The ChessBase 3 database format ( CBF) used two kind of files, data (*.cbf) and indices (*.cbi). Queries for games can consider a variety of items, such as player names, date of games, ECO code, thematic keys and fragments of positions. The proprietary ChessBase format manages those games with indices and classifiers for data mining and fast access. Beside the ribbon, the main window features various workspace layouts, either tiled by a navigation folder window, a database list view and database game-list and preview window, or game-lists for query results and game windows with board- and tabbed windows for game notation, annotations, references, score sheet, opening book tree, etc., to play, replay or analyze a game.Ī chess database is an organized collection of hundreds, thousands, or nowadays even millions of chess games. The ChessBase 12 GUI is based on the fluent design as introduced by Microsoft Office 2007, featuring a ribbon, which is a set of toolbars placed on tabs. Subsequent ChessBase versions evolved to a sophisticated multiple purpose GUI for database management, database queries and mining, interactive multimedia and video tutorials, analyzing or playing games and automatic engine tournaments with various native, UCI or WinBoard compliant engines on a single computer, inside a network or cloud, online play via the Playchess chess server, and Web- and desktop publishing of chess related documents.

Mathias Feist joined ChessBase in the late 80s, and was responsible to port the database and interface from Atari ST into the x86 DOS/ Windows world, and further integrated first chess engines into the ChessBase interface, turning this into Fritz in 1991. ChessBase 1.0 was first released in January 1987 for the Atari ST running under GEM. A chess database front and back end developed by Matthias Wüllenweber for the Atari ST which led to the foundation of the ChessBase company in 1986 along with Frederic Friedel - the product name eponym of the company.

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