Customer Reviews

Kasparov Chessmate

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

If you rate this game (or any game on amazon.com), it tells you to rate it based on 'How much fun is this game?'. For me, chess programs have been quite an exercise in frustration. So far, I have found Kasparov to be pleasantly enjoyable, even though I know that it lacks some of the incredible features (analysis, play strength, graphics) of the heavy hitters on the market (CM9000, Fritz 8).

Instead of writing a negative review about this, allow me to take a moment to explain why I decided to buy Kasparov Chessmate. But let me first confess that I am little better than a wood pusher (or, if you would prefer... a patzer). That means that although I know the rules, and am familiar with basic tactics and can recognize a couple openings by name, I am not a strong player. I have no rating... but believe I am class E in strength. Over the last 9 months, my chess studies/purchases/results have included:

- Chess for Dummies (still working on finishing up the last few chapters... but it introduced me to tactics)

- Play Winning Chess (just bought last week - and am very pleased with it)

- Chessmaster 9000 (gave it away to a good friend, but will be buying again - but only for it's training material)

- Fritz 8 (for chess analysis and playchess.com chess server)

- ChessTiger for my palm (which beats me 99% at it's training level 3 playing with it's book)

- play and lose to my Dad regularly in online and e-mail chess(who is the reason why I continue to play)

- Polgar's 5334 chess problems (a great big book that I enjoy)

- am loosely rated around 1200 on yahoo chess

Why did I buy Kasparov? For starters, Chessmaster 9000 confounded me. I would struggle and lose against very poorly ranked players. I don't think chessmaster 9000 has quite figured out how to reduce it's strength at it's weaker/weakest levels. It either makes really good moves, or really dumb moves. [I believe that it still has a few issues with XP. They have not released any patches/updates in over 9 months.] This is where Kasparov seems to shine. When I downloaded the trial version of Kasparov to try it out for an hour, I discovered that it has players ranked down to elo 500. Although I haven't had enough time to seriously try it out since I bought it (midnight last night at WalMart), I am pleased to announce that I wasn't trounced on the lowest level (elo 500) of Kasparov on my Palm - and I can tell you that Kasparov on my palm was not throwing completely random/stupid moves at me as Chess Tiger will tend to do in Training level 1 (what it claims is elo 1000). I feel like I actually 'met my match' playing Kasparov on my Palm.

I also spent sometime going through the training last night before falling asleep and this morning. It could be better, but it does a reasonable job of explaining how pieces move, and what is checkmate. I wish that they would have placed middle-game tactics before openings (it gives you about a dozen examples of common open games played out to about a dozen turns (24 ply) - without any variations). I won't be able to give an adequate evaluation of the training until I complete it.

I'm not saying Kasparov is better than Chess Tiger on the palm (no analysis, strength of play, etc). But I feel that at my weaker level of play, I have possibly found a program that isn't playing 'stupid moves', but isn't trouncing me either. If you can stand losing occasionally (especially against Fritz in 'friend mode') and analyze your failures, that's great - and we often learn by losing. But it sure is nice to win once in a while.

I've given Kasparov 4 stars because of it's quality of weaker play (which may - in fact - be it's greatest selling point to the average consumer), and for the Palm version of the software. For me, it was a bargain because I got two chess programs for the price of one (one for my pc, and one for my palm). As I take more time to evaluate the game (and if I notice improvement in my play) I will be sure to post additional comments.

Keep in mind - Kasparov is aimed at the general consumer market. Anyone serious about chess programs is already aware of Fritz/Chessbase and Chessmaster 9000. This program is not better than those for reasons already stated. But I will confess, that so far I have enjoyed playing Kasparov chess - and hence it earns 4 stars on the merit that 'I had fun'. If you want to make money selling chess software to the masses, then you want to offer a game that is fun and challenging. If, and when, I win the 'bronze level' tournament in Kasparov, I'll be back to give additional feedback.

