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Better than Fritz for Most Users

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 09, 2008
Author: Amazon User

First, I am not a grandmaster. If I were a grandmaster, perhaps I would care about comparisons between Chessmaster and Fritz or Shredder for example. Grandmasters generally gravitate toward Fritz, and the few tournaments I've ever watched in person use Fritz to illustrate the play on big screen monitors. This, however, is of no consequence to Mac owners because neither Fritz, nor Shredder is available for Mac.* (see note below)

In any case, this is wonderfully designed software, challenging for all levels of play. The graphics are terrific. The imbedded tutorial, which includes in-depth analysis by Josh Waitzken (the real person behind the movie character in "Searching for Bobby Fisher") of 10 or so of his own best games, is better than any I've ever used, including Fritz. In fact, if you can't afford a teacher, this is the next best thing. It might even be better, depending on the teacher.

My favorite feature is the number and variety of virtual opponents, who, in addition to "Chessmaster" himself, include a number of virtual historic and modern grand masters (Capablanca, Nimzowitz, etc), as well as fictional amateurs at every level, complete with photos of your opponent and specific idiosyncrasies as to tactics and strategies ("John" "neglects the center"; "Dylan" is "balanced"; etc.) This is much more fun than learning with Fritz, which can be handicapped, but only in limited, numerical ways. The point is, each virtual opponent plays with a certain built-in set of habits, some good, some bad. Whether the real Capablanca would have recognized his style on this program, I don't know, but it's fun to think so.

You can also set up positions, see how various opponents would handle them, or see how Chessmaster would handle them. This feature demonstrates that there are many ways to skin the cat. You can play casually and "win" every time using "mentor lines", get detailed or quick advice on specific moves and positions, and you can take back your moves in this mode. Alternately, you can play in virtual tournaments by which, after 20 games or so against rated virtual opponents, will establish your real rating - you can't take moves back or seek advice in tournament play. Also, you can disable the engine and play against another human opponent, or you can set up games between virtual grandmasters from every age in the history of modern chess, and watch the play. (The program also has a huge database of famous games for study.) After you've played a game, you can have the program analyze and annotate the game you just played, showing blunders, better moves, etc. with audio explanations. One thing you cannot do is set up your games so that, even if it becomes ridiculous, the program will resign. Chessmaster never resigns. But this forces you to study endgame by trial and error. By learning checkmate, you learn the game.

Like Fritz, Chessmaster has an opening book reference that can be used during play, although this is the least sophisticated of its pedagogical features. But opening strategies are covered in detail in the tutorial, and ultimately it's better to know why the Sicilian systems work, than just to memorize the moves.

* NOTE: When I used to have a PC, I had all kinds of chess software including multiple versions of Fritz and Chessmaster. As far as I can find, you've got 3 choices as a Mac owner. This, a Fritz program for teaching children, and a program endorsed by Kasparov with his name on it. I'm not a child or a beginner and I might check out the Kasparov program if I can find it. Sadly, many software manufacturers don't seem to know about Macintosh OS's, or more likely, don't care.

Clumsy and awkward

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: August 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This computer chess program has been around since forever, and I guess the developers just got lazy. I remember playing Chessmaster 3000 maybe 15 years ago, and I swear the game play was superior then. Almost everything about 9000 is incredibly awkward.

The 3D graphics are so intolerable to look at (and the computer frequently misinterprets which piece I am trying to move when the graphics overlap), that I have to play in 2D. Even then, motion graphics are not smooth on my 2 GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook. The windows open up on top of each other and do not "remember" the position you move them to, so you have to do this each time you start the game. Not to mention the problem everyone else notes about needing the DVD every time you play.

The educational component of the game, which is the main reason for my purchase, is tolerable. But a lot of the intermediate lessons are just quizzes (which move is better) without any real explanation. The best thing about the game is the ability to play opponents of many different levels and personalities.

Overall, I'm rather disappointed in the game and do not consider it a good value at forty bucks.

This game has it all

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: January 11, 2007
Author: Amazon User

If our looking for the total package, this is it. From the enormous board and chess peice selection to the classroom, this game is the best. I have never had any problems with the game freezing and quitting. The only drawback is that you have to use the DVD to play the game. The annotated games from Josh Waitzkin are also very nice. I would definetely buy this game if your looking for a chess program for Mac OS X.

