Chessmaster

Home * Engines * Chessmaster



Chessmaster, a series of chess programs developed and released by Ubisoft. It is the best-selling chess franchise in history, with more than five million units sold as of 2002. Due to its sophisticated GUI, graphics and animations, adjustable playing strength and countless features, Chessmaster is dedicated to the mass market, and due to the strong engine with configurable "personalities", integrated database support, annotated games, and chess lessons and tutorials, also interesting for advanced users.

Chessmaster XI, released in 2007, is the most recent version. Dedicated for chess beginners and casual chess fans, Chessmaster Challenge differs from Chessmaster 10th Edition in its simplified interface, and scaled-down tutorials. It’s a non-retail product available for trial and purchase through download only.

=Screenshots=

Chessmaster 10th
Chessmaster 10th Edition Demo

Chessmaster Challenge
Chessmaster Challenge 2D Graphics Board

Chessmaster XI
Chessmaster XI - House of Staunton chess sets, 3D Graphics Board

=Chess Engines=

MyChess II
Chessmaster was first released as Chessmaster 2000 in 1986 by Software Toolworks, Inc., a software and computer game publisher located in Los Angeles, co-developed by its founder Walt Bilofsky and Michael E. Duffy , with a chess engine by David Kittinger, loosely based on MyChess II published by the same vendor since 1984. CM 2000 was released for various 8- and 16-bit home computer platforms based on 6502, Z80, 68000 and 8086 processors, such as Amiga, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Macintosh, and DOS PCs. The PC version was a rewrite in C based on the 6502 assembly version, which also went into Novag's dedicated Constellation some years before, as mentioned by Larry Kaufman in the USOCCC 1986 tournament report : Novag's programmer Dave Kittinger also was the programmer of the three PC software entries under the name "Chessmaster". As they employ a version of the rather dated "Constellation" program they were not expected to be competitive with the dedicated units, except for "Chessmaster 2000 Apple" which employed extensive technology to run at high speed.

Sargon 3
After a deal with Fidelity Electronics in 1988, Software Toolworks continued the Chessmaster series for Apple computers with a Sargon III based program by Kathe and Dan Spracklen, market as Fidelity Chessmaster 2100. PC versions of CM 2100 were based on a Kittinger program.

Chessmaster 3000
The Chessmaster 3000 was released in 1991 for MS-DOS and Windows 3.x PCs, as well for Apple Macintosh, based on a Kittinger program as confirmed by John Merlino  , and mentioned in CCR 5.1 : Kittinger's first program for personal computers was incorporated into the popular program Chessmaster 2000 developed by Software Toolworks. Kittinger's program was then modified and used in some of the versions of Chessmaster 2100 and Chessmaster 3000. Fernando Villegas recalled Michael E. Duffy and Andrew Iverson working on the engine, which does not necessarily imply they had an own one developed from scratch, but interfacing the Kittinger engine to the GUI.

The King
With the release of Chessmaster 4000 Turbo in 1993, The King by Johan de Koning became the CM engine until the present, with annual, biennial and triennial releases for major Windows versions until Chessmaster XI in 2007, incorporating the The King 3.50 with a parallel search able to support multiple processors. The King Version 3.12 has become a WinBoard engine within the ChessMaster 8000 and newer versions. Some versions were also made available for Mac OS computers, and the Xbox Live Arcade.

