Well there is not much more you can expect from chess master, seeing that the actual game hasnt changed for almost half a millenium. What I liked. The game comes with the usual perks of the chess master series but with new animation and more eye dazzling visual effects. The game play is great as usual; there is a computerized tutor in the training mode, and a set of challenging opponents. However, the best attribute of the game would be Josh Waitzkin's lessons on game. His lessons were excellent, he carries through basics and complexities of chess concept and breaks them for easy learning. His game commentaries are even better as he puts you in the middle of all the drama and tension of the real game. what I did not like The game comes on 3 disks, with over 1 GB of memory and a its new graphical interface it demands alot from your computer. The computerized characters are still a long way from being realistic.When playing a certain character you can always feel the inhuman moves that it makes. Eg.Sometimes you would be playing a very tense game with say a moderate character but to justify why it is moderate and not expert the computer just makes an obvious blunder that really robs you of the game. The programmers still havent been able to accurately capture the essence of the human game. In total it is good game for chess fanatics. It is mainly targeted towards intermediate to expert players wanting to excell. Novices may not appreciate most of the technical features in the training. But hey! Its chess!!Read full review
Jesus Christ! Well, you would think this is the most boring video game ever. However, it really is. Seriously, who would sit there for 2 to 3 hours or so to complete one game? I have seen time controls where you can play as fast as 5-minutes per side; However, this game really requires some thinking. I often think of an old wizard playing this game. You know the one with a pointy hat and fully developed beard and mustache. Personally, I feel this game is impressive especially in the graphics department. There are some close to life appearances. Okay, maybe three dimensional cartoon.
A great chess program. Unfortunately, online play is not longer supported. However, the program offers an unbeatable "play the computer" opponent, lots of tutorials, and a huge library of game openings, endings and famous games.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I found the program works on MS 7 and easy to use and understand. I found Josh Waitzkins' instructions clear and quickly applicable My game improved by two levels almost immediately after absorbing his lessons. An improvement would be a step by step analysis of games I have played against opponents that program has furnished. I would have given it 6 stars if it could that. I read that better chess engines exist for the advanced player, chess engines have been used to help tournament players cheat. I have not used it to set up chess problems mentioned in books nor the on-line or local network features so I have no comments for that. But every part I used I like and have bought two extra for members of the grade school chess club.
In my edition, there was no manual, apparently this edition was European and the booklet is in CD. Otherwise a strong program for players with lots of features. One can play any "strength level" so you dont always get creamed by the computer, and you can set up "tournaments" with various "players" in the system to have a round robin. Great features make this the best general chess program sold.
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