I own both the 9th and 10th editions of CM.
I prefer the 10th edition for the tutorials. The playing engine itself is a bit strange imho. The personalities will play unevenly. For stretches it will play flawlessly, then play nonsensical moves. I guess this is the way it brings the playing level of the main engine down to us mortals.
I have the grandmaster edition, the tutorials are totally worth it.
Chessmaster 10 is also a good choice although, as dsachs said, the tuts on the Grandmaster Edition are reportedly better.. And check out the website:
http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/760105752
for fixes, etc.
Then come back to this AAA site and play some chess!
I actually think that Chessmaster version 10 and 11 are the best, because they are the newest, are updated constantly (online news), and have spectacular feedback. They have beginner players all the way to super-grandmasters and lectures and lessons from IMs and GMs
Chessmaster is fantastic - I have 10 and 11 and the tutorials alone are worth the price. It also has the kind of interface that I wish Fritz had - Fritz is to Chessmaster what DOS is to Windows.
I own 10. For me it is fantastic!
Grandmaster Edition seems to be the best one. At least while 12th version is not launched...
The personalities will play unevenly. For stretches it will play flawlessly, then play nonsensical moves.
I've owned a few versions and found that some of the personality settings include a random mistake box you can check or uncheck. I've found each new version to have something of interest over the older one such as the Psychology of Competition in version 9. I'm wondering if anyone has the problem of chessmaster shutting down occassionaly with the text chessmaster has encountered a problem and needs to close. I have had this problem repeatedly in all my versions
Grandmaster Edition hands down.
I can't speak for the other editions, but I have the grandmaster edition and still can't believe so much good stuff comes in one package. My favorite features are definately the very extensive tutorials and a section where Josh Waitzkins talks you through some of his own games. The ranked play against the computer is a little strange sometimes and some of the lower ranked characters make really stupid moves sometimes, but I play that section when I just want some quick games for practice. There are many characters ranked from under 100 to over 2900 so needless to say, you can definately find plenty of variety and challenges. There is lots and lots of information and potential practice time packed into this program and I would highly recommend it!
There is no difference between the various versions, except that the latest is ALWAYS the best (no matter your level).
However, if you're on a tight budget, and want to save $10-$20, I recommend you get CM 10.
CM 11 has many more tutorials, but CM 10 is probably sufficient anyway.
Philidorian wrote:
I have Chessmaster version 9, and am about to upgrade. The problem I have is that I constantly have to load the CDs in order to use the program. Is this also the case with the later versions? It's really inconvenient, especially when I'm on the road.
Download a No-CD crack. I'm pretty sure those aren't illegal.
Philidorian wrote:
I have Chessmaster version 9, and am about to upgrade. The problem I have is that I constantly have to load the CDs in order to use the program. Is this also the case with the later versions? It's really inconvenient, especially when I'm on the road.
I do not have the latest version of Chessmaster, but I do recall reading somewhere that it does not perform cd checks. You could always check the forum at the chessmaster web site to verify this.
I'm loving Grandmaster. My only grump is its occasional tendency to freeze mid-game, but that's really the fault of my decrepit overheating laptop that I'm too cheap to replace until it dies.
I'm honestly shocked to hear so many good and even glowing reviews of Chessmaster. I agree that tutorials are good. And I think the basic chess engine is good enough for everyone but the top players when doing analysis (and this is really where Chess programs are at their most useful IMO.) The interface is undeniably much easier better looking and more intuitive than Fritz... but the program has many many problems IMHO. It is buggy and prone to lock ups. Several functions work poorly (sorry I haven't used my copy of Chessmaster in so long I've forgotten which parts don't work) and it really is not a very good practice partner if you want a challenging game against a human-like opponent.
Chessmaster has low rated players who play moves no 1400 ever plays (for example spotting a coming sacrificial attack and defending against it) and then will play blunders that 1400s don't play... *(Chessmaster's favorite blunder is to just sac a minor piece on a random pawn with absolutely no further compensation for the piece.) Chessmaster promises a lot and does NOT deliver all that it promises IMHO.
I prefer Fritz although some of the Fritz interface decisions make me want to learn German just so that I can curse out the designers in their native tongue. It's really sort of a toss up as to which program is more annoying, with Fritz's heinous interface duelling with Chessmaster's shoddy coding -- but with Fritz I think you get a better chess opponent. It manages database/PGN files better than CM too, although, again, you have to fight the interface every inch of the way until you learn it's bizarre quirks.
I have the 'stops responding' bug with cm8000, only since I got an ati graphics card. It's some problem with the menus. If you go to look for something in the menus at the top but go to the wrong one, then you try the correct one, it will crash. Same if you try to right mouse menu too frequently. It's a real pain if you have spent time inputting a position and then go to the wrong menu. Seems to be some bug with opening and closing the menu windows. I sometimes find if I know it's going to do it, I can click around for a bit before opening the correct menu and get away with it. Still, extremely annoying. I dont think there's a fix, at least for my old version.
Philidorian wrote:
I have Chessmaster version 9, and am about to upgrade. The problem I have is that I constantly have to load the CDs in order to use the program. Is this also the case with the later versions? It's really inconvenient, especially when I'm on the road.
I use Grandmaster edition, and I haven't had to use the CD since installing it. Not even for the tutorials. However, that is because I opted during installation to have all the audio installed onto my hard disk. If you don't have a big hard disk and can't do that, you'll need the CD for tutorials, but even then - probably not for the engine.
Go with the majority.CHessmaster grandmaster edition is the Best and it's only 19.99 @bestbuy(Where i got mine) and at most other places.
CM10 and 11 are very good for beginners, mainly because of nice chess lessons, but for game analysis you should use Rybka 3 (best commercial chess engine). In my opinion best commercial chess GUI (Graphical User Interface) is Shredder (very intuitive, easy to use and setup).
There are also completely free solutions - Rybka 2.2 is free engine, and still it is stronger than any other available commercial engines. Check out this engine rating list:
http://www.computerchess.org.uk/ccrl/4040/rating_list_all.html
Here is my setup of Winboardx chess gui with Rybka 2.2 engine. It is very good free solution for game analysis:
http://www.chess.com/download/view/portable-winboardx--rybka-22---updated-setup
Delfi chess engine is supposed to have amateur like play - it is included in this setup and you can change it's ELO strenght.
I decided to purchase ChessMaster. Does anyone have an opinion regarding which version is the best? I'm around the 1700 level.