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Game is great, packaging is misleading.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 03, 2008
Author: Amazon User

First, this is not a review of the game, just the packaging and contents. This "JC", or jewel case version, shows on the cover that it contains a DVD Rom and requires only 120MB of hard drive space. The package actually contained 3 CDs, the install routine copied about 1.6 GB worth of files onto the hard drive it and requires the CD to be inserted to play. This wouldn't have been a showstopper if it had been stated in the product description, but you may wish to look for a package with the DVD.

Not completely compatible with Vista

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: July 31, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The real question for most chess players looking for some chess software is whether to buy Chessmaster or Fritz (or Fritz's Shredder). I have used both for many years. I actually go back to the days of Chessmaster 2100, which had the playing strength of perhaps a subclass F player, if such a player existed.

For the average player the conventional wisdom has always been that Chessmaster is better because it has more training features and is more user friendly, both in terms of "fun" kinds of chess activities and in terms of how intuitive the software is to navigate. Fritz clearly has been the choice of professionals, partly because it will run without the disc in the drive (although earlier versions of Chessmaster did run without the disc in the drive), partly because Fritz's architecture is considered more elegant, partly because Fritz has a much bigger database of games, and finally because Fritz's chess engine is stronger.

Chessmaster's "personalities" (with ratings) that you can play against have always been one of its most popular features. Chessmaster 10 has the same personalities, from grandmaster-like virtuals to everyday kind of people (complete with mug shots) playing at easy to beat levels, that it has had in previous editions. The problem with these personalities--or maybe this is their main virtue--is they are not as strong as the ratings that Chessmaster gives them. A 2100 Chessmaster personality actually plays like a low B player, while on Fritz it is the other way around, with their 1800 players playing like experts or in some positions like masters. Psychologically speaking, I think Chessmaster has the right approach. For someone preparing for their first tournament against rated players, however, just playing against Chessmaster's personalities can be like living in lollypop land. Still, these personalities have some real value as training devices. Some of them (with ratings between say, 1900 and 2150) function like this: they give away material, even as much as a piece for two pawns and then play a very strong game that can test the user's ability to "win a won game." Stronger personalities will lose a tempo or make an antipositional move or two that can, with careful play, be exploited.

One of the personalities is "Josh age 12, Attacker, loves endgame, weaker positionally." This would be IM Josh Waitzkin as a preteen, complete with actual photo of him then. I played against this personality a few times and "he" can make some strange moves and still manage to have a good game, and you need to watch out for traps. "He" can also stir up an attack out of seemingly nowhere. But his endgame is not very good. The real Josh Waitzkin at age 12 would have no trouble beating this personality in a match.

Chessmaster 10 does not automatically save your game, as Fritz does, and I must repeat, you have to have the DVD in the drive to play the game. Both of these "unfeatures" are annoying. Additionally, Chessmaster 10, despite offering three patches at its Web Site, is still in not completely compatible with Windows Vista--at least not on my computer. The line at the bottom of the page that gives the opening is so narrow so that the words and numbers don't quite fit. The same problem exists with the text in some of the windows. The program crashes on occasion for no apparent reason. And there are a number of little bugs, such as once I set up the 2D chess set, I couldn't get back to a screen that will allow me to change to a 3D set.

Still, the program is very much worthwhile, especially for those of you who remember Zarkov and Chessmaster 3000, etc. Today's Chessmaster engine is easily strong enough for all but the very best players in the world. Chessmaster 10 will analyze your games to any degree you like (and alas find all the errors you made that you didn't think you made), and unlike Fritz it makes it easy to either load your game or to record the game using the human vs. human playing set up. (Go to "Game set up" and click on both human avatars.)

Like Fritz, Chessmaster has an Internet play feature that I haven't used.

So--which is better, Chessmaster or Fritz? You know the answer--it depends! Personally I like them both for different reasons. But if I had to choose just one, I would choose Fritz because (1) the huge database, and (2) to say it for the third time: you don't have to have the DVD in the drive to play. For the less than master level player Chessmaster may be the better choice because the software is easier to navigate and more intuitive. Chessmaster 10 is also cheaper than Fritz Chess (which is the same as Fritz 10).

But should you upgrade if you already own a previous version of Chessmaster? Alas, probably yes, since earlier versions (or at least the Chessmaster 8 that I have) are not compatible with Vista at all. Even so, I am disappointed that Chessmaster 10 is virtually the same program as far as features go as Chessmaster 8. It feels like a dying program that has been abandoned by its creators. Too bad. At one time it was the best.