Match vs GM Larry Christiansen
In Septembre 2002, Larry Christiansen played a 4 games match versus Chessmaster 9000 on ICC. Larry Christiansen lost the 3rd game where he sacrificed a rook to get a strong attack. 55...Rh5! would have been probably winning! Chessmaster 9000 won the match 2.5-1.5. The 4 games on chessgames.com The 3rd game. [Event "ICC 2 120 u"] [Site "Internet Chess Club"] [Date "2002.09.29"] [Round "3"] [Result "1-0"] [White "Chessmaster (Computer)"] [Black "Larry Mark Christiansen"] [ECO "A28"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 Ne5 9. e3 d6 10. Be2 Ng6 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. O-O O-O 13. Qc2 Re8 14. Rfd1 Nf8 15. Bd3 Ne6 16. Nb3 Rb8 17. a4 Qe7 18. a5 Bd7 19. a6 b6 20. Nd4 Nc5 21. Nb5 Bxb5 22. cxb5 Qf6 23. Bc4 Re5 24. Bd5 Rbe8 25. Rd4 Ne6 26. Rd2 g6 27. Ra4 Kg7 28. Rd1 Re7 29. Rb4 g5 30. Bc6 Qg6 31. Qb2 f5 32. Qb1 Qf6 33. Bd5 f4 34. e4 Nf8 35. f3 h5 36. Qc2 Ng6 37. Qa2 Kh6 38. Qd2 Rg7 39. Qd4 g4 40. fxg4 Nh4 41. Rb2 Rxg4 42. Kh1 Ng6 43. Rf2 Qe7 44. Qd2 Reg5 45. Ra1 h4 46. c4 Qe5 47. Rc1 Kg7 48. Bc6 Qe7 49. Rcf1 Re5 50. Qc3 Kh6 51. Bd5 Reg5 52. Qb3 Qe5 53. Rd1 Rg3 54. hxg3 hxg3 55. Ra2 Rg4 56. Kg1 Qh5 57. Kf1 f3 58. Ke1 f2+ 59. Kd2 Rh4 60. Qe3+ Kg7 61. Rf1 Qe5 62. Kc2 Rh2 63. Qf3 Qf4 64. e5 Qxf3 65. Bxf3 Nxe5 66. Bd5 Rh5 67. Ra3 Rg5 68. Kd2 Ng6 69. Re3 Ne5 70. Ke2 Kf6 71. Rh1 Ng6 72. Rh7 1-0 View this game on Lichess.org Youtube video for this game with comments from GM Larry Christiansen himself

=Releases=
 * 1986: Chessmaster 2000 - engine based on MyChess II by David Kittinger
 * 1989: Fidelity Chessmaster 2100 - engine based on Sargon III by Kathe and Dan Spracklen
 * 1991: Chessmaster 3000 - Kittinger program
 * 1993: Chessmaster 4000 Turbo - The King by Johan de Koning
 * 1995: Chessmaster 4000 - The King 2.0
 * 1996: Chessmaster 5000 - The King 2.x
 * 1997: Chessmaster 5500 - The King 2.55
 * 1998: Chessmaster 6000 - The King 2.6D or 2.61
 * 1999: Chessmaster 7000 - The King 3.x
 * 2000: Chessmaster 8000 - The King 3.12a, 3.12c, 3.12d
 * 2002: Chessmaster 9000 - The King 3.23
 * 2004: Chessmaster 10th - The King 3.33
 * 2007: Chessmaster XI - The King 3.50

=Endgame Tablebases= Chessmaster 9000 and later versions support their own compact 3-5-man Endgame Tablebases designed by Johan de Koning, which can be generated with the Final Endgame Generator (FEG) via the Windows Command Prompt. Tablebase researcher Marc Bourzutschky further created some theoretically important six piece EGTBs in 2003.

=Companies= Software Toolworks was founded in 1980 by Walt Bilofsky, who was one of three programmers who designed and created the Chessmaster in the mid 80s. In 1994, Software Toolworks, Inc. was merged to Mindscape in conjunction with the acquirement by Pearson PLC with Michael E. Duffy and David Grenewetzki involved, in 1998 sold to The Learning Company, in the same year bought by Mattel and renamed to Mattel Interactive. In 2000, The Gores Group carves out the re-renamed Learning Company from Mattel, and the Game Studios of The Learning Company was sold to Ubi Soft - all employees were given the opportunity to become employees of their most well-known studio, Red Storm Entertainment.

