Rating: 
Summary: Great but crashes often
Review: One thing I always hated about chess programs is they had no personality. Well that's no longer true with Chessmaster 9000. It has lots of personalities, and each one has their level and playing style. It's so much more fun to play against someone at your level than a 2800+ master, so this is a great feature. The training excercises are fun too. Only problem is the program crashes often. It crashed on me 3 times in one hour today and I gave up on it. I see others say the same thing so I know it's not my computer. It's too bad because otherwise it's a great program.
Rating: 
Summary: great chess training
Review: This game is excellent. It has many, many games and levels of play, so beginners can advance and advanced players will still be challenged. The "players" have real personalities, which makes the game seem more real and interesting, but they are all "over-rated," so that my son, rating 830, can easily challenge someone with a rating of 1400, which doesn't happen in real play. The (human) player can record games, for study after. The clock is easy to over-ride, for beginners. Great, 3-D graphics, with multiple views available. The chess-players in my family love this game.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Tutorial and Solo Gameplay, but Lousy Online
Review: When one purchases a product like this one, there are three important components: a tutorial, a solo game, and an online interface for chess via the Internet. The first two components are excellent, the third is poor.As far as a tutorial, one couldn't ask for anything better. I've used just a fraction of the lessons, and my gameplay has improved considerably. For the chess player wanting to sharpen his knowledge of the game via software, this program is tops. The solo gameplay is also outstanding. There are many choices of boards and chess piece styles. The artificial intelligence controls are quite detailed and very adjustable. Several timing options are also available, including some that can even the odds between the quick-thinking computer and the slower-moving human brain. I was greatly disappointed with the online game play. With a product of this caliber and of this price, a person would think the graphics for Internet play would at least be comparable to solo play. Instead, the graphics for online play are limited to one small, black-and-white board. In other words, the online graphics are to the solo graphics what the original Nintendo GameBoy is to the new Nintendo GameCube. There is simply no comparison. I would have given this product five stars, but the online gameplay simply stinks. This product is an excellent choice if you want a great tutorial and challenging AI. If you are seeking online gameplay however, look elsewhere. Hopefully the update to Chessmaster 9000 will offer a better online experience.
Rating:
Summary: One install is all that is required
Review: I don't understand what one of the reviewers is talking about as far as having to load the CD everytime you play. I installed Chessmaster 9000 and on subsequent games have not had to use the CD. This was true with previous versions but not with 9000. I have also not had problems with system crashes. I think for the money this is one heck of a product.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm not impressed
Review: First of all, I want to point out that I run this program on Windows 2000 and have had no trouble... With that said, I really haven't gotten much out of this game, and I have a few specific complaints. First, I would say that the tutorials are very limited in benefit to anyone that is not a beginner. They explain some concepts of the game, but I have found a couple of questionable moves. Moreover, I have found at least one move that I'm sure is very strong, but the tutorial refuses to even consider it. The same problem will explain why other moves are incorrect, but it totally ignores this one. I have studied the position for a while, and I am sure my move is much better than some of the ones it will analyze. I'm not an incredibly insightful player. If I am finding mistakes, then I can't help but wonder how many others there are. I also dislike playing against the computerized personalities. In the gameroom, the Blunder Alert feature is a waste of time. It may help true beginners avoid hanging pieces, but on an intermediate level it will warn you when you're about to make intelligent moves. As recently as last night, the game warned me when I was about to play. Although I felt my initial move was strong, I followed the program's advice. I still won, but when I ran the game through the analysis feature, it called the "improved" move an error, and suggested my initial move as the proper line... very frustrating. Also, the computer personalities are incredibly inconsistent. I've seen solid opponents hang the queen, and I've seen 800 rated opponents play impressive tactical combinations. When I play this game, I'm primarily trying to practice at a specific skill level, but the opponents strength seems too random... Overall, I'd say this game is fine for someone who wants to develop basic chess skills on a casual level. However, anyone that is interested in truly increasing their chess skills would be far better served by a program like Fritz from Chessbase.
Rating:
Summary: XP Issues
Review: I installed Chessmaster 9000 this morning and I'm very disappointed. The graphics are great and the program is very robust, but it keeps freezing up on me. I'm trying the tutorial area and after 15-20 screens, or when it accesses the CD (presumable for more data), The program closes and Microsoft asks for an error report.
Rating:
Summary: Everything works fine
Review: Some of the previous reviews are a little hard on this program. Just for the record, I am running windows XP Home on a two year old computer and haven't had a single problem with this program. The screen can get cluttered if you try to have all the windows open at once, but once you decide on two or three side windows that you like it remembers where you put them and behaves itself. The chess tutorials are top notch, and you only have to put the CD in once every 25 sessions or so, which makes it better than a lot of games I've played. My advice is: If you are thinking about it, don't let the negative reviews scare you off. If you have an older computer, you can play Chessmaster 7K and the only substantial thing you'll be missing is the silly True 3D boards. Everything else is pretty much the same. No, I don't work for the company.
Rating: 
Summary: CD Key??? Are they serious?
Review: I have three or four thousand dollars worth of paid-for software on this machine, including Chessmaster 9000, and this is the ONLY one stupid enough to make me put a CD in the machine every time I want to play. True, I don't play games much, so maybe this is ordinary behavior for games, but you can believe I'll never play the game, or have anything good to say about it. I don't appreciate being treated like a criminal by software I have PAID for.
Rating:
Summary: Very nice, a little slow....
Review: This is the first chess software I've ever bought, recommended by an uncle who plays chess and has Chessmaster 8000.
Well I went out there and bough this one, being the latest version available. I was quite impressed. There is a wide variety of chess sets available that you can choose from, and 3 different views, including a 3d view. I feel a little awkward playing on the 3d view, so I just play on the standard 2d view, or "top" view.
This software consists of 2 cds. There are "lessons" that you can take and learn a thing or two, especially if you're a little new to chess. While some things are TOO obvious, as to how to move a rook and a bishop, other things I didn't know...and have helped my technique a little.
Why didn't I give it a 5? Because when I'm playing against the computer and I have a timer, the computer "player" takes TOO LONG to play. I don't know why, but there have been times when it takes more than 45 secs to 2 minutes to do a move!!! Other times, other "computer players" do the moves instantly but most of the times it's annoying having to wait for such a long time for the computer to make a move. Besides that, the game is great. The graphics are awesome, and the colors fantastic. I'd really recommend it to anyone, especially if you've never had chess software before. It's not hard at all to play, it's very fun and you may learn a trick or two in the "lesson room."
Rating:
Summary: Finally, after all these years
Review: I have been a chess player since early childhood, and, with the coming of the computer age, I have played computer chess with almost every commercially available chess program (I own most of them). For the past few years, I have used chess software to aid in endgame studies (a specialized branch of chess study). In my vast collection of studies, I have at least 4 or 5 that have defied analysis by commercially-available software - until now. CHESSMASTER 9000 knocked out all of these studies in less than 5 minutes - I was simply blown away. I cannot recommend this piece of software too highly. It is everything it is advertised to be - AND MORE. I only wish I could give it more than 5 stars.
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