i got both. If your a master or close then get fritz. it analysis is better and the program is very strong. I played deep frtiz 8 on a 800Mhz vs chessmaster 10000 on a 2.4 Ghz and they are about equal. i think fritz is still better here but not much. But chessmaster has a lot of extra stuff like lectures from Josh W and Larry C and lots of tactics training and quizes and stuff, and tournaments and simuls. so if your under 2200 then get chessmaster.
Except for Chessmaster, all of them have the exact same tools and interface. The only difference between them is their engine. Personally I believe that the strongest engine you mentioned is shredder, but it's not a big difference. So if you decide on a chessbase compatible program (fritz, chess tiger, or shredder) they will all be the same except for small differences in playing style/strength and analysis. They have an excellent database of games and allow you to create your own databases of your games as well and perform studies and analysis. I would also suggest the chessbase compatible junior, as I think it is the strongest and most humanlike engine.
With Chessmaster you will get something very different. Chessmaster is a much better program for beginners because it has more teaching tools. There are training exercises, vocally annotated games, and tests of playing strength. Chessmaster also has much easier playing strength levels and is much more user friendly. However, the engine is not as strong as the other programs and it is not as easy to analyse a position. It also doesn't have all of the analysis tools that chessbase programs do.
In general, chessbase is a good teaching tool for beginners but the training exercises may be too easy for experts. For people that just want good, easy analysis and an opponent, chessbase is the way to go. But if you want chess lessons from a tutor for a variety of abilities, sacrificing some playing strength and database function, go for Chessmaster.
erm.. i got 512mb ddr 333mhz and 2000+ athlonxp. I not noticed any performance problems. I dont have fritz but do have hiarcs 8 which I think is almost the same just different engine.. i gota say I prefer chessmaster. the tutorials are very good I dunno if chessmaster is stronger but I think it is.. i will play a game against each other to find out and post back here tomorrow..but i say for £10 chessmaster is a bargin. and perfer the interface 100* more than hiarcs.. and also love the animated chess sets in chessmaster very funny and great sound fx's..
I've been using CM9k for a year or so now. The lectures and whatnot are great, but the most important task is help in analyzing my games since I don't know any strong human players that will do it for me. I recently saw some games analyzed by Fritz and was blown away by the difference in the output. If I hadn't known otherwise I'd have thought it was done by a human. I know other posters have recomended Fritz for expert and above, but doesn't anyone think that this superior analysis would benefit weaker players? I also wanted to know if I'd get the same sort of analysis from Shredder or Junior. I'm thinking of one of these rather than upgrading to CM10, especially as I loaded the CM10 demo and it didn't work on my computer. The techies at UBI told me I need a better video card.
Originally posted by CenterNutI wish I knew that then.. I wanted chessmaster, but running win2k, and read in places that version 8 worked luckily, but that most people had trouble on version 10.. that was on their website.. so I opted for fritz
chessmaster 10th edition works fine on win2k.
Originally posted by geniusIf you are a professional player then you have to get Fritz. If you are rated below 2000 USCF, then you really should get ChessMaster. It's more fun and has training modules. 🙂
chessmaster 10th edition, or fritz 8? which should i get? bearing in mind CM is half the price of fritz (£10) and i am a poor student...
Originally posted by SkorjYes, both shredder and junior run under the same fritz interface and have the exact same features. The only difference is the engine itself. I think that both Shredder and Junior are slightly stronger and more fun to play against than fritz.
I've been using CM9k for a year or so now. The lectures and whatnot are great, but the most important task is help in analyzing my games since I don't know any strong human players that will do it for me. I recently saw some games analyzed by Fritz and was blown away by the difference in the output. If I hadn't known otherwise I'd have thought it was done ...[text shortened]... emo and it didn't work on my computer. The techies at UBI told me I need a better video card.