=Associated People=

Engine

 * David Kittinger
 * Johan de Koning
 * Dan Spracklen
 * Kathe Spracklen

Database

 * Jessica Harmsen
 * Hans Kuijf

Tablebase

 * Marc Bourzutschky

Chess Tutorials

 * Larry Christiansen
 * Bruce Pandolfini
 * Yasser Seirawan
 * Joshua Waitzkin

Project Lead & Misc Programming

 * Walt Bilofsky
 * David Bringhurst
 * Michael E. Duffy
 * Rick Glenn
 * David Grenewetzki
 * Andrew Iverson
 * Carlos Justiniano
 * Donald W. Laabs
 * Mark Manyen
 * Henrik Markarian
 * John Merlino
 * Richard L. Seaborne

=Selected Games= Aegon 1995, round 5, David Bronstein - Chessmaster 4000 [Event "Aegon 1995"] [Site "The Hague NED"] [Date "1995.05.02"] [Round "5"] [White "David Bronstein"] [Black "Chessmaster 4000"] [Result "1-0"]

1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nf3 e5 6.axb4 Bxb4 7.c3 Bd6 8.Na3 Nc6 9.Bc4 Qe4+ 10.Be2 Qg6 11.Nc4 Bc7 12.d4 exd4 13.cxd4 Be6 14.Ne3 Nge7 15.O-O Rd8 16.Ba3 Bb6 17.Qa4 O-O 18.Ne5 Qf6 19.Nxc6 bxc6 20.Bc5 Bxc5 21.dxc5 Rd2 22.Bf3 Rfd8 23.Qxa7 Nf5 24.Nxf5 Bxf5 25.Qc7 Qd4 26.Ra7 Rf8 27.Qxc6 Bd3 28.Rfa1 Qxf2+ 29.Kh1 Bf5 30.Qc7 Bg4 31.Qg3 Bxf3 32.Qxf2 Rxf2 33.gxf3 Rxf3 34.c6 Rc3 35.c7 h5 36.Rd1 Rc2 37.Rd8 g5 38.Rxf8+ Kxf8 39.Ra8+ Ke7 40.c8=Q 1-0 View this game on Lichess.org

=See also=
 * ChessMaster aka Chess Champion Super System III
 * Chess-Master
 * MyChess
 * Sargon III
 * The King
 * WChess

=Publications=
 * Tim Carter (1992). Knight Stalker - Software Toolworks' Chessmaster 3000. Computer Gaming World, 08/1992, pdf
 * Shawn Benn, Danny Kopec (1993). The Bratko-Kopec Test Recalibrated. ICCA Journal, Vol. 16, No. 3 » Bratko-Kopec Test
 * Nick Schoonmaker (1996). Chess Master 4000 - Windows 95 Review. Computer Chess Reports, Vol. 5, Nos. 3+4, p. 49
 * Al Cargill (1996). CM 4000 Personalities. Computer Chess Reports, Vol. 5, Nos. 3+4, p. 72

=Forum Posts=

1994

 * Chessmaster 4000T Performance Benchmark by Harold Jack Meadows, rgc, October 22, 1994
 * ChessMaster 3000 by Donald B. Moran, rgc, December 05, 1994
 * Software Toolworks (Mindscape) is there, and *yes* they do care! by Joe Stella, rgc, December 24, 1994
 * CM5000 We welcome input! by Carlos Justiniano, rgc, December 29, 1994

1995 ...

