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Should have done my homework first!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 11 / 13
Date: February 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I should have done my homework first and browse through the reviews before buying this product. Anyway, at the end it was not that bad: I could exchange it for a copy of chessmaster 9, which is running fine in my pc.

As with many, many other people in this forum, this program simply will not run in my pc! I asked the seller and he gave me a weird explanation about the program only running if you have the Professional Edition of Windows XP, which I did not believe!
He also told that he had had lots of complaints about it, which I now believe.

Ok. So at that moment I thought that maybe there was something wrong with my video card or something (I am no computer geek!) but now I see that I am not alone in having problems installing this program.

I would have to echoe some suggestion by an earlier reviewer: buy it only if full refund is guaranteed and I wish you good luck!

Regards,

Good learning tool, but don't expect Fritz

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 12 / 15
Date: September 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I have never owned a title in the Chessmaster series before this. I am a player of about average strength (elo around 1400), I own about a dozen or so chess books, but I'm always trying to find a way to improve my game. I own Fritz 7, but I prefer Chessmaster 10 when it comes to training and learning the finepoints of the game. I really think Chessmaster is unmatched in this department, and the "Academy" section is indispensable. It's a good partner to MCO, and I find the audio/visual style of learning easier than going through a book, setting up a chess board, playing through a game, and then trying to go through a possible other line on a real board that's been suggested in the text. Chessmaster does this, but it goes through it quickly, so you don't lose sight of the main position.

The gameplay itself, especially in ranked mode, is where Chessmaster lacks. A friend of mine and I took Chessmaster 10 on my PC, Fritz 7 on my laptop, and had them play each other, each with a 5 minute time control. Fritz crushed Chessmaster, and was a knight and two pawns ahead going into the endgame. Chessmaster, after the game was over, claimed it was in "blunder" mode. I haven't discovered yet a way to force the computer to play legitimately, but the blunder mode is annoying. Make it think longer than a few seconds in the middle game, and it will take your f2 pawn (or f7 if you're black) with one of its minor pieces just to make you move your king or "achieve" some illusory or pretty insignificant advantage. By the way, we had both Fritz and Chessmaster analyze the game, and both claimed it was "ahead" until Chessmaster's blunder, after which both agreed that Fritz (black) was stronger. But, to be fair to Chessmaster, it is difficult to honestly represent the lapse in judgment amateur players can often make besides hanging a piece. This is primarily because computers do not "think;" rather, they just calculate. So tactical errors and hanging pieces is going to be more common against a "low rated" computer opponent than strategical or positional errors would be.

I enjoy the Chessmaster interface, and I think the different sets (2d, 3d, and animated) are pleasing to the eye, although I can't really play a serious game with anything but a Staunton 3D or Expert 2D set, since those are the ones I find myself playing with in real life. All in all, I think this is an exceptional game for the beginning or intermediate player, and is a great tool to not only learn from but also assist your education from other sources.

Great Learning Tool

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 15
Date: January 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I read the other reviews for this product and they almost dissuaded me from getting it but I am very glad that I went ahead and bought it anyway. I've been playng chess off and on since I was 5. And while I had some skills, I never broke through to the level of tournament play. There were fundamental gaps in my game that I couldn't spot but my opponents could pick apart with ease. While I could beat inexperenced players and even good players from time to time, the holes in my game repeatedly snuck up and clobbered me. After working theough the chess Academey and really developing my opening game play, I have been much more successful. There are elements of chess that are very difficult to learn from a book although there are literally hundreds of books out there. Solid endgame tactics and tactical skills are vital to a chessplayer's arsenal but they have to be practised and few people are available to sit around and show you these things. Chess master gives you great practice drills that you can repeat until you get it and offers hints if you get stuck. It's done wonders for my game.
To the laptop user who complained, there are a lot of other chess programs that you can buy if you just want to play once in a while. Or you can go on yahoo games and play for free. But for twenty dollars, I cannot imagine a better tool for exploring the complexities and intrigues of this amazing game.

Fascist copy-right protection.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 12 / 15
Date: January 31, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Automatic 1 star for punishing legit owners of the game. This is typical of the BS that UbiSoft has imposed on gamers:

I bought the PC version of Grandia II, which they published, and, although it was extremely buggy, not a single patch was released...

If you absolutely must play a game by Ubi****, I suggesst you not pay for it.

(Note a mes amis Quebecois: UbiSoft est controlé par le Parti Liberal du Quebec. LIBEREZ NOUS DES LIBERAUX!)

Good Engine, Poor Graphics

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: November 04, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I'm not sure what the fuss with all the copy protection--I did not face any of the issues that the others mentioned though I had Nero installed. This could be because my notebook (a desktop replacement actually) is pretty new.

