Customer Reviews

Chessmaster 9000 (Mac)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Highlights:
(1) Make sure you have the necessary hardware/software before buying this.
(2) Of the three documentation sets, the Manual.pdf file CM9000 installs
on your hard drive is the most thorough.

Chessmaster has long been the most popular Mac commercial chess program.
It has been over 3.5 years since the last version (Chessmaster 6000)
was updated (April 2001), so I was excited to receive it today.

Chessmaster 9000 is OS X native and comes on a DVD full of goodies.
The minimum hardware/software requirements are high, though.
Both the package documentation and the publisher's Web site
(Feral Interactive) say you need:
- DVD player ( the Chessmaster DVD must be in your DVD drive to play)
- Mac OS 10.2 (minimum) or higher
- 256 MB RAM, 1.3 GB free hard drive space, Quicktime 6
If your setup doesn't meet these criteria, then Chessmaster 6000 Mac,
which Amazon also sells, is an alternative.

My copy came with a 20 page hardcopy manual, a 54 page manual
in Acrobat format (Manual.pdf) that was installed on my hard drive,
and a 68 page copy of the 2-yr old Windows version manual (?!)
accessible by the Help: Chessmaster Help menu option. The
Manual.pdf file seemed the most useful.

The program features are arranged in five areas:
- Classroom: tutorials, drills, tests, problems, annotated games at four levels
- Game Room: play games for fun, with lots of help from Chessmaster
- Library: View any of 800 classic annotated games from 1619-2002
- Tournament: Play games for score - no hints, takebacks, etc. ;
set up matches between various simulated chess greats
- Database: 500.000+ chess games, searchable by position, or from an
opening game tree of some 2200 initial move sequences.
- Kids Room: Training and games for beginners
- GM Live: Play another person over a LAN or the Internet

The program supports hosted games through the GameRanger site,
but the GameRanger site does not list it at present.

The voice-narrated annotated games and animated analysis are my
favorite features of this product. When Josh Waitzken is explaining
his games, for example, squares light up, ghosted pieces show
alternative moves, and arrows show lines of attack.

Also, Chessmaster is very strong. Of chess programs available
on the Macintosh, Chessmaster 9000 is second only to HIARCS
(based on matches played with the PC versions by the SSDF).
Chessmaster 9000 uses the chess engine "The King 3.23".

This program has many fine features but they are useless to those of us with a laptop who do not want to carry the DVD with us.

Each time you load the program you must insert the DVD or it will not work. The manufacturer has every right to insert this copy protection feature but the buyer should be warned. I would not have spent the $40 for this program had I known about this limitation. I am away from home a lot and want to use the program to relax during little breaks from study and writing.

If every program used this kind of copy protection we would have to carry a lot of DVDs with us and constantly search through them for the right one every time we wanted to load a program. This would be ridiculous.

For those who are comfortable with this feature and have all the hardware to run it properly it is a fine value worth five stars.

ADDITION: The program interferes with other programs.

One of the advantages of the Mac X operating system is that you can run a bunch of programs at the same time, switching between them as needed or desired.

Chessmaster 9000 has interfered with two of my programs. Even though I turn all of the sound off in Chessmaster 9000, it blocks iTunes from running. It also stops macros from running in Microsoft Word for the Mac.

The program may not be suitable for users who would like to have it running or loaded while they have another program on.

I just got Chessmaster 9000 for Mac in the mail today, and I'm already having quite a bit of fun with it. I'm a bit crazy, I already had Chessmaster 9000 for the PC, but I don't have a PC anymore and figured that it wouldn't be any fun to play in Virtual PC (rating - 0 stars), so I picked up the Mac version.

The Mac version is pretty much identical. It's got lots of great lessons, and more gameplay options than could ever be fully explored. I think the game actually seems a bit smoother on Mac than on PC.

For those complaining, it seems that Feral has finally let the patches out of beta, and the game now works pretty smoothly on OS X 10.4, Tiger. This is what finally prodded me into purchasing the game. I haven't seen any problems yet, but one: no online play available. I'm not sure this is a big deal, I'll give it a try on another day and see if it works, if not, I'll contact support.

