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Don't waste your time

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 8
Date: June 26, 2005
Author: Amazon User

If you want to play chess, go grab a real chess board.

1. The two player mode isn't really two players. You have to share the same controller. Yes, you literally have to pass the controller back and forth for every move.

2. No one plays this game on Xbox Live.

3. The AI cheats after a set number of victories.

1 controller for 2 players gets OLD real fast!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: February 02, 2005
Author: Amazon User

*CHESS MASTER - XBOX*
Let me start by saying my family and I love chess. I've been patiently waiting for a chess game on the XBOX since the consoles release. Surely, Chess"Master" will be great, I mean you can't go wrong with chess right? WRONG! I suppose this game is fun if you're really into playing chess online or by yourself at home. However, I don't have an online account and if you want to play with a friend, at home on the same console, you'll be passing the controller back and forth. So much so, you'll wonder what the designers were thinking. Trust me, that gets old very quickly.
I specifically purchased this game to sit down and play chess with my wife and kids. Can you imagine how upset we all were when we found out we had to pass the controller back and forth to each other for each move? Why not a 2 player/2 controller system? To me it just ruins the game! I don't have online play and playing the computer gets old...fast.
IN FINAL: I'd like to say I love this game, I mean the graphics are good, the different chess sets are neat, the sound if fine, it's just no fun to have to reach over after every move and hand the controller to my opponent! WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

Not for XBox live subscribers

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: December 14, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The game in itself is pretty good. The best part of the game is the tutorials. If you really want to learn how to play chess like a pro get this game. However if you are looking for a game that you can use on Xbox live DONT WASTE YOUR TIME. I went on Xbox live to play this game and no one else was playing. The Xbox population has not caught on to this game enough to spend money on it.

Excellent game for aspiring players

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: January 15, 2006
Author: Amazon User

First, it's important to outline a context for my positive review of this game. I run a chess club in an elementary school and have been doing so for nearly five years. I have taught students how to play and given them basic strategy. However, I am only an average player myself.

This title was tremendously suited to my purpose. For one, it has allowed me to sharpen my game. The academy and tutorials are not only helpful, but provide me with information that I can bring back to my chess club. It also has enhanced my understanding of tournament play. Given the Live feature, students who wish to play each other who have this can do so as well (parents likely will not object given its low cost and nonviolent gameplay.)

Most of the criticism stems from the two play and having to pass the controller back and forth. Indeed I have also found this frustrating. I have also found frustrating that the computer takes no time off their clock or that the computer will take forever (when playing on an advanced mode.) Clearly those who excel at chess might not find this best suited to their needs. However, the graphics, loyalty to tournament style, and tutorials (including blunder alerts) make this an excellent game for those whose rankings might not be as high.

The biographies of the characters you play with is an added bonus. You feel as though you're playing a real person. This is a highly recommended game if your purpose in any way mirrors the context as I have outlined.

Improvements to be made...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: April 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

- The ability to play your own xbox hard drive music over the games
- Improved graphics, in a stop-motion animated sequence of photos of real pieces moving over a top-view board
- Less words cluttering the playing screen
- Live-action pre and post-game cinematics and animated attack moves by genuine animators. Let's say a short opening scene depicting Chess pieces moving into Italy from the Italian Alps!
- A sense of the global cultures and the exotic playing areas
- A focus on 'star players' like Kasparov and even Deep Blue as characters! Not so many average people.
- Different voices to proclaim 'Check', 'Checkmate' or whatever in various instances.
- Sound effects, like a horse braying when it takes an opposing piece, a proud King saying 'You'll never take me alive' or an icey Queen - the voice accent of these pieces would change by selecting which country your side is from. For instance, if you chose France, the pieces would have a French accent. Like the 'Worms' games.
- Stylized culture-based gamepieces for major countries, Russia, Germany, France, America, Africa, Britain, Canada... etc.
- For God's sake, support for two players on separate controllers

All in all, this is a good game with inventive elements, detailing 500 years worth of games with narration, and it demonstrates in a very immediate way, how to improve your game. However, it could have animated and enlivened the game of Chess in a modern, but deeply cultural and historical way, and it hasn't done that. The best chess game out there, but hopefully not for long!

Where Eagles Dare!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 30 / 30
Date: November 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

For just 20 bucks this is a steal. There are over 100 different personalities to play against. You can play rated games against the computer and even play in mock tournaments with the computer. When you beat a player it recommends one more toward your strength. But It wasnt a good judge, because I was ripping through the 700 players and it kept saying I should play one just slightly stronger. When in reality I wasnt beaten by the program until I got into the 1400 players category. Then I started getting slapped up.