As far as the game is concerned, I have both the XBox and PC version. What I like best is that during Ranked Play, if you win, you get a recommendation of the player Chessmaster thinks most suitable. Often, the pick proves more than a challenge for me. Also, the tutorials included are very helpful.

The downside of the game is the poor quality of the graphics. My notebook uses a very powerful graphics card, yet the pieces and even the lighting looks very poor. I expected more from a 10th generation game.

The game engine is very powerful, and I have to admit it is not easy to win the game even at the basic levels.

Frustrated Chess player

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: July 17, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I really like playing computer chess, and had hoped this verison of Chessmaster would fix some of the numerous problems with the prior versions. It does not, and I strongly recommend no one make the mistake of buying it like I did. It is not only very buggy, but when I tried to reinstall it after a computer upgrade it now fails completely and has a message saying it can't initialize its 3D engine. But that isn't even a topic in their so-called support page. Further, I have not even been able to register the product as there is apparently a bug in their product registration page.

This is a real shame, as the product has great promise - there are lots of good features in the earlier versions and this could be a real improvement if Ubisoft (the maker) cared even a tiny little bit about quality. But this is not a product anyone should buy, and those of us who like to play chess against a computer can only hope that someone else moves into this market with a quality program.

Two outstanding programs: Chessmaster 10th edition and Fritz 9

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 14
Date: December 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Let me start by saying that I happily own both Chessmaster 10th edition and Fritz 9 (not to mention Junior 9, whose interface is identical to that of Fritz, but whose engine is different, if comparatively strong). I also have extended experience with Chessmaster 9000 and Fritz 8, Champion edition.

Chessmaster 10th edition has received much undeserved criticism, judging from many days of testing this program with utter enthusiasm. No perceivable bugs, it works like a charm, with an interface that is delightfully attractive and user-friendly (I strongly advise, however, any potential buyer to pay close attention to the required hardware. It stands to reason that if your computer doesn't meet the requirements, the program will not work properly. This of course applies to any software, including Fritz). As a training tool, Chessmaster 10th edition is superb, and in fact is significantly better than Chessmaster 9000. In keeping with this improvement, the far sharper 3-D boards alone justify buying this recent edition of Chessmaster. Overall, without getting into every praiseworthy aspect of Chessmaster 10th edition, I must say without hesitation that praise is indeed in order, though admittedly - as any program - it could, and surely will, be better in future editions.

It could for instance eventually match - and perhaps even surpass - Fritz with respect to graphics. The photorealistic 3-D boards in Fritz 9 are breathtaking, though a finicky user like me still finds grounds for minor complaints (shadows and reflections on pieces are less than perfect. Also, adjustment of the reflections is slightly quirky. One must make the adjustment to one 3-D board - classic wood for example - and switch to another board, then back to the initial board before the adjustment takes effect). Having said this, I must stress in all fairness that the photorealistic 3-D boards in Fritz 9 are very much exceptional - the new animated Turk 3-D board alone is worth buying this upgrade. As for the Fritz 9 interface, without indulging in a detailed description of it, I have to agree with other reviewers that it is somewhat difficult to use, especially when it comes to some of the advanced functions. These functions were evidently designed for hard-core chess players that are willing to spend hours upon hours of exacting and rather austere study to improve their game. If you belong to this group of select chess players, Fritz 9 is an especially good fit for you. Mind you, Chessmaster 10th edition also has much to bring to the table, even for hard-core chess players.

All in all, if you like chess or even love it in the extreme, and if you can afford both Chessmaster 10th edition and Fritz 9, do yourself a favor and buy them both.

Laurent Grenier
Author of the book A REASON FOR LIVING

Cheesmaster 10th

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 16
Date: March 13, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Excellent for learning chess but my CD defective in that I get lockup every time I exit the game. I have not been able to get help from Ubisoft.

Forget chessmaster

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 19 / 32
Date: July 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I dumped this annoying to use, overglorified piece of crud and went out and got Fritz. Fritz rocks!

I concure with my fellow chessmates.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 13 / 19
Date: June 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Although this game is STILL better than most other chess games, the "little things" is what brings the quality down...such as: installing the cd in the disk drive every freakin ....freaking time that you want to play the game..Too many features..buttons and screens to choose from. and ...I am not the most computer savy person...So, they would need to take that into consideration......also, why is it that the lower players are so freakin strong all of a sudden!!! (Little josh w..and a few other players around his strength level are a joke)......Finally, my advice is to wait about 2 or 3 years to buy it....or wait until it shows up at a pawn shop!!

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