This game is fun and educational. I would give it five stars, except for the copy protection issue that requires that the DVD be inserted to play the game. This STINKS! I would like to take the game with me wherever I have my laptop, but the idea of carrying a $40 DVD with me, when it's likely to get lost or scratched, doesn't appeal to me. I wish developers wouldn't pull these kinds of tricks. Otherwise, I would have gladly given it 5 stars.

Although it is not stated in the product description or on the box itself, this program will not run on OS X Leopard 10.5.6. Additionally, Feral Interactive never responded to various requests for support. The product had to be returned.

I agree with the two differing previous reviews by Mr. Zaft and Mr. Powell.

Chessmaster 9000 is an entertaining and enjoyable program for the Mac OSX platform, and is definitely the best program for the dollars, but overall, it is no more flexible than the previous versions for the Mac OS9.

As Mr. Zaft stated, there is no way to copy the program onto your hard-drive and play it without the CD-ROM. In order to play the game on your laptop, you must carry the disc with you. That is very inconvenient, and I would have thought that Ubisoft would have corrected that issue.

The other things I don't like about the Chessmaster 9000 are that the program takes a while to load, even on a very fast computer, and even if you bypass the lengthy introductions. That is a flaw directly related to the fact that the game can only be accessed through the disc. Then, you are presented with the Puzzle of the Day when logging in, which I find annoying. I would prefer to just set a default player and go directly to the game, like programs that live on a hard-drive.

Also, the Chessmaster 9000 seems to be even more limiting than previous versions, as far as selecting chess boards and pieces. I found a board and piece combination I liked, but the program won't let me change the viewing perspective. Previous versions for Mac OS9 allowed us to alter the viewing angle.

The program seems a bit "hinky". Sometimes, while clicking and dragging your chess pieces, they stick and freeze, and all you can do is hold still and wait until the program catches up. I've got nearly a Gig of RAM, so the problem is not with my Mac. Also, be certain the chess piece is precisely over the square where you want it before unclicking, or the piece may wind up on an adjoining square. If you happen to be playing a Tournament or Rated game, you cannot undo your move, and you are stuck with the result, which affects your ranking.

The Chessmaster 9000 for Mac OSX is a good program, but considering that I waited more than six months for my order to be filled, my expectations were for a program which fully integrates with OSX and takes advantage of the smooth abilities of Unix in our operating system. The only thing that makes 9000 any different than 5000 is that it functions in OSX. It is not a better program.

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.

The chessmaster 9000 doesn't work on my mac running Mac OS 10.6. The screen cannot be resized making a postage stamp sized chess set impossible to view. As has been noted before, it requires the DVD to be installed to even work incorrectly! I sent 3 emails to FERAL interactive complaining about the above and have never received a reply. Don't buy this piece of junk...

Beware - there is a major bug with the latest version of Chessmaster 9000. The game is not compatible with the Tiger operating system: you cannot access any of the opponents from the library of "personalities" in the game room. Instead of being able to chose whom to play against from among hundreds of different computer opponents of differing skill levels, you can only play one. I would assume that Feral is aware of this problem (it's been going on since Tiger was released months ago). Feral only offers email support; I've reported the problem several times but so far they've neither fixed the bug nor replied to my email.

If you are using the Tiger operating system, don't buy this program unless Feral fixes the bug (you should be able to find out when they do so through versiontracker -- right now, the Feral website says that the program is compatible with OS 10.3 or later, which isn't quite true). Even if they do fix the bug, think twice before purchasing software backed up by such shoddy support.

All I can say is that it doesn't work on my MAC OS 10.7
They should state what systems it will not run on.
As it stands it just says it's recommended for 10.3.

This has been a real frustrating experience. I still have not been able to load this program into my computer. Feral has two conflicting installation instructions. The company has ignored three email requests for help. After several attempts I was able to load the program. Now it shuts down stating there is an error within 5 seconds loading the program.