 * Re: CM5000 is it out yet? by Eric Schiller, rgc, March 27, 1995
 * Net Contact List of Chessmaster by Carlos Justiniano, rgc, April 06, 1995
 * CM5000 Ideas, Part 1 of 2 by dtre...@gss.efn.org, rgc, April 06, 1995
 * CM5000 Ideas, Part 2 of 2 by dtre...@gss.efn.org, rgc, April 06, 1995
 * ChessMaster 4000 by ArturoA433, rgc, April 09, 1995
 * Which Version of "The King" Powers "The Chessmaster 4000 Turbo"? by Ernst A. Heinz, CCC, May 08, 1998
 * Re: Versions of Chessmaster by Fernando Villegas, CCC, May 09, 1998
 * Chess Master 3000 is Underated by Komputer Korner, rgcc, June 17, 1998
 * Re: Good news for ChessMaster 6000 users by Detlef Pordzik, CCC, November 01, 1998
 * Chessmaster and SSDF by Micheal Cummings, CCC, November 09, 1998
 * Chessmaster 6000 1.0.2 Patch now available by John Merlino, CCC, December 22, 1998
 * Chessmaster 6000 1.0.3 Patch now available by John Merlino, CCC, February 04, 1999
 * How really strong is ChessMaster 6000? by Leonid, CCC, July 03, 1999
 * Chessmaster 7000 "FAQ" by John Merlino, CCC, September 23, 1999
 * Chessmaster 7000 Patch v1.0.6 by John Merlino, CCC, December 17, 1999

2000 ...
2001 2002 2003 2004
 * Potential STRONG Chessmaster personality by John Merlino, CCC, January 07, 2000
 * Re: Chessmaster on winboard? by John Merlino, CCC, February 28, 2000 » WinBoard
 * An open call to all USCF rated players from the Chessmaster developers by John Merlino, CCC, May 24, 2000
 * Chessmaster 8000 FAQ by John Merlino, CCC, July 19, 2000
 * Chessmaster 8000 Updated FAQ by John Merlino, CCC, September 06, 2000
 * Further news in the Chessmaster saga (some parts are OT) by John Merlino, CCC, March 05, 2001
 * Software Toolworks to Ubi Soft (OT) by John Merlino, CCC, March 20, 2001
 * A questionarre for all Chessmaster users by John Merlino, CCC, October 22, 2001
 * Chessmaster 9000 Beta Report by John Merlino, CCC, May 07, 2002
 * Frank Poole v HAL 9000 -- or is it CM9000? by John Merlino, CCC, July 10, 2002 » HAL
 * is chessmaster a french program? by Rajen Gupta, CCC, July 28, 2002
 * Chessmaster 9000's EGDBs by John Merlino, CCC, August 12, 2002
 * The Life and Times of Chessmaster by John Merlino, CCC, August 16, 2002
 * Re: Please Explain Depth in Chessmaster 9000 by John Merlino, CCC, September 03, 2002 » Depth
 * CM9000 default selective search by Javier Ros Padilla, CCC, September 18, 2002
 * Need help with CM 9000 and WB2UCI by Ralph Patriquin, CCC, January 02, 2003 » Wb2UCI
 * Chessmaster 2000 for Amiga, Release: 1986 by Omid David, CCC, January 16, 2003
 * Re: Just Curious - Does anyone know Johan de Koning of Chessmaster fame? by John Merlino, CCC, February 28, 2003
 * Usage of general.ctg book+CB learner by ChessMaster in SSDF testing by Gian-Carlo Pascutto, CCC, October 30, 2003
 * Chessmaster X release forecast by Johan de Koning, CCC, February 29, 2004
 * Why dont engines support the egtb format that Chessmaster uses? by Jason Kent, CCC, April 01, 2004
 * Re: Chessmaster and DGT by Odd Gunnar Malin, CCC, April 24, 2004 » DGT Board
 * Chessmaster 10th Edition Announced by John Merlino, CCC, May 14, 2004
 * Chessmaster 9000 and SSDF summary by Johan de Koning, CCC, May 15, 2004
 * Chessmaster Fidelity 2100 by Alain Zanchetta, CCC, June 10, 2004
 * Chessmaster 10th Edition Demo by John Merlino, CCC, June 22, 2004
 * Re: Chessmaster 10th Edition demo (technalities) by Johan de Koning, CCC, July 20, 2004
 * Chessmaster 9000 for Macintosh has been released by Richard A. Fowell, CCC, December 30, 2004

2005 ...

