Chessmaster

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For a skilled chess player, see Chess master.
Chessmaster

Chessmaster 10th Edition
Developer(s) Ubisoft Romania
Publisher(s) Ubisoft, Feral Interactive (Mac)
Platform(s) MS Windows, MS-DOS, XBOX
Release date 1986 - 2007
Latest release XI / November 1, 2007
Genre(s) Chess
Mode(s) Single Player, Multiplayer

Chessmaster is a chess playing computer game series which is now owned and developed by Ubisoft. It is the best-selling chess franchise in history, with more than 5 million units sold as of 2002.[1]

The Chessmaster series started in 1986 with The Chessmaster 2000 by The Software Toolworks. It was published for Amiga, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Macintosh, and DOS. In 1991, Chessmaster 3000 was published for Windows 3.x and in 1995 for PlayStation. The current version, Chessmaster XI, was released on 30 October 2007 for PC (titled Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition) and Nintendo DS (titled Chessmaster: The Art of Learning), and 12 February 2008 for PlayStation Portable (also titled Chessmaster: The Art of Learning). It includes numerous tutorials by International Master Joshua Waitzkin for players of all skill levels.

Contents

[edit] Chess engine

Chessmaster 10th Edition
Chessmaster 10th Edition

The Chessmaster chess engine is called The King, written by Johan de Koning of the Netherlands. It was introduced in Chessmaster 4000; earlier releases featured a chess engine written by David Kittinger.

According to the November 2007 Swedish Chess Computer Association (SSDF) rating list, Chessmaster 9000 has an estimated Elo rating of 2710 on an Athlon-1200 PC.[2] If multiple versions of other engines are stripped out of their list, Chessmaster 9000 ranks as the eleventh best. As of May 2008, Chessmaster 9000 remains the most recent version rated by the SSDF. Another rating list, CCRL, places Chessmaster 11th Edition in 17th place on its May 2008 list.[3]

The King engine allows users to create new playing styles, also called "personalities", by manipulating several dozen different settings, such as King Safety, Pawn Weakness, Randomness, Mobility and others. Individual piece values can also be adjusted. Chessmaster 9000, for example, features over 150 different personalities ranging from International Grandmaster strength down to Stanley, who is described as a monkey and plays what are essentially random moves.

The personality feature has inspired many amateur computer chess enthusiasts to attempt to find more optimum personalities. In Chessmaster 10th Edition, the creation of new personalities has been made easier than before.

Chessmaster 9000
Chessmaster 9000

Chessmaster 9000 defeated then U.S. Chess Champion International Grandmaster Larry Christiansen in a four-game match held in September 2002. [4] Chessmaster won the match 2.5-1.5. The Chessmaster program was operated by John Merlino, the Project Manager of Chessmaster at the time of the match. Four different personalities were used in the match, the first three of which were based on famous human Grandmasters: Alexander Alekhine, Bobby Fischer, and Mikhail Botvinnik. The final game of the match used the default "Chessmaster" personality. Christiansen won the first game, lost the second and third games, and the fourth game resulted in a draw.

[edit] Platforms

To date, various versions of Chessmaster have appeared on Amiga, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, DOS, PC, Mac, Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo Game Boy, Nintendo Game Boy Color, Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Sega Game Gear, Sony PlayStation, Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox, and mobile phones.[5] The Mac version is ported by Feral Interactive, and the latest Mac version available is Chessmaster 9000. Future versions are currently planned for Xbox 360, and PlayStation Portable.[6]

[edit] Interface

The more recent editions of Chessmaster include both 2D and 3D designs, and a large number of different boards and themed chess piece designs. The interface was revised for Chessmaster 10th Edition and features animated 3D sets[7][8] in which the pieces "walk" between squares and have simulated battles when a piece is taken, reminiscent of Battle Chess and the Harry Potter Wizards chess set. (Previous editions also feature fully 3D sets but are not animated and the pieces do not battle.) Chessmaster 10th Edition also comes packed with a pair of red and blue glasses to view the set in "enhanced 3D".[9]

[edit] Xbox Live Arcade

An Xbox Live Arcade version with Xbox Live multiplayer and Xbox Live Vision camera support for the Xbox 360 called Chessmaster Live was released on January 30, 2008 for 800 Microsoft Points ($10 USD).[10]

This version of Chessmaster contained a bug allowing the white player to indefinitely hold up a match until a player resigned. The game was eventually patched so that neither player would gain or lose Elo points if they resign before the first move.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Chessmaster 9000 Review
  2. ^ The SSDF Rating List. Retrieved on 2008-04-30.
  3. ^ CCRL 40/40 - Pure List (2008-05-07). Retrieved on 2008-05-10.
  4. ^ Chessmaster 9000 Defeats Reigning US Chess Champion Larry Christiansen; Chessmaster Wins Four Game Match 2.5 to 1.5 Via Live Internet Broadcast on ChessClub.com | Business Wire | Find Articles at BNET.com
  5. ^ Search Games - Chessmaster. GameFAQs. Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
  6. ^ Sinclair, Brendan (2007-04-20). Retail Radar: Wii Tumiki Fighters, 360 Kengo, and more. GameSpot. Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
  7. ^ Screenshots: 9 of 18. Chessmaster. Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
  8. ^ Screenshots: 10 of 18. Chessmaster. Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
  9. ^ WHAT'S NEW. Chessmaster. Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
  10. ^ Darkzero.co.uk, Rez HD and Chessmaster Live

[edit] External links