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Mostly good, but I'd buy Chessmaster 9 or 10 for stability

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 07, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I bought this and it's a pretty darn strong chess program. Has lots of useful features and good master games to play through. Some good teaching components in it as well.
Weaknesses: when you start the game there is a quiz of what's the best move or how to checkmate and it's OFTEN completely wrong! (E.g., sometimes it says checkmate in 2 moves and it's showing the opening setup.) No biggie, tho'. I just clicked thru to the game mode. The worst thing (remedied in CM9 and CM10--I own all 3) is that when you're accessing the pull-down menus and you mouse across horizontally the program freezes almost every time.
If you're careful and don't do this move you're fine. Another annoyance: you have to have the disk IN the drive when you play (also unfortunately true for CM9 and CM10--bad move for them). One more small annoyance: there's a plethora of boards and game pieces and little focus on the 5 most likely to appeal to players. I mean, does ANYONE really play chess using these bizarre star wars-ish pieces??? Just give me lots of nice Staunton and similar pieces and have done w/ it.
But CM9 and CM10 are both great w/ surprisingly excellent play and tutorials across a variety of levels. Don't own CM11 yet.

Still buggy after all these years, and not XP-compatible.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I remember buying Chessmaster 8000 when it first came out, for only $13. It comes on 2 CDs. The current version, with a patch, is 1.04; but the patch leaves many bugs unfixed. Furthermore, as I've experienced the same problems others here are reporting with Windows XP (e.g., graphical glitches and program lockups), I must judge the two to be incompatible. After quite a bit of frustration, I did myself a favor and ordered Fritz 10 as a replacement, and am happy with it so far. It has its own bugs, but they're not as serious as those I've encountered in the Chessmaster series. Most importantly, though, I felt it was time for an upgrade to something that could help me take my chess game even farther than the Chessmaster series already has, or can.

If you are still thinking of buying CM8K (Chessmaster 8000), consider yourself warned. The worst problem by far that I've experienced with it is that, under certain ordinary conditions, the game greedily consumes CPU resources and then doesn't free them back up fast enough. Try this little experiment, for a demonstration of what I mean: set up a board with two kings and a rook, with the rook on the 7th rank and the opposite-color king on the 8th. Let the computer play the side having only a king, and see what happens. Even with a fast computer (I have an Athlon 64 3500+ @2.2 GHz and 1GB RAM), the system is brought to its knees: the sound stutters horribly and animation comes to an absolute standstill. You'll never want to finish this game, let alone make another move! Turn the game's sound features off, and the problems don't improve at all - you'll still prefer watching grass grow.

Despite patch releases, there remain many unfixed bugs in the visual aids accompanying Mr. Waitzkin's lessons and various other exercises (pieces and arrows in the wrong place, for example). Furthermore, the graphics in this version are ugly and unwieldly. I prefer a simple 2D chessboard and a few other windows, yet even these on a 1280x1024 screen can overlap each other or otherwise become cluttered.

I would call it barely usable on Windows XP - but since some people are saying they're not having problems, you might not mind trying your luck; just be prepared to count your losses if it doesn't go well. (I think it's worth spending just a little more money on a newer program!)

That having been said, I do feel I benefitted greatly from CM8K's tutorials and training exercises, which are the main reason I bought the software. It delivers a wealth of accessible and very enjoyable instructional material. Everything from the beginner courses to the more advanced lessons and exercises was useful to an intermediate-level casual player like myself. Josh Waitzkin's teaching style, while perhaps a little conceited at times, is pleasant and engaging: he definitely adds some much-needed excitement and enthusiasm to learning to play better chess. He covers some important essentials, especially for end-game play.

Another instructor narrates the beginner- and intermediate-level lessons and exercises. His lessons aren't terribly boring, because they are still highly interactive and to-the-point; yet, his voice is so dull that it's funny. To me, it sounds an awful lot like HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey - that alone amuses me greatly. He frequently employs a very dry sense of humor, too. All that aside, though - this teacher's responses to both correct and incorrect play are worth at least a quick read/listen, as they are very instructive even to more advanced players, in my opinion. (I usually just read along, since he speaks too slowly for my tastes.)

While I highly recommend these teaching features for amateur players of any skill level, you'll probably want to try something more advanced after going through it all and then seeing what programs like Fritz and its ilk can do - or if you're a more advanced and experienced player of chess. That's only natural, since progress requires new challenges. You'll probably have to pay a lot more for the next level of software, but it's worthwhile if you want to continue to develop as a player. I'm no tournament player, and have no aspirations to be one, yet I love what Fritz 10 has to offer in the way of game analysis and instruction.

I am nevertheless very glad I owned Chessmaster 8000 first. I might even get Chessmaster 10th Edition, or wait for an 11th edition, if I find Fritz to be as lacking in good intermediate-level instruction as I suspect it is. I can't decide that now, since I've only just started using Fritz.

CM8000

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 27, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I play this on XP and it works fine, didn't even realize other people have problems... Josh Waitzkin's analyzed games are very useful and informative. I spend most of my time in the "classroom." Does Fritz have one of those? I think I'd only get a new program if I run out of classroom features on this one.