I really fail to see how the other reviewers can't see the value for money in this programme, especially the person who actually states that he has never played it. I own all of the world's top rated chess programmes, so I know what I am talking about. I admit that it does not have the graphical and other features that Chessmaster 9000 and the 10th Edition have, but it is far superior in playing strength. It runs on the Ruffian Chess engine that recently defeated Chess Tiger in an engine tournament. I also installed this engine in Chessmaster 10th Edition and it beats it 80 per cent of the time in both Blitz and Tournament modes. Furthermore it can be set in weaker modes to suite one's style without, unlike Chessmaster, making stupid blunders. It is no fun playing against a personality in Chessmaster that can't tell the value of the pieces and exchanges a Queen for a Bishop. It all depends what you want from the programme. I have enough programmes, such as Fritz8, Hiarcs 8, Chess Genius7, Chess Tiger 15, etc. if I need to use added features and Chessmate competes well with these programmes as proved by my tournaments as well as the various engine tournaments around the world. It has an excellent response time and does in fact have training features, various board settings and can review games. In a nutshell, it has all you really require from a chess programme. So come on you one star raters, how on earth can you justify what you say about the playing strength? I suggest you do a bit more research on tournaments that Chessmaster has played in and you will see that it can't beat any of the top Chessbase engines. It can't even beat a lot of the amateur engines that one can download for free. I am not knocking Chessmaster, I have loads of fun with it and it is real value for money and the most comprehensive and professional programme of all. I am just using it as an example that the Ruffian engine is in no way weak as the totally inaccurate statements of some reviewers suggest.

The engine is very powerful and realistic. Whereas the strength of opponent in Chessmaster is all over the shop, Chessmate provides a consistent opponent who doesn't make dumb mistakes that a player at a given elo rating would never make in real life.

The training options are quite good if limited. The best parts are how you can follow standard openings in a video play manner for 20 or so moves, and the quick hint function while playing games. Of course it can't compete with the much more expensive Chessmaster for full training options or eye candy but it isn't trying to do this.

If you want a good strong opponent who will give you a realistic (and somewhat humbling- in my case a couple of hundred points lower than Chessmaster) assessment of your true rating then Chessmate wins hands down.

If you want all the glitzy bells and whistles then Chessmaster is hard to better and very entertaining.

I think both are well worth having, but if you just want an honest assessment of your true playing stength and an opponent who doesn't throw in the towel for no reason, then Chessmate is a bargain as the more powerful chess engine at much lower cost. It goes right down to 500 elo so kids can still have a chance of beating it in a realistic competetion even without it throwing the game away (unlike misleading Chessmaster).

Chess will never be a rainbow colored shoot em up 3D video game. Chessmate will not disappoint a serious chess player who wants to play honest chess against a very realistic and powerful opponent. Its very entertaining to train and improve by fooling around with Chessmaster, but the real test of ability is playing rated games against a realistic and powerful engine like Chessmate.

Played this on a friends machine - a dozen or so games.
THe game has a really nice feel to it. The lower levels can let you win without performing obvious blunders and that is the one thing that Chessmaster is sadly lacking. This game actually feels like playing a human.
Two gripes -

1. the graphics are a bit ordinary (2d mode)
2. If you get checkmated or checkmate/stalemate or lack of material you cannot choose to 'undo' !!!! the game just ends !

The second point is really annoying because I primarily use chess programs to learn

I have Fritz and Chessmaster, but I play Chessmate more than the other two at the moment. One reason is that tournament mode in Chessmate is really fun; the handicapping seems to work quite well, the players get stronger slowly, and on the Pocket PC the variation in moves that one opponent plays is not great so you can try the same ideas (better executed) if you lose. The variety of openings is not great, and this is also good because in effect you are getting drilled in a few standard openings. So the effectiveness of the handicapping and the lack of opening variety give me the impression that this has been designed as a learning tool. The other reason I use it is that it is quite a good way to store games you are playing with friends via sms, because in human v human mode it simply records moves; there is no chance to analyse the game with the Ruffian chess engine, which makes it quite fair.
The pocket pc version is pretty nifty; it has the tournament feature. The PC version is I think quite an impressive package; it provides a small number of challenging puzzles, some good text, and once again this really fun tournament feature. Under the tournament feature you play a number of progressively harder opponents, half the time you must play black. A tournament game is time limited and there is no take back or hint option. You can't save the game either, you must finish or resign. Your rating is changed based on the outcome; wins or even draws against harder opponents can really help your rating leap. However, if you lose, you simply do not progress, you must beat all four players in the current round to progress, and you can take as many attempts as you like. Since each opponent plays with limited variety, you can easily play yourself back to the place you made a mistake, and do better this time. I also find this effective for learning. You must start the tournament in bronze level, which is a low level of opponent, so that could be 24 boring short games for a strong player.
All in all, this is surprisingly good chess software. For the money, it's worth it. I think this would be the first game I would give a child of all the chess software I own.

