
One can righteously criticize the articles about Fat Fritz on which constituted an unacceptable belittlement of Stockfish. It is probably different from how Stockfish describes it because that would be refutable. We still haven't got the actual filed papers so we cannot comment. The first I learned anything about this subject was via that same link, and it is still all I know.Ĭhessbase co-founder Matthias Wullenweber wrote: "We believe we have the evidence, the financial means, and the determination to bring this lawsuit to a successful end," the Stockfish team writes.Īlbert Silver, the main developer behind Fat Fritz 2, wrote in an email to :Įven if I wanted to, I could not comment on something I know nothing about.
#STOCKFISH CHESS SOFTWARE SOFTWARE#
They argue that Chessbase is now selling software without a license, which is a copyright violation.
#STOCKFISH CHESS SOFTWARE LICENSE#
The reason is that the Stockfish team has terminated permanently their GPL license with Chessbase, but the group of developers claim that the Hamburg-based company still distributes Stockfish, modified or unmodified, as part of their products. Source: Chessbase.ĭespite these changes made by Chessbase, the lawsuit has been filed. The old Fat Fritz 2.0 image (left) and the new Fat Fritz 2.0 SE image.


One of the Stockfish developers told that this is an altered version that contains a different binary, GPL license text, and some sources, and it's not clear if it's now GPL-compliant. While Houdini 6 currently has the status "unavailable" in the Chessbase webshop, the sale of Fat Fritz 2 was discontinued in March 2021. However, at the moment their webshop has a product called Fat Fritz 2.0 SE. In their blog of this week, the developers claim that they managed to recall the Fat Fritz 2 DVD and ensure the termination of sales of Houdini 6. Over the past four months, the Stockfish team, together with a certified copyright and media law attorney in Germany, has continued to point its arrows toward Chessbase. Back then, the teams behind Stockfish and another open-source chess program, Leela Chess Zero, claimed that the engine in Fat Fritz 2 is Stockfish with minimal changes, that Fat Fritz 2 violated the GNU General Public License under which Stockfish was released, and that Chessbase's marketing has made false claims about Fat Fritz 2's playing strength. In February, reported extensively on the feud between the open-source chess community and Chessbase. "These rights are explicit in the license and include access to the corresponding sources, and the right to reproduce, modify and distribute GPLed programs royalty-free," the Stockfish team writes. According to the Stockfish team, Chessbase has "repeatedly violated central obligations of the GPL," which refers to informing software users of their rights. The Stockfish team argues that Chessbase has "concealed from their customers Stockfish as the true origin of key parts of their products," namely Fat Fritz 2 and Houdini 6. The lawsuit, filed in a German court, was announced last Tuesday in a blog on the Stockfish website. The Stockfish team has filed a lawsuit against Chessbase, claiming that the German chess software company is selling their software without having the license to do so.