The strong points in this program is the tutorials. 24 annotated games by Josh Waitzkin and alot of tutorials. And some good games annotated by Larry Christianson. The tutor aspect of this game is its strong suit. The Chess Academy is worth the money for the game, for the price of one chess book you can have alot of drills and puzzles. Also has 800 games annotated by Larry Evans.

Im really impressed with this program. The 3-D boards are hard to see whats going on. I just use the 2-D board. One of the things I like about playing the 2-D board is playing on a tv you get to see the board real well. I prefer the TV to a computer monitor, because its so much bigger.

Cons to this game is if you play the Chessmaster with unlimited time he will not move when its his turn. I would have liked to have the option to make the 2-D board full screen without the clocks. I would have liked the annontated games to play through the whole game without making me push a button to keep it talking. But overall this is a great value and chess resource. Im happy with it. You can also play this on XBox Live online, but I dont have Xbox live so I cant comment on how good it is.

Also would like to say that you can practice openings with this game which I find helpful.

Checkmate...sort of.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 13
Date: December 27, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Simply put, this game is absolutely amazing on the Xbox. The graphics are stunning. With the right options chosen for chess set and board options, you will see your pieces reflection on the board.

There is so much more here than just a simple chess game. You can be taught from the beginning through to Master. You can just plunge right in and starting mowing the AI down. You can even hop online and see how you stack up against other players.

Now for 2 really annoying problems.

Number one: If you want to play with a friend on the same console, you HAVE to share a controller. How stupid is that? Especially if you are playing a timed game per move. Just imagine frantically passing the controller back and forth across a room while trying to outwit your opponent. All Ubisoft can say, is "Sorry, we missed it". Sheesh.

Second: The AI in timed mode moves instantaneously. Thus, leaving no time off of its clock and forcing you to move instantaneously without being able to use the AI's time to contemplate future moves. Really...I've never played chess with someone that can always instantly know where they will move next.

Two pretty stupid "bugs" to miss during testing, but the game and graphics are still great.

Incredible depth for developing players

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: July 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The problem I see with people debating the merits of this game generally revolve around motivation. If your sole motive is to use this game just to play chess, you will only get a fraction of the value out of it and might even be disappointed with it. The multiplayer function, offline, requires two people to pass the controller back and forth. While this is not a problem with me, some tend to consider it a hindrance. There are not many people that play online, so the "live" feature lacks attractiveness. This leaves you basically with just a chess game that you are able to play on the xbox, but not much else. If you play the game in this fashion, you are really only getting a superficial taste of what this game really has to offer.

If you, on the other hand, are a player that would like to develop his/her game significantly, then you will marvel at the extensive, nay, nearly overwhelming, tutorial features Chessmaster has to offer. This tutorial section, I believe, is the heart of the Chessmaster game. There is an "academy" taught by Josh Waitzkin himself. It is broken into sections covering the basics of movement, strategy, tactics, psychology, and endgame strategy. To show examples of each section, he annotates an incredible amount of games he played that reinforce the principles he is teaching. I have had this game for a week going through the academy and have not gotten through half of it. This academy is only a fraction of the tutorial section though. There are also the tutorials from previous Chessmaster installments, drills, and an infinite number(literally) of one move puzzles.

There is so much depth to this Chessmaster game that I feel I have not really done it justice in the review. The Josh Waitzkin academy is worth the $20 dollars alone. If you are striving to become a better chess player and looking for some direction, I couldn't give this game a higher recommendation.

Finally my XBox pulls its own weight.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: December 25, 2004
Author: Amazon User

XBox is the undoubtably the best system there is, however, I'm not really the kind of guy to play games very much once I've completed them. Occassionally I'll play a game if it's really good; swinging around the city in Spiderman 2 for example.
For the longest time I've been waiting for a good Chess program to come out for XBox and my hopes were more than answered. Sadly I don't know anyone who likes to play serious chess and so haven't been able to play in years, so if you're like me and want to get back into practice then this game is the answer.
But there's more, if you don't know how to play chess the game has a very comprehensive tutorial to teach you how to play and as if that weren't enough, it goes into more advanced layers and shows us, in non-pretentious terms, how to kick chess but. All the while never talking down to to us.
My only complaint is the game really spoiled me and when I finished all the tutorials I wanted more. For the price this game really is worth having in your XBox collection and, if you're like me, makes XBox worth having. Sure, you can play Chessmaster on your computer but wouldn't you much rather sit on your comfy couch and play on your big TV screen rather than sit by your uncomfortable desk and play on your little computer screen?

Great!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 31, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I have to say, this is an awesome chess game. What really caught my attention was the vast amount of tutorials. They are voice narrated and very detailed. You will learn a lot from playing this game, and enjoy it while doing so. Also, there are over 800 recorded games dating back to the 1600's that you can watch being played out with commentary! This game is a must have for any chess enthusiast or anyone looking to better their game.

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