ChessMaster 10 Edition

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: May 22, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Although the power of this software is some what obsure (you have to dig for it). I ia a very good learning tool especially the tutorials, Worth the price ten time over.

Great program w/ small annoyances

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 07, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This is a great program on so many levels. It's a very strong chess-playing engine (w/ many interesting personalities), plus some terrific analysis that you can do. Altho' I don't play too often against the program itself, I LOVE the analysis feature for games I have played over the board. It recommends stronger moves I cd've played and suggests the next 7 strongest moves in the continuation. There are also some excellent tutorials included by top-notch chess players and targeted to diff. levels of players, so they don't all go over the head of a beginning player. (Occasionally there are errors in these, but rarely.)
It's annoying that you can't play w/o having the CD-ROM in the disk drive and I could do w/o all the weird board and piece combos. Also counterintuitive is adding a new player (e.g., the name of a friend whom you just played w/). It's MUCH harder than in CM9, for some reason.
I love watching two diff. personalities play games against each other and then replaying them later w/ diff. variations. Like what wd a Ruy Lopez game between 2 excellent players look like? Ok, now what wd happen if Black had chosen Nc3 on move 5? Comparing these games is instructive. It's an amazing chess learning tool at a great price.

Cool, but needs a polishing

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: February 14, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Great program that sharpens up your game & schools you on the finer points. There are a few minor bugs, but nothing that affects the gameplay. Having worked as a game tester, these bits jump out at me. Bottom line: I trample my opponent much more often since getting this program.

chess buyer

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: February 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

easy, smart, good to use from me up to my brothers. It is cheap too. Something bad: Always one CD needed to run.

Computers have a new way of explaining things.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: January 05, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Fast. True. But I once memorized a whole game. 41 moves. Anyone have a comment about that. Either way Black or White. My move the same King right pawn two out!

CM10 is a fairly good program with flaws (does run on Vista)

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: December 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is a pretty good chess program for beginners & intermediate players, has a lot that helps you learn, including of course not-too-bad player simulation. It's not perfect, but I would recommend it if you're looking for something for anyone who wants to learn or get better.

There is a long list under "how this program could have been better". See some of the other reviews, but my top 3 gripes are: (1) dumb programming that chews up the CPU even when the program is supposed to be idle; (2) bugs, especially a "hang" problem on single-cpu/single-core machines, where the game program just gets stuck somewhere (looks like a race condition; solution is to temporarily lower the priority of the TheKing processes by using TaskManager); (3) explanations of bad moves, or recommendations of good moves, provide detail but not the big picture.

Finally, it does appear to run fine in Vista: I installed it normally and have been playing it without problems. (I haven't seen the hang problem, but since I have a dual-core machine now I don't expect the race condition to occur.)

Is a better game now from patches

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: November 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Most or even all of the problems with this chess game have been fixed with patches over the years, and you dont have to have the Cd in the drive anymore either to play. And its a better value then the new Chessmaster 11 Grandmaster Edition thats out now,which is almost the same game just re-packaged. So unless your a Pro chess champion then this game is pretty good for new to moderate players and the price.

Chessmaster 10th Edition a HIT

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: October 31, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I bought this software and Fritz 9 in the same order. I figured I would probably prefer the Fritz 9. After downloading some patches I changed my mind.

Upon installation Chessmaster asked me if I had an official rating. I plugged it in and Chessmaster used that as my rating from my first "ranked" game. It went on the regular formula rather than the provisional formula from there. I find this very useful as I have not played in a tournament for over 4 years and with this tool I can find out where my game is before I become active again.

In the "training" mode, after each game an evaluation window pops up with a summary of how you did. It gives you the worse move you made in the game. This has aided me in spotting my weaknesses. The evaluation window also suggests an opponent for you to play next. Fritz has a mode called the friend mode that I always liked because it adjusts itself to my level of play. But I feel this feature of chessmaster is even better. It seems to be more accurate and quicker reacting than the self adjusting mode of Fritz.

I am not one for a lot of fancy graphics as far as chess sets. Ordinarilly I consider them a waste of hard drive space and memory. But I must admit I have had fun with the animated boards on chessmaster. I do realize they are a novelty that will wear off quickly with me but they were fun none the less.

These are the only features I have explored or probably ever will explore but they all made my purchase well worth while.

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