Chessmaster 9000 + Tiger A-Ok.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: November 09, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Some reviewers have mentioned an incompatibility with Tiger (OS X 10.4). I am currently running 10.4.3, and CM 9000 was not working properly (it worked great on Panther). However, I emailed Feral, and WITHIN HOURS was sent a website where I downloaded a patch which has fixed all issues.
Reports of clunkiness & bugs are not present on my 1Ghz flat panel iMac, or my G4 PB. This program has really helped my game, and my 6 year old son has become quite the young chess afficianado...he loves to play it. Feral has done great work here.

Tiger bug

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: December 16, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I bought this program on good faith, only to discover that important parts of the prgram do not run with OS 10.4 (Tiger). I've e-mailed Feral and have not as yet received a reply. Since they seem to have a 'beta' patch, they should make this known to all Tiger owners. If you have Tiger, I wouldn't buy this software until they have a real fix.

Yuck, get another chess program...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: June 16, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Based on the strengths of the reviews here, I bought the program. It looked great-that is, until I ran the program. It is horribly slow, first of all. It is sluggish even when making a move, and crashes often. Definetly not recommended for slow Macs. The interface is also poor-windows are everywhere, making it hard to use them and play at the same time. The tutorials are not bad, though. Overall, I don't think it's worth it.

Doesn't seem to compatible with OS 10.5

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: January 15, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This is a great product but the support for the Mac seems to be a problem. I recently upgraded to Leopard and Chessmaster 9000 now takes forever to close dialog boxes. I've had no problems related to the speed of moving pieces or loading personalities that I've read about elsewhere. But, there are enough problems that I would stay away from this product for the time being. And, I have installed the patches, no help...

An Excellent and Fun Training Tool

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: January 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This chess program provides a wide vareity of play and training options that is sure to please both the very beginning chess player as well as the novice and all the way up through advanced players. My favorite feature of the game is the "classroom" feature in which hundreds of lessons are presented into three levels: "Basic", "Intermediate", and "Advanced". The lessons play through with a voice over recording and a graphical interface that moves the chess pieces for a visual demonstration of the lesson. At the end of each lesson are multiple quizzes designed to test your knowledge of the lesson contents. Very helpful and entertaining if you are simply learning for the first time or wanting to really hone your skills on a more advanced level.

The game features rich graphics and beautifully rendered boards and chess pieces to chose from, as well as a wide array of computer personalities to challenge you. The program rates your play and helps keep track of your progress as you advance in the game.

I am using Tiger OS 10.4.3 and I have no problems running the program on my dual 2.5ghz G5 tower. I have noticed that the program does interefere with the screen saver function and as long as the game is running, it will not go into screen saver mode. There are other reports of the program interferring with other programs, but I haven't noticed any problems. My one complaint is that you must keep the DVD in the drive bay to play the game. That's unfortunate as it is somewhat limiting on the end user.

All in all, a truly wonderful product for everyone from the most casual to the most ardent chess fan. This one is sure to please.

Fat, slow and a lot of trouble

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 13 / 18
Date: September 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

You can get sleek FREEWARE from sigma that blows this bloated buggy mess away. It interferes with other stuff, you have to have the DVD in and it is a mess that messes up your mac. Run for your life. UGH!

Works great with Intel Macs

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 13
Date: March 23, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Chessmaster 9000 (Mac) is a great game. It provides excellent interactive tutorials for beginning chess players, many different piece styles, and playing options. It also is very playable on the new Intel Macs even though it is running in Rosetta. The only issues I have noticed is the video on the splash screen at startup is a bit choppy. I upgraded my version to 1.02 from Apple's (Feral's would also work) website before running the program.

The user can select between 2d, fixed 3d look, or full 3d with adjustable camera angles. It even includes my favorite chess set, Isle of Lewis, which I am currently carving out of wood, so the game gives me a nice reference for the piece plans. The pieces are well detailed, but show some rough pixel edges.

The game has all sorts of useful hints and tips, such as a blunder alert to notify you if you are about to make a mistake, replays that let you analyze every move (so you can kick yourself when you realize you could have check-mated), and a move advisor. The move advisor not only tells you where you should move, but why you should move there.

Overall this is a well thought out game, with good graphics, playability, and function. If you upgrade to the latest version you should avoid many of the problems that others were having with playability. It also pleases me that it plays so well on the new Intel iMacs. I would recommend this for the beginner, or for a much more experienced player. It offers something for everyone.

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