Hello Friends,
I have ordered Chessmaster 10. Its main use would be to analyze games and help with openings. How is the games database of Chessmaster. I am not able to find any info on it. How is the analysis strength of Chessmaster. I usually play a game online and after the game is over I would want to feed it into Chessmaster so that it could tell me the turning point of the game. Would it be able to do this? How is it's opening strength?
Originally posted by salilsYou should have bought Fritz.
Hello Friends,
I have ordered Chessmaster 10. Its main use would be to analyze games and help with openings. How is the games database of Chessmaster. I am not able to find any info on it. How is the analysis strength of Chessmaster. I usually play a game online and after the game is over I would want to feed it into Chessmaster so that it could tell me the turning point of the game. Would it be able to do this? How is it's opening strength?
Originally posted by salilsIt very good and easy to use. There are tons of lectures and other neat feature for it. The database I haven't used to much but I don't think its that user friendly unlike the rest of the stuff.
Hello Friends,
I have ordered Chessmaster 10. Its main use would be to analyze games and help with openings. How is the games database of Chessmaster. I am not able to find any info on it. How is the analysis strength of Chessmaster. I usually play a game online and after the game is over I would want to feed it into Chessmaster so that it could tell me the turning point of the game. Would it be able to do this? How is it's opening strength?
Fritz is stronger then ChessMaster but it lack the amount of lectures and other neat feature in CM.
There are many things that can be stated in favor of Chessmaster X. It is very good software that many find to be user friendly. The lessons can take anyone from rank beginner to tournament player. The database is not comprehensive, but selective (it lacks junk). The engine is a tough sparring partner (few players can beat it), and the many "personalities" offer many choices for configuring the engine to play weaker (to give the user a chance).
I find the old menus (CM 3000-9000) better because they facilitate ease in moving from using one feature, such as the playing room, to using others, such as the database. But, experience with the software will render it as easy to use.
Fritz has better 2D boards, better analysis features (there's really no comparison here), and is a little stronger. Fritz is designed by chess professionals, while Chessmaster is now the work of gamers.
I hope you didn't pay too much for Chessmaster. I bought my copy at Best Buy for $20. More would be too much, IMHO.
Originally posted by salilsChessmaster is excellent. And, no you shouldn't have bought Fritz. Chessmaster 10 is just as good as Fritz if not better on some levels. The analysis features on Chessmaster 9000 were excellent. I fed my games in there and was even able to annotate some of the moves myself with a sweet Chessmaster entry field. I have also heard that Chessmaster 10000 is finally accurate with its USCF rated virtual opponents. 🙂 The 9000 opponents were only accurate at a 40 minute or more range.
Hello Friends,
I have ordered Chessmaster 10. Its main use would be to analyze games and help with openings. How is the games database of Chessmaster. I am not able to find any info on it. How is the analysis strength of Chessmaster. I usually play a game online and after the game is over I would want to feed it into Chessmaster so that it could tell me the turning point of the game. Would it be able to do this? How is it's opening strength?
Originally posted by powershakerIn my experience, some CM 7000 1500 opponents running on my 1.2 GhZ PIII are stronger than some CM X 1800 opponents running on my 3.4 GhZ PIV. I doubt the ratings are more accurate.
I have also heard that Chessmaster 10000 is finally accurate with its USCF rated virtual opponents. 🙂 The 9000 opponents were only accurate at a 40 minute or more range.
I think that Chessmaster offers a good value, but would hesitate to use the tern "excellent". CM 2100 was excellent compared to the alternatives when I bought it in 1989. By the time Fritz 6 came out, Chessmaster was second rate in comparison. However, CM still works harder at catering to the novice player.
Originally posted by powershakerThe annotation and analysis of all Chessmaster products is horrible compared to Fritz.
Chessmaster is excellent. And, no you shouldn't have bought Fritz. Chessmaster 10 is just as good as Fritz if not better on some levels. The analysis features on Chessmaster 9000 were excellent. I fed my games in there and was even able to annotate some of the moves myself with a sweet Chessmaster entry field. I have also heard that Chessmaster 10000 ...[text shortened]... rated virtual opponents. 🙂 The 9000 opponents were only accurate at a 40 minute or more range.
