Customer Reviews

Chessmaster

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Chessmaster for the GBA is a better choice for real enthusiasts
than Virtual Kasparov. It was released several months later, and its obvious than Kasparov and its obvious that this game fixed some of the shortcomings.

Some very important features this game includes:
A true save feature instead of Kasparov's antiquated password system.
Ability to undo moves. Helpful for when you want to experiment strategies or simply make a silly mistake.
150 classic matches from real masters. its takes a few seconds to load, but gives a fantastic lesson in strategy as a game actually unfolds.
Ability to choose different pieces. A bunch of them are useless (like dog theme pieces) but several are excellent to play with and give nice options.
Tutorials on moves, strategies and notation. I find the notation tutorial to be especailly helpful for players who want to learn more detailed strategies from books and other sources. Great job including this!

I do agree with some of the other comments ofr this game..the difficulty is a bit high for novice players or children who aren't the next Bobby Fischer, but for enthusiasts who want a chess challenge at thier fingertips this is great. There isalso a comment that selecting pieces takes several clicks to register. I never encountered this problem, the game plays just fine.

I have both Virtual Kasparov (VK) and ChessMaster (CM). I wish I could combine the best features of both.

First off, CM plays at a much higher level. Whereas most of the VK personalities make occasional blunders, very few of those in CM do. This means that you really have to earn your wins against CM. Youngsters and novices (below say 1300 ELO) are likely to get walloped by most of the CM characters.
Also on the plus side: CM reports the moves in standard algebraic notation (VK does not) and allows infinite undo and redo. CM also contains a large library of famous games for review.
On the minus side, as the previous reviewer comments, I find I frequently have to press the arrow keys several times before CM acknowledges my move (and then frequently shoots past the piece I'm trying to pick up). This is quite annoying.
Also, CM does not automatically record the board position (VK does, which is useful when your batteries suddenly run out). CM also expects only a single user (VK records board positions and preferences for up to three different users).
Choose CM if you're a strong chessplayer or are looking for a real challenge. Choose VK for youngsters or novices.

Cons: the menus could be a bit more intuitive, and it does play at a high level for someone who isn't a pretty serious chess player (even the weakest players on the weakest setting).

Pros: challenging to good players and people trying to improve their game. I'm not beating it very often, but I am getting rid of bad playing habits. Once you get used to the menus, there really is a lot to this program: different AI opponents with various playing styles, tutorial stuff, and a few hundred classic games to review along with some chess history, and it saves your game if you need to put it down.

I also like playing chess on my GBA and can get in a couple of games a day just by carrying it in my pocket and taking it out when I'm not doing anything (waiting in line). Also nice to have a chess computer that I know isn't going to break.

this title needed a little more tweaking before it was released.
the menus are a bit vague and force you to hunt around to adjust the settings.but that is not the most irritating thing about this game... more times than not when trying to move a piece i have had to press the A button several times before the computer would acknowledge that i wanted to move.when trying to contemplate your next move or think about your last move this gets really irritating.
other than this major annoyance this plays a good game of chess and if it were the only choice i would recommend it but virtual kasparov is a much better choice

I like this game but there is room for improvement. First, the AI is really tough--even the lowest level opponents are probably too tough for the casual gamer. Second, the chess tutor section is pretty poorly done, in my opinion. Good points about the game include the graphics and the play control. It also lets you redo all the moves of a game, which is good for learning.

Chessmaster features over a dozen opponents to pick from with an easy to understand interface. If you are more intested in the challenge rather than the graphics, this is the portable chess game for you.

Fun but hard to figure out how to get to earn chess sets. It needs an instruction manual