Alongside Ritter Rost (Rusty Knight), the Fritz & Chesster – Learning and Training Chess series is my second great life’s project. Originally conceived as a single CD-ROM at the turn of the millennium, it became so successful worldwide that three more installments soon followed, along with books, chess pads, teaching booklets and all sorts of other related products. To this day, children are still learning to play chess with Fritz & Chesster.

The funny thing is, I’m not particularly good at chess myself. Perhaps that was precisely the secret of its success. After all, I had someone by my side who really knew his stuff – a young chess coach with an idea. He wanted to create interactive educational software that would teach chess in a playful and entertaining way, while still covering the game comprehensively and professionally. Nothing like it had existed before. The name of this chess coach was Björn Lengwenus.

Björn

Björn and I got to know each other through our respective publishers (ChessBase and the then Terzio publishing house). My task was to develop a story around Björn’s innovative teaching ideas, turn educational concepts into dialogue, and create a new visual language for the sometimes rather dry and abstract aspects of chess. The illustrations I had the opportunity to create for the project completed the whole thing.

Björn always had to explain everything to me because I’m not exactly a great chess player myself. I then translated what I learned into my own visual language. I wrote stories and dialogue around the concepts and came up with some fun names and terminology (such as the „Opening Bullhead“). And so the world of King Fritz and his cousin Bianca came into being. I gave them a companion in the form of Fred Fertig, a sewer rat who served as their chess coach.

Fritz and Bianca’s personalities were based on the characteristics of the chess pieces they represent in the game: Fritz, as a king, is rather timid and cautious, while Queen Bianca is full of temperament and always eager for adventure. Finally, I added my illustrations, screen designs, characters and all the other visual elements.

With the support of our publishers, the development company WP, and our wonderful editor Sabine Bruegel-Fritzen (Terzio), we created a concept that was innovative at the time and still works today. I wasn’t the only one who learned to play chess with Fritz & Chesster – countless children around the world did, too. Their parents learned alongside them and were amazed at just how far you can get in chess when you approach it systematically.

That was one of my own big discoveries back then: you don’t have to be a genius to play chess. Even an ordinary person like you and me can get surprisingly far. The first localizations and translations into dozens of languages soon followed, along with a flood of awards from all over the world. At one point, we even briefly made it to number one in some children’s software charts in the US.
But even more important is the fact that the project has stood the test of time.

And what about today?

Children all over the world are still learning chess with Fritz & Chesster. The software is even used for training in chess clubs.
Since the old CD-ROMs no longer run on most modern computers, the first, introductory installment was completely remade several years ago. It has been available online in a browser ever since: https://fritzundfertig.chessbase.com/.

But there’s something else coming soon that will take Fritz & Chesster to an entirely new level: we’re currently working on a multilingual app that will bring all four installments back to life, accessible on computers, tablets and smartphones alike. I’m also busy redrawing my original screen designs in 4K resolution to make them suitable for today’s devices.

For me, it’s an interesting journey back into my own artistic past. How did I approach the illustrations back then? What might I be able to do better today? And what should we leave just as it is to preserve the special retro charm of Fritz & Chesster? Where was I bolder, more modern or more innovative back then than I am today? And where is the opposite true? Fascinating!

So, before long, all four installments of Fritz & Chesster will once again be available in their entirety. We’re absolutely thrilled and, of course, will keep you posted right here.

Jörg Hilbert, November 2026