Chessmaster

by UBI Soft

Product Features

• Take your skills to a new level with a variety of different chess modes
• Test your skills on the field of battle with Battlefield Chess -- 3D animated pieces recreate fantasy battle on a chess board
• Take on more challenging human opponents by going online and playing in tournaments
• Learn strategy and playing tips from Josh Waitzkin and watch your game improve
• The unmatched chess engine offers challenging & instructive gameplay, whatever level of ability you possess!

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0002SNN4A
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches ; 4 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: October 26, 2004
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,605 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Chessmaster helps beginners and grandmasters alike, by showing them the fun of Digital chess!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Where Eagles Dare!, November 3, 2004

By 

J. Swift (New Castle, IN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Chessmaster (Video Game)

For just 20 bucks this is a steal. There are over 100 different personalities to play against. You can play rated games against the computer and even play in mock tournaments with the computer. When you beat a player it recommends one more toward your strength. But It wasnt a good judge, because I was ripping through the 700 players and it kept saying I should play one just slightly stronger. When in reality I wasnt beaten by the program until I got into the 1400 players category. Then I started getting slapped up.

The strong points in this program is the tutorials. 24 annotated games by Josh Waitzkin and alot of tutorials. And some good games annotated by Larry Christianson. The tutor aspect of this game is its strong suit. The Chess Academy is worth the money for the game, for the price of one chess book you can have alot of drills and puzzles. Also has 800 games annotated by Larry Evans.

Im really impressed with this program. The 3-D boards are hard to see whats going on. I just use the 2-D board. One of the things I like about playing the 2-D board is playing on a tv you get to see the board real well. I prefer the TV to a computer monitor, because its so much bigger.

Cons to this game is if you play the Chessmaster with unlimited time he will not move when its his turn. I would have liked to have the option to make the 2-D board full screen without the clocks. I would have liked the annontated games to play through the whole game without making me push a button to keep it talking. But overall this is a great value and chess resource. Im happy with it. You can also play this on XBox Live online, but I dont have Xbox live so I cant comment on how good it is.

Also would like to say that you can practice openings with this game which I find helpful.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Checkmate...sort of., December 26, 2004

By 

D. Couse "darkman1969" (United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Chessmaster (Video Game)

Simply put, this game is absolutely amazing on the Xbox. The graphics are stunning. With the right options chosen for chess set and board options, you will see your pieces reflection on the board.

There is so much more here than just a simple chess game. You can be taught from the beginning through to Master. You can just plunge right in and starting mowing the AI down. You can even hop online and see how you stack up against other players.

Now for 2 really annoying problems.

Number one: If you want to play with a friend on the same console, you HAVE to share a controller. How stupid is that? Especially if you are playing a timed game per move. Just imagine frantically passing the controller back and forth across a room while trying to outwit your opponent. All Ubisoft can say, is "Sorry, we missed it". Sheesh.

Second: The AI in timed mode moves instantaneously. Thus, leaving no time off of its clock and forcing you to move instantaneously without being able to use the AI's time to contemplate future moves. Really...I've never played chess with someone that can always instantly know where they will move next.

Two pretty stupid "bugs" to miss during testing, but the game and graphics are still great.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible depth for developing players, July 3, 2005

By 

thomas crown - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Chessmaster (Video Game)

The problem I see with people debating the merits of this game generally revolve around motivation. If your sole motive is to use this game just to play chess, you will only get a fraction of the value out of it and might even be disappointed with it. The multiplayer function, offline, requires two people to pass the controller back and forth. While this is not a problem with me, some tend to consider it a hindrance. There are not many people that play online, so the "live" feature lacks attractiveness. This leaves you basically with just a chess game that you are able to play on the xbox, but not much else. If you play the game in this fashion, you are really only getting a superficial taste of what this game really has to offer.

If you, on the other hand, are a player that would like to develop his/her game significantly, then you will marvel at the extensive, nay, nearly overwhelming, tutorial features Chessmaster has to offer. This tutorial section, I believe, is the heart of the Chessmaster game. There is an "academy" taught by Josh Waitzkin himself. It is broken into sections covering the basics of movement, strategy, tactics, psychology, and endgame strategy. To show examples of each section, he annotates an incredible amount of games he played that reinforce the principles he is teaching. I have had this game for a week going through the academy and have not gotten through half of it. This academy is only a fraction of the tutorial section though. There are also the tutorials from previous Chessmaster installments, drills, and an infinite number(literally) of one move puzzles.

There is so much depth to this Chessmaster game that I feel I have not really done it justice in the review. The Josh Waitzkin academy is worth the $20 dollars alone. If you are striving to become a better chess player and looking for some direction, I couldn't give this game a higher recommendation.