take a few minutes on any product page.

1. Does the topic age? A 1 August 2026 article by Jochen Schwarz on ChessBase's site argues that tactics, strategy and endgame courses are "essentially timeless", while courses on the latest opening theory date. That is an opinion on the seller's own site, but it matches common coaching advice, which is received wisdom rather than a measured result. Buy older titles for endgames and tactics, and read the release date closely on an opening course.
2. How long is it, really? ChessBase pages can show two lengths. Divide the price by the running time once you trust it; our price per hour calculator does the sum. Simon Williams's London course lists 7 hours 16 minutes at 29.90 EUR, about 4.11 EUR per listed hour (calculated).
3. Does it make you solve anything? The format mixes video with test questions and interactive exercises, but the amount varies. The Pähtz course lists 15 exercises. A course that is nearly all video needs your own practice added.
4. Can you sample it? The Pähtz page offered two free sample videos. Use any sample to judge the teaching before paying, and treat a page without one as a reason to look harder at the terms below.

The release year decides what it will run on

Device support depends heavily on age, and the shop's category page does not show it. The timeline below comes from Schwarz's article and ChessBase's shop FAQ, both the seller's own material.

The practical rule: if you study on a Mac, tablet or phone, confirm the release year and look for the streaming line on the product page. The Pähtz page says many FritzTrainers are "now also available as stream", which means not all. The same page lists Windows 10 or higher, says Mac is download only, and asks for internet access for activation. The FAQ says purchased downloads stay in your shop account with their activation codes and can be downloaded again on a new computer.

Refunds: what ChessBase's terms actually say

ChessBase's General Terms and Conditions, section 10, describe a statutory right for consumers to cancel within fourteen days without giving a reason. For digital content not delivered on a physical medium, the period runs from the day the contract is concluded. The same section says the right does not apply to audio, video or software in a sealed package once the seal has been removed.

That is a legal withdrawal right rather than a satisfaction guarantee. The section we read does not say what happens once you have downloaded and activated a course, so ask ChessBase support before you download if you might want to cancel. A boxed DVD should stay sealed until you are sure. Which rights apply also depends on where you live and whether you are buying as a consumer, and we are not giving legal advice. Retailers other than ChessBase will have their own terms.

One course read closely: Mastering the London System

The individual product page we have read in full is Mastering the London System by Elisabeth Pähtz, released March 2026 per the shop page. It is priced at 59.90 EUR including EU VAT, 50.34 EUR outside the EU without VAT, and $58.39 without VAT. Search summaries show other retailers at different prices, including GBP 49.95 at chess.co.uk and $70.95 at US retailers.

Its shop page says the running time is 13 hours, yet the delivery section says approximately 4 to 8 hours. That line also appears on the Williams page, so it looks like shared template text, though we cannot prove it. At 13 hours the price is about 4.61 EUR per listed hour; at 4 or 8 hours it would be about 14.98 or 7.49 EUR (all calculated). The stated level is "Tournament player, Professional", which names no rating system. Line coverage is on our course page for the Pähtz London.

What reviewers say, and why to discount it

All of the reviews we could read are on ChessBase's own news site, so none is independent.

• Lukas Köpl on the Pähtz course (23 July 2026) gave 4 out of 5, called it suited to league and tournament players from about 1600 (no rating system named), and criticised it for omitting Shankland's 2020 analysis of the 5.Nbd2 Qb6 line and because "some material requires additional work by the user".
• Jochen Schwarz (24 October 2026) describes himself as having used more than 100 FritzTrainers over ten years and praises Daniel King's PowerPlay 23-25, Lorin D'Costa's openings and Robert Ris's calculation courses. The article states that the products were provided by ChessBase for review.
• Reviewers of Gukesh's course (3 August 2023): IM Sebastián Lermito strongly recommended it, praising its use of Gukesh's own games and the question-and-answer format with Sagar Shah. A separate reviewer, Amey Dhule (Elo 1279), said it is designed for players below 1600 and for players around 2000, liked its ten-minute videos ending with a question, and found the sound quiet at times. The course was recorded at the ChessBase India studio, and Sagar Shah, who appears in it, is that company's co-founder and CEO.

These are useful for what they criticise and for the rating guesses they offer. They are one person's view each, and no outcome data is shown.

What the seller's pages do not tell you

• The running time can be stated twice and disagree. On the Pähtz page that is a factor of three in the price per hour, from about 4.61 EUR to 14.98 EUR.
• VAT changes the price by about a fifth. 59.90 EUR with EU VAT against 50.34 EUR without it is a 19% difference (calculated), so the headline price depends on where you live.
• The category page hides the release date. The 298 results show no year in the listing, yet the year decides device support and how far an opening course may have dated.
• Whether 298 means 298 courses. The category count may include other formats, and we read 12 of them.
• How withdrawal works after download. The terms give the 14-day right but, in the section we read, do not address a course you have already activated.

Who it suits

• You have settled on one opening or topic and want a single strong player's full treatment of it.
• You prefer paying once per title and keeping the files, rather than a subscription.
• You want endgame, tactics or strategy material and do not mind an older video, where the back catalogue is cheapest.
• You are comfortable with tournament-level material; for the London course, roughly 1600 and up on the seller's reviewer's reading.

Who should skip this

• You want spaced-repetition drilling built in. Chessable courses are built around MoveTrainer drilling, with full video sold as an upgrade on many; see Chessable vs FritzTrainer.
• You are rated below about 1400 and want a stated rating range. The Pähtz page gives "Tournament player, Professional" rather than a rating band, and the category page gives no levels at all.
• You study mainly on a phone or Mac and are eyeing an older title. Check support first.
• You want many topics for a fixed yearly price. A subscription catalogue such as ChessMood is the other model.
• You have not chosen an opening. The London course is one repertoire, and the large sets above cost 240 to 300 EUR.

The free resource that covers similar ground

For the London System, Lichess Studies are free user-created collections of chess content organised into chapters; see Lichess studies and practice. We have not checked any study against Pähtz's course, and a study is not a graded course with exercises.

Comparisons and next steps

See our Chessable review for the drilling alternative, and best London System courses for competing options on that opening. Before paying, confirm the release year, the running time, the VAT treatment for your country, and whether a sample video is offered.