Rating: 
Summary: Previous Versions Excellent, But...
Review: ...this program needs to be updated to support Windows 2000! I like the Chessmaster series very much, but am unable to play my two previous versions on my exclusively Win2K systems.
C'mon Chessmaster, pull your finger out!
Rating: 
Summary: Unfortunately Horribly Buggy on Win2k Pro
Review: After getting trounced in chess games at ... I decided to buy this latest version of the Chessmaster series in order to actually begin learning the game of chess. People seeing the VERY low rating I am giving this program should understand that the program is packed with goodness. In fact, it IS a 5 star program. A grand master goes over games of note, explaining all the moves he could have made, followed by the move he actually played. This I found facinating. You can play any of a large number of computer players, (all levels) and even customize the difficulty. The tutorials on the movement of the pieces are great for beginners. Where Chessmaster 8000 suffers is that it is incredibly buggy. I've had this program for a day and it has crashed more than a dozen times!!! I sincerely hope a patch that addresses this terrible problem is released soon. It clearly devalues the obviously great effort that was put into the product's creation.
Rating: 
Summary: Chessmaster 8000 has at least 2 bugs...
Review: a) The program is biased against white side:
It gives white a more PLUS score in a SYMMETRICAL position. Indirectly it FORCES white to play for the WIN at some extra COST.
After 1 e4 e5, it took 1.29 min and searched to a depth of 5 moves (10 plies), evaluated for 2 millions positions, then it selected the move 2 Nf3 with the score of .21. (Where 1.00 point is equivalent to 1 pawn.)
After 1 e3 e5 2 e4, it took 1.45 min and searched to a depth of 5 moves (10 plies), evaluated for 2.3 millions positions, then it selected the move 2 ... Nf6 with the score of .21.
After 1 d4 d5, it took 3.35 min and searched to a depth of 5 moves (10 plies), evaluated for 3.7 millions positions, then it selected the move 2 Bf4 with the score of .20.
After 1 d3 d5 2 d4, it took 2.55 min and searched to a depth of 5 moves (10 plies), evaluated for 3.4 millions positions, then it selected the move 2 ... Bf5 with the score of .20.
B) Search-depth extension has some bug:
Which causes the program fail to give correct or good positional evaluation.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- BK
-- -- -- -- -- BP BP --
-- -- BB -- BP -- -- BP
-- -- -- -- WP -- -- --
-- -- -- WP WP -- -- --
-- BR -- -- -- WK WP WP
-- -- WB BQ -- -- -- --
-- WQ -- -- -- -- -- --
In the above position, black just captured white rook at b3. It is white's turn to move.
After 1.31 minutes, search to a depth of 10 plies, and evaluated for 3 millions positions, it selected the move (white) Qxb3 with the score 0.98.
After 5.18 minutes, search to a depth of 11 plies, and evaluated for 11 millions positions, it selected the move (white) Qxb3 with the score -1.01.
First, the evaluation at 1 ply DIFFERENCE (from 10 to 11) caused a point-swing of 2 pawns! I EXPECTED a reasonable point-swing of 1/3 to 1/2 of a pawn. 1 point (or pawn) swing is too much, and 2 point swing is unreasonable. The search EXTENSION was supposed to extend when there is a LARGE point swing in an unclear position.
Second, at the standard rate of 3 minutes per move, the program could not detect this miscalculation. The positional evaluation is incorrect.
For this brief moment, white is up a pawn, but his king is exposed, while black king is secured. The harmony between black pieces wins the game, however is undetectable at a shallow search.
I have chessmaster 2000, 2100, 3000, 5000 and 8000. Their human interface are nice, more friendly than Fritz. But the two above BUGS cost chessmater 8000 one star.
Rating: 
Summary: CM 8000-Flaws Hamper Program Enjoyment
Review: Although most of the in-depth comments about this program from other reviewers are correct, I encountered serious bugs, even on Win 98 Second Edition using the latest release of the CM 8000 program. The program crashed a number of times, and basic features (copying a puzzle game from the Classroom to the Game Room, for example, to have the program solve it for mate) did not work at all. Technical support is abysmal. The technicians do not understand the features of the program, provide incorrect information, promise to respond via email when problems are acknowledged but never do, and they are very haughty and condescening. When basic features fail to work, especially when initially exploring the program, these shortcomings seriously underemine the usability and enjoyment of the program. Older versions of Chessmaster, even though they may be lacking some of the advertised enhancements of this latest version, are much more stable. My advice is to wait until reviewer's comments seem to indicate that the program has been further debugged, and the technical support area has cleaned up its act!