 * A question to the ChessMaster tuners by Peter Berger, CCC, February 20, 2005
 * Historical Chessmaster ? by Mike Byrne, CCC, April 23, 2005
 * What is "randomness" for a CM9k personality? by Wilma, rgcc, June 12, 2005
 * Chessmaster 11 - 19/10/07 by Wardy, Hiarcs Forum, August 07, 2007
 * Chessmaster 11 - first thoughts... by Steve Maughan, CCC, November 05, 2007
 * Chessmaster 11 by Fernando Villegas, Hiarcs Forum, January 08, 2008
 * Chessmaster 11 settings testing - Default 4CPU added by Graham Banks, CCC, March 12, 2008
 * Chessmaster Grandmaster version by Dann Corbit, May 17, 2008
 * Be aware - very aware - Chessmaster for Nintendo DS by Monsieur Plastique, Hiarcs Forum, November 15, 2008
 * Chessmaster 11 from Ubisoft works as WinBoard-engine? by Norbert Raimund Leisner, CCC, May 25, 2009 » WinBoard
 * Chessmaster 4, 5, 5.5, 6 & 7 under Windows XP by Nick M., CCC, December 25, 2009

2010 ...

 * Chessmaster Personality Development by Mark Loftus, CCC, October 17, 2011
 * David K: did you write CM3000 code? Great discussion here... by Fernando Villegas, CCC, April 24, 2012
 * Blincoe Knows the Truth about CM3000 by Fernando Villegas, CCC, April 24, 2012
 * Chessmaster (+engine) version history by Vincent Lejeune, CCC, August 28, 2013
 * Which is the best personality CM XI ? (in elo strength) by Gustavo Mallada, CCC, January 07, 2014

2015 ...

 * DOSBox Windows 95 for Chess by The Spacious Mind, HIARCS Forum, March 09, 2019 » Bringer, ...
 * Strongest currently available Winboard engines for import to Chessmaster? by Matthew Power, CCC, September 09, 2019
 * ChessMaster:Worlds Greatest Chess Program Or Corrupt Criminal Enterprise? by supersharp77, CCC, September 09, 2019

CM11 Settings and Testing

 * CM11 settings and testing by Graham Banks, CCRL Discussion Board, January 26, 2008
 * CM11 Championship (completed) by Graham Banks, CCRL Discussion Board, January 19, 2009
 * CM11 Teams Challenge II (completed) by Graham Banks, CCRL Discussion Board, February 22, 2009
 * CM11 Teams Challenge III (completed) by Graham Banks, CCRL Discussion Board, April 15, 2009
 * CM11 Slugfest (completed) by Graham Banks, CCRL Discussion Board, June 19, 2009
 * CM11 Knockout 2010 (completed) by Graham Banks, CCRL Discussion Board, May 12, 2010
 * CM11 Slugfest II (completed) by Graham Banks, CCRL Discussion Board, May 30, 2010
 * CM11 Champions 2011 (completed) by Graham Banks, CCRL Discussion Board, July 18, 2011

=External Links=
 * Ubisoft - Chessmaster XI
 * Chessmaster from Wikipedia
 * Walt's Home Page - Software Publisher
 * The chess games of Chessmaster from chessgames.com
 * Chessmaster 11 | Forums
 * Jason Kent's Chess Notes
 * Chessmaster series - MobyGames
 * VC&G | The Chessmaster Died in 1997 by Benj Edwards, August 27, 2012
 * The Life, and Death, of PC Gaming's Most Famous Cover Star
 * Chessmaster in CCRL 40/4
 * Chessmaster in CCRL 40/40

CM 2000

 * The Chessmaster 2000 - MobyGames
 * Commodore 64/128 Old Computer Chess Game Collection - Chessmaster 2000 from The Spacious Mind
 * Commodore 64 Emulator - Computer Chess Game Collection - Chessmaster 2000 from The Spacious Mind
 * The Chessmaster 2000: Box and Manual Scans from c64sets.com
 * Chessmaster 2000, The - World of Spectrum
 * The Chessmaster 2000 - Amiga Game
 * Chessmaster 2000, The : Hall Of Light – The database of Amiga games