If you're not a serious player, this is a bargain. By non-serious players I mean people who don't study chess; they just play it for fun. If you want a strong opponent whenever you feel like playing, then this is a good program for you. You get a simple 2D or 3D view and you can adjust its playing strength to your needs. At the strongest setting, it'll probably beat you every time. You also get a tutorial section that will probably teach you something new about the game.

If you're really new to chess or have a kid interested in chess, get Chessmaster instead.

If you're a serious player, don't bother getting this. You probably already own Chessbase programs anyway, which are way more expensive than this game.

I'm rated about 1800 but recently got a performance of about 2200 at the Oceanic Zonal Championships at New Zealand. (Truth be told, I'm under 13!)

I don't see why other users hate this program so much, it has some "catching up" to do, I admit, but other than that, it is quite enjoyful.

And the graphics are nice as well. Fritz's interface seems a bit "ugly" for you to play proper "human v computer" chess and Chessmaster's seems "somewhat annoying".

I reckon this product is worth the money, especially at it's low price.

When compared to the variety of computer chess programs available on the market, Kasparov Chessmate lacks in every aspect, from graphics, training, and play-strength.

A price conscious consumer shopping for a chess program might consider this program since it is relatively cheap, but as they say, you get what you pay for. Actually, a program like Chessmaster 9000 is a bargain compared to what one might pay for Kasparov Chessmate if one considers all the extra features found in the former.

If you are mildy serious or serious about chess, Chessmaster 9000 is a better choice. It offers much more than Kasparov Chessmate, especially in terms of the training and education aspects. Frankly speaking, Chessmaster 9000 has no competition in that aspect, in my opinion.

One of the selling points is Kasparov Checkmate's ability to synchronize with either the Palm or Pocket PC, but in my opinion, it's not sufficient as a reason to purchase this in light of other options available.

For the super serious chess player, a good choice would be Fritz, but it is probably overkill for most people. Fritz is strong, but doesn't have the nice graphics or features of CM 9000. For the beginner, casual or serious players, Chessmaster 9000 is the best choice.

Garry must be desperate to allow his name to be attached to this product. There are half a dozen free programs that do what Chessmate does, several in the price range that are superior (e.g. Majestic Chess), and many that, for a bit more, can really play chess (Fritz 8; Rebel 12; Chessmaster 9000). These last 3 also have didactic funtions that are greatly superior to those of Chessmate. If you want to beat up a computer program, Fritz and company can be suitably lobotomized with a little fiddling; if you want to get serious about chess, Kasparov Chessmate is not the way to go.

Contrary to some reviews that did not favor this item, I found it to be very entertaining. Although it does not contain a function for analyzing games as do other more elaborate programs, I found it to be a very fun program to play against. Initially, in the championship phase of the game, the program can be beaten, but progresses in level of difficulty to an ELO rating comparable to that of "Tournament" strength or greater. It is a powerful program in terms of rating its play, and I am about to finish the "Silver" level and going to the "Gold" level, but the program is a tough opponent. Considering the price I paid (around $4.00), it is A VERY GOOD DEAL and WORTH EVERY PENNY! I'm not certain about this, but I am going to guess that at the Gold Level, its play will probably be comparable to an ELO rating of 2000. I haven't tried the training features yet, but I'm also certain those are going to be worthwhile. Hope this review helps.