Can it even annotate an entire database of games automatically now? Can you get it to spend 5 minutes per move or 30 seconds per move? Can you get it to generate opening references (games from its database that are interesting and show differing plans to the games played)?
Hell can it even use endgame tablebases in Nalimov format?
Originally posted by XanthosNZYou can indeed set the time that it analyzes a game. I often set it at 20 seconds per move. But, you can go higher if you want. Indeed, you can! Analyzing an entire database of game automatically... I do not truly know the answer to that one. But, if someone is like me, and they just want to enter in one game of theirs at a time, and have it analyze it at a 2600+ level, I think Chessmaster 9000 is perfectly suited for that. I think the program is also much more personable, and relates to the average chess player. Fritz is awesome on certain levels, too. But, Fritz is not as entertaining, and does not integrate as much imagination and variety as Chessmaster 9000 and up. If you're 2000+, I'd buy Fritz. If you're a class player, I'd buy Chessmaster 10! It has plenty to offer the class player. If you want the best of both worlds, buy both programs. They're both fine programs, and the match between Fritz and Chessmaster 9000 was pretty much even. So, strength isn't even an issue.
The annotation and analysis of all Chessmaster products is horrible compared to Fritz.
Can it even annotate an entire database of games automatically now? Can you get it to spend 5 minutes per move or 30 seconds per move? Can you get it to generate opening references (games from its database that are interesting and show differing plans to the games played)?
Hell can it even use endgame tablebases in Nalimov format?
I ask myself, "What do I want in a chess computer program?"
1.) I want it to analyze my games one at a time, so I can have good analysis and review the games later. I also want to include my own annotations.
2.) I want to file away my games in order of date and have a library of my games.
3.) I want a mess of virtual opponents to play.
4.) I want it to talk. I love when it talks.
5.) I want it to share with me its insights on the greatest games of all time.
6.) I want it to rate my play against virutal opponents.
7.) I want to play chess online with my chess program and play other people who own the program as well.
Chessmaster 9000 and 10 does all of that.
Originally posted by powershakerI agree expect the fritz = CM 10000.
You can indeed set the time that it analyzes a game. I often set it at 20 seconds per move. But, you can go higher if you want. Indeed, you can! Analyzing an entire database of game automatically... I do not truly know the answer to that one. But, if someone is like me, and they just want to enter in one game of theirs at a time, and have it analyze ...[text shortened]... y other people who own the program as well.
Chessmaster 9000 and 10 does all of that.
I have fritz 8 and CM 10000.
Fritz 8 on a 800Mhz = Cm 10000 on a 2.4 Ghz!!
That's how much stronger fritz is then CM.
And I played 6-8 games. Most of them were wins and very few draws. Cm was strong in the ending for the most part so i think it has a endgame tablebase built in. My fritz does not have this.
I have Chessmaster 10th edition, and had CM 2100, CM 3000, CM 4000, CM 5000, CM 5500, and CM 7000. I also have Fritz 7, Fritz 8, and Hiarcs 9. As an experienced user of all these programs, I'll offer comparisons of them for each of powershaker's wants.
Originally posted by powershaker
I ask myself, "What do I want in a chess computer program?"
1.) I want it to analyze my games one at a time, so I can have good analysis and review the games later. I also want to include my own annotations.
Both Fritz and CM facilitate auto-analysis (as CM calls it), but player analysis is poorly supported in CM X. Fritz facilitates entering standard chess notation symbols, such as +- as well as text comments.
2.) I want to file away my games in order of date and have a library of my games.
The database features of CM X are cumbersome, but work. When viewing games in the database the user must use a tiny board. Fritz supports multiple databases, and all games are viewed in the standard user configurable playing board. Fritz offers several ways to sort and search games in the database, and it automatically saves all games played.
3.) I want a mess of virtual opponents to play.
CM X offers more apparent variety because the virtual opponents have personalities. But, in truth, both programs have nearly infinite possibilities for manipulating the strength of the virtual opponent. CM's personalities can be a lot of fun.
4.) I want it to talk. I love when it talks.
Fritz talks while you play, if you wish (and is funny). CM X talks when going through its auto-analysis, announces the move if you wish, and some board configurations have noisy characters.