CM 2100

 * The Fidelity Chessmaster 2100 - MobyGames
 * Commodore 64/128 Old Computer Chess Game Collection - Fidelity Chessmaster 2100 from The Spacious Mind
 * Commodore 64 Emulator - Computer Chess Game Collection - Chessmaster 2100 from The Spacious Mind
 * The Fidelity Chessmaster 2100 – C64-Wiki (German)

CM 3000

 * The Chessmaster 3000 - MobyGames
 * Chessmaster 3000 - Overview - allgame
 * Chessmaster 3000 1.0 - Stats, Downloads and Screenshots :: WinWorld

CM 4000

 * The Chessmaster 4000 Turbo for Windows 3.x (1993) - MobyGames
 * The Chessmaster 4000 Turbo - Overview - allgame
 * The Chessmaster 4000 Turbo - Credits - allgame


 * Chessmaster 4000 Turbo for Windows from Mindscape, review by Mads Brevik

CM 5000

 * Chessmaster 5000 for Windows (1996) - MobyGames
 * Chessmaster 5000 (Video Game 1996) - IMDb
 * Chessmaster 5000 Review - GameSpot

CM 5500

 * Chessmaster 5500 for Windows (1997) - MobyGames - MobyGames
 * Chessmaster 5500 | ICHEG Online Collections | The Strong

CM 6000

 * Chessmaster 6000 - MobyGames
 * Chessmaster 6000 (1999) Macintosh credits - MobyGames


 * Chessmaster 6000 Credit Information - GameFAQs
 * Chessmaster 6000 Details and Credits for PC - Metacritic
 * Chessmaster 6000 Review - GameSpot
 * Mindscape - Chessmaster 6000 | ITReviews

CM 7000

 * Chessmaster 7000 - MobyGames
 * Chessmaster 7000 (1999) Windows credits - MobyGames


 * Chessmaster 7000 - Credits - allgame
 * Chessmaster 7000 Review - GameSpot

CM 8000

 * Chessmaster 8000 - MobyGames
 * Chessmaster 8000 Review - GameSpot
 * Chessmaster 8000 Credit Information - GameFAQs
 * The Chessmaster 8000 - PC - GameSpy
 * Chessmaster 8000 (Video Game 2000) - IMDb
 * What can Winboard do? by Aaron Tay, March 01, 2002, hosted by Ron Murawski » WinBoard

CM 9000

 * Ubisoft - Chessmaster 9000
 * Feral Interactive : Chessmaster 9000 for Mac
 * Chessmaster 9000 - MobyGames
 * Chessmaster 9000 (2002) Windows credits - MobyGames


 * Chessmaster 9000 - Credits - allgame
 * Chessmaster 9000 Details and Credits for PC - Metacritic
 * Chessmaster 9000 Review - GameSpot
 * Chessmaster 9000 by Peter Cohen, Macworld, March 10, 2005
 * Der Gralshüter des Königsangriffs - Chessmaster 9000 by Thomas Lagershausen and Detlef ELVIS Pordzik, hosted by Schachversand Niggemann (German)

CM 10th Edition

 * Ubisoft - Chessmaster 10th Edition
 * Chessmaster 10th Edition for Windows (2004) - MobyGames
 * Chessmaster 10th Edition Review - GameSpot
 * Chessmaster 10th Edition - PC & Tech Authority by Des McNicholas, October 14, 2004
 * Chessmaster 10th Edition Demo : Ubi Soft Entertainment Software : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive
 * Chessmaster 10th Edition - Results of The King 3.33 by Kurt Utzinger

CM Challenge

 * Ubisoft - Chessmaster Challenge
 * Chessmaster Challenge Game - Download and Play Free Version!

CM XI

 * Ubisoft - Chessmaster XI
 * Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition for Windows (2007) - MobyGames
 * CM11 settings and testing from CCRL Discussion Board
 * Chessmaster 11 4CPU in CCRL 40/4
 * Chessmaster 11 2CPU in CCRL 40/40

=References= Up one level