One cannot avoid Chessbase if one is playing chess seriously.
Unfortunately, Chessbase misuses its monopoly status. Its behaviour, its databases, and the chess programs associated with it violate consumer rights and business ethics codes.
Chessbase forces to buy new versions of it
I had the Chessbase PGN editor, version 14. This old program could create, open, and edit all the PGN files and databases in Chessbase format. I was pretty satisfied with this version and did not intend to upgrade it or buy a newer version. Free updates of Chessbase 14 were sometimes available anyway.
Recently, Chessbase started advertising that I had to buy a newer version. When using the automated analyses of the games, it ceased to make comments in the style "peredecessor", referring to earlier games from the same position.
I did not need that superficial feature anyway. It is strange, however, that Chessbase announced that the program is outdated and that the feature requires an update.
When I bought Chessbase years ago, where did they say such features would expire? - Nowhere!
Things became worse, however.
Suddenly, Chessbase 14 suggested I make a free update, which I did. Unfortunately, the updated version did not work correctly, so I could not create new games with the correct data. Thus, I was forced to buy Chessbase 17, wasting 189 Euros.
It seems that the sudden "update" was specially designed to make the program unusable and force consumers to buy a newer version.
That is a robbery.
Chessbase behaves as a spy program
There is the "Let's Check" feature on Chessbase. If you are analysing a position using the chess engine, then "Let's Check" allows you to see the analyses of other users with different chess engines and depth of analysis.
Sometimes, if you make a move in the position, the "Let's Check" feature turns on, but sometimes it does not.
On its homepage, Chessbase somewhere declares that your analyses are "yours", but you can see the analyses of others. However, Chessbase does not explain in what sense exactly your analyses are "yours". And it does not explain how it gets the analyses of others.
Thus, there is a suspicion that Chessbase will take your engine analysis from your local computer, store it in the cloud, and make it visible to others.
The general feature of Chessbase is that, seemingly on purpose, it does not give exact information concerning several disputable features.
Suppose you are a top grandmaster preparing for an important match or competition. In that case, I suggest you use chess engines for your opening preparation only if you are not logged in to Chessbase and your computer is not connected to the internet.
Perhaps you should even use Chessbase only on a computer, never connected to the internet.
There is another feature of Chessbase that makes it look like a spy program
Chessbase app is not working
There is a cheaper version of Chessbase—the Chessbase app for Android. It can be used on a mobile phone.
Unfortunately, it is a waste of money. Chessbase still sells that app on Google Play. However, it seems abandoned, and its real name should be "No Games Found." For years, it has been unable to find games from the databases and constantly hangs. To exit, one must use the "Stop" command from the mobile phone's settings.
The Chessbase app malfunctions independently of the speed of the internet connection and the Android version or mobile phone used.
Playchess malfunctions
I have played hundreds of chessgames on some chess platforms, and never something suspicious happened. I was playing for free, without charge.
Some chess platforms, however, behave strangely.
I wrote about Chessbase's "Playchess" earlier.
You pay money for the service, but it downloads the wrong games onto your local computer, deletes them, makes them inaccessible, etc.
You are setting the rating difference in the "formula", but the system ignores your command and gives you an opponent with the ELO 500 points above or below your strength.
You have a perfect internet connection and receive messages during the game, but the chessboard suddenly hangs, and you lose an important match. Playchess declares that you have been disconnected, which is considered a forfeit. But it never happened on some other platforms.
The new version of Chessbase malfunctions
And so on.
So let's pay more and more money for the monstrum.
