Hiarcs Chess Explorer Pro 1.4 versus ChessBase 18 showdown: which is better?

A detailed side-by-side comparison between Hiarcs Chess Explorer 1.4 and ChessBase 18.
Hiarcs runs on Mac and Windows, and Chessbase only runs on Windows.

In the video, I go through the following use cases:
- Search for games and positions
- Create a database of your own games and analyze and annotate
- Preparing for an opponent
- Opening analysis
- Watching broadcasts

In addition, I explain
- database management system
- games databases
- openings book with positions

Finally, I will compare the pricing of the programs, databases, and opening books.

[spnky]

I very much appreciate your thorough and evidence-based review. Every year I upgrade Chessbase thinking "maybe they will have fixed some bugs", and every year I regret it. They continue to add features I don't want, and the features I do want work less and less reliably (if at all). It's a relief to know that there's a meaningful alternative. Thanks Han!

[davehein]

Good overview of the utility of chess database programs. I've been using HIARCS for a couple years now and really like it. And you pointed out some ways to use it that I hadn't considered before. Thank you for taking the time to make this video.

I agree with you that the UI of HIARCS is well designed. I'd also like to say that the technical support form HIARCS is excellent; they are responsive and take constructive feedback seriously.

Finally, at this time (2025-01-25) I don't see HCE Pro 1.4 being generally available yet; I know it is coming, but I still see the latest version as 1.3.3. At least not for macOS.

[JamesWilliams-xrri]

Mr. Schut, thank you so much for this comparison of Hiarcs and ChessBase. Many, many players are struggling to find alternatives to ChessBase, so your review is quite a useful service to the chess community. Please permit me to make a suggestion. On TVs and low-res computer screens, it's hard to see the small print and the pointer, so when you say "You can see here ..." or "When you go here ..." or "As you can see ...", I often could not see what you were referring to on the screen. Could you please highlight the part of the screen you're talking about, or perhaps simply make the pointer much larger and darker and move it more slowly so we viewers can follow along more easily? Thank you, sir.

[xzyprevention]

Han, Thank you for a great overview. A question re: HIARCS: What is the difference between the "HIARCS Chess Explorer Online Book Access" and the "HIARCS Tournament Book CTG Downloads: 1 Year"? Are these the same?

[IM_Mat_Kolosowski]

Very informative, thank you! Do you notice any difference in engine performance in Chessbase vs Hiarcs or even Hiarcs on windows vs Mac?

[Frisia-]

I have Hiarcs and CB15. I might stick with Hiarcs. I'm working with variations and comments, where the newer Chessbase has dyed highlights, shows a menu before going through a branch and has collapsable buttons. Unfortunately I think I may prefer Hiarcs even though they lack those 3 features.

[Victor-pqod]

Hi Han, how do the annotated games database of both compare to one another? And do you have any idea if I can get Hiarcs but load Chessbase’s mega database with all the annotations in Hiarcs?

[RyanMcQuen]

If you buy HIARCS Chess Explorer Pro with the 1 year of opening book access, can you still access whatever the last update to the opening book was after the 1 year of access is over, or do you lose access to all of the online book?