5.) I want it to share with me its insights on the greatest games of all time.
CM X offers a selection of annotated games. Fritz is somewaht more limited in this respect.
6.) I want it to rate my play against virutal opponents.
Both offer this feature. The ratings should not be taken too seriously, but they do offer the prospect of charting improvement.
7.) I want to play chess online with my chess program and play other people who own the program as well.
The Ubi-Soft online playing site generally has 8-20 players online at any given time. The playchess server (Fritz) generally has 800-4000 players online depending on the time of day. If you want to play online, you're wasting your money buying Chessmaster.
Hello Friends,
Thanks a lot for the inputs. I want to do two things with my Chessmaster:
1. I want to input a game in pgn format and walk through it with Chessmaster analyzing the game and allowing me to understand when I made the critical error that made me lose the game. This is happening often to me that I get superior position in the opening but then somewhere in the middle game I make a positional mistake and all of a sudden I lose the game. It is happening more because I am tired after a hard day's work but still.....
2. I would like it to have a good opening book so that I could see what is the correct opening move that I should have played. Sometimes my opponent plays an opening that I don't know about and I go into a minus position from there. So I would like to research on openings.
Please do let me know whether chessmaster will let me do that?
Originally posted by salilsChessmaster will let you do that, but Fritz makes it much easier. Chessmaster has a terribly limited opening book that often fails to identify transpositions. With Fritz, you may find that a particular move that Chessmaster merely identifies as "out of opening book" has been played half as often as the main line, and scored only one percentage point lower. Needless to say, some of your RHP opponents may favor these slightly less popular moves. 😉
Hello Friends,
Thanks a lot for the inputs. I want to do two things with my Chessmaster:
1. I want to input a game in pgn format and walk through it with Chessmaster analyzing the game and allowing me to understand when I made the critical error that made me lose the game. This is happening often to me that I get superior position in the opening but then ...[text shortened]... ike to research on openings.
Please do let me know whether chessmaster will let me do that?
When it analyzes your game, Fritz will select one or more games from the database that are similar, and enter them as comments at the appropriate point in the game. When doing the game analysis manually, you can right click on the game to access this feature. With Chessmaster, you need to close the game to open the database view (or save it in a database that you create, and tolerate the tiny board). I don't believe that you can enter annotations from the database view in Chessmaster.
Yes, I did notice that Chessmaster has a very limited opening repetoire.
I wanted to know if one can download pgn games by the million and feed them into the chessmaster then why are databases like chessbase popular?Does chessbase offer a lot more games or is it more search friendly. Can chessbase software import pgn games? I would think so.
Originally posted by salilsYou can do very little with the Chessmaster database. There is no comparison between it and Chessbase.
Yes, I did notice that Chessmaster has a very limited opening repetoire.
I wanted to know if one can download pgn games by the million and feed them into the chessmaster then why are databases like chessbase popular?Does chessbase offer a lot more games or is it more search friendly. Can chessbase software import pgn games? I would think so.
When I open ChessBase 8, I immediately see icons for more than 40 databases, including one for the games I play on FICS, the past few issues of The Week in Chess, instructional databases (from purchased CDs), databases of training exercises, opening trees, and several large databases--all my online games in one, 2.7 million games in another. I can open a couple of these or just one, I can search across all, or just certain ones. I can click and drag the latest TWIC to the largest db to add those games. I can search for and eliminate duplicates, reorganize the database by year, ELO, ECO, or any of several other fields. I can quickly locate all the games by a particular player, or from a particular player. And I can do a great many other things, including using the database to create webpages with hyperlinks to replayable games. Chessmaster offers a fraction of these features, and none are as fast or efficient.
The database features of Fritz are much more limited than you'll find in ChessBase 9 (the database software--I have an older version), but still much greater than you'll find in Chessmaster.
I used Chessmaster as my database program for two years and was delighted with the new tools for chess improvement it offered. When I started using ChessBase Light (free download), I caught a glimpse of what I was missing. With CB Light, databases are limited to 8000 games each, and many other features are disabled or missing. Nevertheless, you can do far more to organize and access your own games in CB Light than in Chessmaster.