Biggest bargain for quality chess program

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 15, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Got CM8000 for the absolute bargain of $9.95 Australian (approx US$6) as bargain priced "NEW" software. Nothing for even five or ten times the price remotely compares.

Also have chessmaster 10th edition (V10) which runs on my better 256 Mb computer. But CM8000 will even run on my dinosaur Win95 Dell with only 96MbRam and 200MHz chip.

The look and feel of CM 8000 in my view is much better than than the "trying too hard to be modern" look in V10. You can immediately choose lots of skins and boards in CM8000 which have a classical beauty about them. (V10 by comparison has fewer 2D skins but more resource hungry 3D skins and you must "obey chess fuhrer's orders without question" and play a minimum number of games before you are allowed to choose a new one.)

You can also play CM8000 without inserting a disc after installation. (V10 is a bit of a pain in requiring you to insert disc 1 every time you play but most software companies seem to be doing this these days.)

Other reviewer have said how good CM8000 is. In truth it does have some minor flaws as some reviewers have pointed out but on balance I believe its pros far outweigh its cons especially at its bargain price. It is probably as good as anything else on the market (other than a later Chessmaster) under $100. So if you are a kid with a limited budget,have an old computer, or are just starting out in chess as a casual hobby then CM8000 will give you the most bang for your buck.

XP compatible, Won't be dissappointed

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: February 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

If you have a lot of hard drive space and lots of RAM, do the full install(about 900 MB total), you'll love it.

Chessmaster 8000 has at least 2 bugs...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: January 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

a) The program is biased against white side:
It gives white a more PLUS score in a SYMMETRICAL position. Indirectly it FORCES white to play for the WIN at some extra COST.

After 1 e4 e5, it took 1.29 min and searched to a depth of 5 moves (10 plies), evaluated for 2 millions positions, then it selected the move 2 Nf3 with the score of .21. (Where 1.00 point is equivalent to 1 pawn.)

After 1 e3 e5 2 e4, it took 1.45 min and searched to a depth of 5 moves (10 plies), evaluated for 2.3 millions positions, then it selected the move 2 ... Nf6 with the score of .21.

After 1 d4 d5, it took 3.35 min and searched to a depth of 5 moves (10 plies), evaluated for 3.7 millions positions, then it selected the move 2 Bf4 with the score of .20.

After 1 d3 d5 2 d4, it took 2.55 min and searched to a depth of 5 moves (10 plies), evaluated for 3.4 millions positions, then it selected the move 2 ... Bf5 with the score of .20.

B) Search-depth extension has some bug:
Which causes the program fail to give correct or good positional evaluation.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- BK
-- -- -- -- -- BP BP --
-- -- BB -- BP -- -- BP
-- -- -- -- WP -- -- --
-- -- -- WP WP -- -- --
-- BR -- -- -- WK WP WP
-- -- WB BQ -- -- -- --
-- WQ -- -- -- -- -- --

In the above position, black just captured white rook at b3. It is white's turn to move.

After 1.31 minutes, search to a depth of 10 plies, and evaluated for 3 millions positions, it selected the move (white) Qxb3 with the score 0.98.

After 5.18 minutes, search to a depth of 11 plies, and evaluated for 11 millions positions, it selected the move (white) Qxb3 with the score -1.01.

First, the evaluation at 1 ply DIFFERENCE (from 10 to 11) caused a point-swing of 2 pawns! I EXPECTED a reasonable point-swing of 1/3 to 1/2 of a pawn. 1 point (or pawn) swing is too much, and 2 point swing is unreasonable. The search EXTENSION was supposed to extend when there is a LARGE point swing in an unclear position.

Second, at the standard rate of 3 minutes per move, the program could not detect this miscalculation. The positional evaluation is incorrect.

For this brief moment, white is up a pawn, but his king is exposed, while black king is secured. The harmony between black pieces wins the game, however is undetectable at a shallow search.

I have chessmaster 2000, 2100, 3000, 5000 and 8000. Their human interface are nice, more friendly than Fritz. But the two above BUGS cost chessmater 8000 one star.

Excellent

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: January 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This chess software is superb. Josh Watzkin walking you through some of his classic chess encounters is one of my favorite parts of this game. You actually begin to understand what it takes to play chess at an elevated level. One part of this chess program I did have a problem with was playing computer players. Each computer player is rated and they play exactly at that level. What the computer cannot do, unlike a human can is make bad moves. The computer playing at a 1550 rated level plays it perfectly, unlike a player at rated at the 1550 level. A player at rated at the 1550 level may make a few moves at an 1800 level and then make a terrible move that a 1200 level rated player wouldn't even make. Humans make mistakes, whereas the Chessmaster does not. Except for this and the occasional crash (I am running the game on win2000, which is not a gaming platform) this game is excellent. I would buy it again if I didn't already own it.

