Chessmaster 10

[Gritty]

Have I just thrown good money away on this rubbish?

I've never really been a fan of chess software, but mainly because I used them a lot as a kid, and they became predictable. Predictably good, but predictable nonetheless. Always using the same openings, never taking any risks to open a game up, and of course never having that human feature of a naff move every now and again.

Anyway, since finding this site, I've got back into my chess in a big way, so spent some of my hard earned cash on this supposedly all singing all dancing piece of software, that seemed very instructional, so I figured it was good even if I didn't enjoy the gameplay.

In for a penny, in for a pound, I went straight to the top and had a game with "The Chessmaster - The brains behind the Finest Chess Program in the World." I wasn't hopeful.

Now I'm no genius at this game, but 20 moves later I'd beaten it! With it's "Blunder Alert" turned on, it warned me a number of times about moves I'd made and offered me the chance to take the move back, but I declined.

Have Chess computers not moved on in the 20 years since I last bought one, or do they just have the occasional blind spot? Personally, I think this is going back in the cupboard, and I'll go back to learning from books I think.

For those who may be interested this is how the game panned out.

1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 e6
3. Nc3 Bb4
4. e3 b6
5. Ne2 Bb7
6. a3 Bxc3+
7. Nc3 0-0
8. Bd3 Bxg2
9. Rg1 Bb7
10. e4 d6
11. e5 Ne8
12. Bg5 Qd7
13. Bxh7+ Kxh7
14. Qh5+ Kg8
15. Bf6 Qc6
16. Nd5 Qxd5
17. cxd5 Nd7
18. Bxg7 Nxg7
19 Qg5 dxe5
20 Qxg7++


Bizarre. I'm not impressed.

[reyn]

It does seem rather simplistic. Perhaps you can crank up the level some more?

I don't have the software, but you can ask Denis (The Ancient Brit) about it. He uses the same version, according to his page HERE.

[Gritty]

The opponent was "Chessmaster" which is supposedly playing with a rating of 2932. So I think that was cranking up the levels.