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding, Fun, Easy to use
Review: As an avid chessplayer I've truely enjoyed this program. I feel its the best of its kind. It's extremely easy to use. It's wonderful to learn from no matter what level your chess game is at. It has special sections for children and to teach those wh have never played chess before. It also offers levels to challenge those who are at master strength. It's more than just playing computer chess. You play against personalities of different levels and playing strengths. It also enables you to use this program to play live games online. The graphics are wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: SUPERB FOR BEGINNERS AND ADVANCED PLAYERS
Review: Chessmaster 8000 is a treasure trove of chess goodies. I was a complete chess beginner, and Chessmaster taught me everthing that I needed to know to play a credible game of chess. When I went back for more, Chessmaster did not disappoint! There are lessons, drills, puzzles and lots more for the beginner, intermediate and advanced players. The interface is great, and is fully customizable. The opponents can be selected to match your ability, and after a while, you will be able to determine your chess rating via the tournament option. This software package covers the full gamut that every chess player, no matter the level, will appreciate. I also purchased a program call FRITZ 7. FRITZ 7 is a FANTASTIC chess engine and chess database. However, it really is more for intermediate/advanced players who don't need all of the extras that Chessmaster has to offer. For an all around quality chess experience, look no further than CHESSMASTER 8000! BUY IT!!!! BTW, I'm running CM8K with Windows XP (it runs great). I close up all applications when I'm running CM8K because the chess engine "THE KING" uses up a tremendous amount of processing power.. make sure you buy the UBI Soft versin of the game...it is the latest version and you will NOT have to run any patches.
Rating:
Summary: Chessmaster 8000 and XP
Review: Chessmaster 8000 is even more fun than the 5000 version. I especially like playing against simulated, rated opponents. In addition, I had no problem installing it with Windows XP. If you do have such problems, you can always run it under "compatibility mode", which means that XP will simulate Windows 95, 98, and so on.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad -- but there are better
Review: Chessmaster 8000 is the best of the (remaining) mass-market chess games. It's fun to play against the personalities (but I can beat ones up to 1850 Elo but not Max, rated at about 1550?), and has some OK tutorials. However, it has problems under Windows 2000 (mostly a crash when you make a wrong move in a tutorial quiz), has a generally clunky feel to it, and generally feels less than solid or polished. ... I suggest thatpeople get Fritz 6 ... instead -- in the long run you'll be happier. Many (most?) serious chess players have and use Fritz, and you'll find a wealth of information related to Chessbase products on the 'net. ...
Rating: 
Summary: bells,whistles and aggrevation
Review: chessmaster has chosen not to upgrade or patch 5500.this was a fairly simple chess engine that does what a chess program engine should do. set up the board, set the level of play you desire and play chess.set your timer if thats what you want .try and play cafe style chess with 8000.i do not want to spend my time reading a manual or switching disks nor do i give a damn about josh putzke learning centers ,quizes,rating evaluations,personalities (keep it simple stupid._ kiss
Rating:
Summary: Outdated already. Incompatible with newer Windows versions.
Review: ChessMaster was once the best chess software on the market for most players, but now UBI seems to have abandoned the program. The newer version contains more fluff than earlier versions, but actually fewer options as to setting up custom boards, etc.. MOST importantly, this is not compatible with any of the newwer versions of Windows, and will shut down at a moment's notice, with no provocation, making it totally worthless. Even Windows' compatibility wizard cannot help this completely flawed program work. It is a shame that UBI has obviously chosen to abandon ChessMaster and let some other software producer (as of yet, not shown themselves) take the lead in thie genre. They used to make a great product, but have chosen not to keep up. UBI stated in their technical help that they have no intention of making a version compatible with the newer Windows versions, and MS has no intention of continuing to produce the older versions of Windows. The question that keeps coming to mind is; Why bother to make this program at all since it was obsolete before it was released?
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