Fine program, but still a work in progress

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 37 / 39
Date: October 22, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I have owned every Chessmaster since Chessmaster 2100, a charming little toy that ran on my old XT with an engine that played like a "D" player with poor positional judgment(!). Today's Chessmaster plays like something close to a Grandmaster.

It is a fine program with some annoying bugs, suitable for a wide range of players from beginners to master-level players. It is not, however, the choice of professionals. They prefer the elegant German-made Fritz since some of CM's features for the average player are of no interest to them. Unless you are a Senior Master level player however, in my opinion, Chessmaster is a better choice because of its many features.

Nonetheless Chessmaster 8000 is not much of an improvement on Chessmaster 7000. (You might want to read my review of CM7000 because some of the same comments apply here). In some ways CM8000 is a regression. For example, you can't run the program at all without the disk in your CD drive. Ouch! In CM7000 you could at least run the program for 14 days or 28 sessions before being required to insert the CD. Another problem is that the sight and music show after CM8000 loads always plays and you have to hit a key to get to the program. This is also a regression from CM7000 which allowed you to turn off this it-gets-old-fast "feature." A new bug occurs when you play a game at a fast time limit. The verbal announcement of moves is truncated so that CM's move is not announced. This is a bug that CM is aware of but hasn't fixed yet. Another regressive change is you can no longer pick the exact color of the chessboard. That feature has been eliminated, why I don't know.

The Think Lines window, though, has been improved. Now you can play over a game and see how Chessmaster evaluates the game without toggling between the Chessmaster mode and the player mode as in CM7000 and previous editions. Just click Chessmaster in the window and CM's thinking is always there.

The "mate in one" opening puzzle has been "improved" to offer avoid mate and find the pin and find the fork. This is still not anywhere near what it should be. At least a mate in two would improve, or even better, critical positions from master games could be featured so that the user could compare his or her choice with what was actually played.

The personality ratings are still a little high. One personality rated around 2200 on my machine often sac's a piece for two united pawns in the opening. Other personalities routinely give up a pawn and then some, but are also rated at around master-level. "Natalie," rated 2296 on my machine, gives up at least a pawn in the opening and in general plays the opening like a "D" player, yet plays afterwards like a master. Not realistic! But as someone at CM pointed out, one of the interesting things about the personalities is that they have weaknesses that a human can discover and take advantage of. I think a little more creativity in creating the personalities would improve the program. I like eccentrics like "Vlad" who always answers almost instantly because he just doesn't search any further than about three ply.

The only player stats kept are those in rated games. Stats reflecting performance in EVERY game should be kept. It would required just the slightest effort on the part of the programmers to offer such a feature. And such a feature would be very revealing (and perhaps sobering) for the player. Every game should be counted as (1) Incomplete with CM's score given at the time of abandonment; (2) Won, lost or drawn.

An annoyance is that CM doesn't remember your place in the scroll windows. In other words, if you are playing through a long list of games it would be nice when you click "Load" for the window to open where you left off so you can just click the next game on the list. However what CM does is make you start all over again because it always opens the window to the first game on the list.

Another silly annoyance is when you're going from one mode to the other, the program ought to recall and use the chessboard and set that you have chosen. Instead CM uses its default and you have to choose all over again.

Here's what I think would be a significant improvement: Add some code that would assess a player's strength based on an analysis of every move played, so that a rating could be established with just a couple of games. To illustrate what I mean, consider that in any given position there are "x" number of moves. Of those moves, a certain number lose outright (let's say lose the equivalent of two pawns or more, all the way to possibly allowing checkmate). Some others give away somewhere between the equivalent of half a pawn to a pawn and a half. Still others keep the chances about the same, while others might result in an advantage. Since the program keeps a running "score" of the game, it could simply compare each of the human player's moves with a change in the running score and easily construct a hierarchy of achievement or lack thereof which could be converted into ratings. This could be turned into a feature that would assess a player's strength for just the current session. After all, we all have days when we are "on" and other days when we don't play so well.

I love the Chessmaster program perhaps because I am used to it and perhaps because when I was a young chess player there were no programs at all. It is a fine program, but it is still a work in progress.

Great Product Even Using Windows XP

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: September 05, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Without knowing the requirements I purchased Chessmaster 8000 and loaded into my Sony Vaio notebook using Windows XP. Chessmaster works fine with that operating system. Yet I am uncertain if updates and downloads from the Ubi Soft website will work.

All in all I really enjoy playing Chessmaster 8000 in Windows XP. A truly great product.

Chess Master and Windows XP

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: July 27, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I saw all the reviews that said this product will not work on XP. I decided to buy it and try anyway, being in IT, figuring I could make it work. I did get it successfully running on Windows XP. What I did was install windows 98 first, then upgraded to Windows XP. I installed right out of the box and the game came up and worked for me with no issues. It is installed on a toshiba laptop with a 266 processor. Its an excellent game and very user friendly. I know I'm going to enjoy this, as will my daughter. If you have had trouble with this on XP, or you want to give it a shot, I recommend trying what I did. 98 first, then upgrade to XP. It works like a dream

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