I recently purchased Chessmaster 9000 for less than $10, and I would say it was money well-spent. It has tons of lessons and is very easy to use.
According to this list it's engine is rated around 2760, so it's not the strongest, but for $10 I'm not complaining.
I've heard good things about Fritz 11, and was considering purchasing it, but for the price difference it didn't seem worth it.
EASYB
I have chessmaster 10 and 11 and fritz 11, chessmaster is a great program
and for $10.00, you got a steal
wish you the best tony from jersey shore
There are some things I don't like about CM 9000, but it's plenty strong enough for me and the price was right plus it's got a LOT of features and a mentor. There's a little too much stuff but it's easy enough to use. I've got a free copy of Fritz 5.32 and it plays really well but that's about it. About 20 of the top entries on the list mentioned above are for 2/4 CPU processors so you need a hot computer (which I don't have) to run them.
There are some things I don't like about CM 9000, but it's plenty strong enough for me and the price was right plus it's got a LOT of features and a mentor. It does analysis and gives hints and shows lines that it is considering, There's a little too much stuff but it's easy enough to use. I've got a free copy of Fritz 5.32 and it plays really well but that's about it. About 20 of the top entries on the list mentioned above are for 2/4 CPU processors so you need a hot computer (which I don't have) to run them.
Well, I have Fritz 11, Shredder 11, Deep Junior 10, and Rybka 3 Aquarium. I can say with 100% certainty that strength wise, none even comes close to matching Rybka. Rybka runs circles around each of the other 3 no matter the time control.
I have found the opening database with Rybka Aquarium to be slightly better and easier to understand, making it easier in helping you develop an opening repetiour. The authors did an outstanding job with ananysis of the opening book. The analysis features are great as well.
That being said, they are all great programs. It probably would not make a difference one way or another. Lets face it, if any of us played like any engine, we would be better than we are.
You can get any of the 4 i mentioned for $40-$50. Well worth it, and Rybka comes highly recommended.
ErrantDeeds,
For what your asking for, you should stick with any recent version of Chessmaster, i.e. 9, 10, or 11. All are available for less than 25 dollars. I have CM 11and I also have Shredder, Rybka, Hiarcs, and Fritz all used with the Fritz interface. They are ALL stronger than Chessmaster but not as user friendly. Unless analysis and I mean strong analysis is your main goal, you can get an all in one solution with the Chessmaster series.... and CM is plenty strong as an opponent.
Thank you all for your suggestions. It looks like Chessmaster is the way to go, then. At the level I play at, it seems absurd to reject an engine because it 'only' plays at 2700 ish. It's all about ease of use and good turorials.
Thanks for your input folks.
I don't think there's any question that Rybka (currently Rybka 3) is the strongest engine available ... the stronger the processor the better.
On the other hand, it's pretty expensive and if you really just want an engine to toy around with, something easy to use ... crafty 22 might do the trick... and it's pretty strong too... I've played it several times and haven't even managed to draw.
edit- ... oh, and it's free :D
Fritz is superb and easy to use.
I also have rybka which finds different more human-like or more agressive moves,and is stronger than fritz.
I also recommend the chessbase traing dvd`s...anything by Andrew Martin is always good:-)
This is going to sound like a stupid question, but I still find computers largely a mystery. I've been playing chess here and on Facebook (the chess application kindly supplied by chess.com - is this not the best website there is?), and they both give me the option of downloading PGNs. Can I open these PGNs in the engines described in this thread and use them to analyse my games? If yes, which is the best engine to use for this purpose?
No question that Chessmaster 10/11 is superb, especially the tutorials and general ease of use. Playing the personalities is fun.
.. but, if your interested in playing against a computer (and I have researched this a lot, believe me) the best program is easily HIARCS 9.6/9.7 running on a Palm PDA. Simply because it can be set to nearly any ELO level (standard of play) between European 800 ELO (raw beginner) to 2000 ELO (expert). The playing style is far more human like than chessmaster (in my experiance) or apparently any other program at these levels (at its highest level it is stronger than probably anyone reading this forum ~2600 ELO). And to boot it is tiny and portable !
This is going to sound like a stupid question, but I still find computers largely a mystery. I've been playing chess here and on Facebook (the chess application kindly supplied by chess.com - is this not the best website there is?), and they both give me the option of downloading PGNs. Can I open these PGNs in the engines described in this thread and use them to analyse my games? If yes, which is the best engine to use for this purpose?
This is one of my favorite things about Chessmaster 9000. I can download a PGN file of my past games, open it with CM9000, have it annotate the game for me, then play through it with the annotations. Extremely helpful.
For me, it depends on what you want to do with it...Just play-take some tutorials...Chessmaster is great. To analize or keep a database, ChessBase FTW
At least for novice players, I'd say Chessmaster 10 and 11.
I HAVE CHESSMASTER 10 , 11 AND FRITZ 11, ALL HAVE GOOD QUALITIES, BUT I FAVOR CHESSMASTER 10 AN D 11 FOR TUTORIALS AND EASE OF LEARNING AND PLAYING. I ALSO HAVE RYBKA 3 , OPENING BOOK AND I HAVE ALOT OF PROBLEMS PUTTING IT IN MY FRITZ DATABASE
GOOD LUCK AND YOU, YOUR FAMILY AND LOVED ONES HAVE THE HAPPIEST AND SAFEST OF HOLIDAYS
TONY (antne003
Another vote for Chessmaster!
Chessmaster 10/11 cannot be rivaled for the wonderful lessons by Josh Waitzkin. His tone and style actually make chess lessons exciting.
The lessons are basically the same in version 10 and 11. You can get Chessmaster 10 for almost nothing. Enjoy!
Chessmaster 11 is definitely a good choice, especially for a novice. If you are new to chess or are not yet a serious tournament player, it's a good start. Once you are ready, and you'll know when you are, then graduate to a Fritz or Rybka. I currently have good old Fritz 8 which is still quite powerful and it finds nearly all of the same lines as Rybka 3. Please note, I run Fritz 8 on high-end server hardware which makes its job easier.
Best of luck to you with your choice.
If you plan to get serious about studying games...ever, you'll want easy access to a database, as well as an engine's analysis. In such a case, Chessmaster will have proven far too expensive, even at $10. You are better off shelling out $60 for Fritz, Rybka, or one of the others. All ChessBase engines come with a state of the art and pleasing interface that is not particularly difficult to use. All their engines will give you stronger analysis than Chessmaster.
Chessmaster was an excellent program up through CM 5000, then they fell far behind the company that continues to improve its product. CM has not added any enhancements to software since the 1990s, but beginning with 10th edition, offer a completely new interface that is far less useful for serious chess study, but perhaps a little friendlier to complete computer noobs.
Evening folks. I'd like to get some opinions before I make a finiancial commitment. In your view, what is the best chess engine/program? The couple I've looked at seem excessively complicated, and not being particularly computer minded, I don't have the patience to wade through complex programs. I need something easy to use, with a pleasant interface, that will improve my game. I'd like to have a simple way of studying my own games with the aid of a computer.
What are people using and how do you rate them?