chessmaster gm edition vs fritz 12

i'd like to hear your feedbacks as to which for you has the more complete package , the Chessmaster Grandmaster Edition or the Fritz 12 ?as i'm planning to acquire one.....

For a non-pro player ChessMaster is far and away the better choice.

I can't say anything about Fritz 12, but I definitely love Chessmaster Grandmaster Edition and highly recommend it.

I've been using Fritz 12 for over a year and it's worth the $, but frankly I doubt if it's worth the $ compared to getting a copy of Fritz 10 or 11 at amazon or ebay for less than half the price. I previously used F10 so I do have a clue here. BTW it can be loaded with other chess engines such as Houdini, Stockfish & Firebird and it works very well with other ChessBase Products in case you decide to buy one of CBs excellent DataBases. I haven't used CM GM edition so my opinion is obviously one-sided here. Just Google "Fritz 12 - Chessmaster GM edition" & you'll probably find opinions/comparisons elsewhere as well

I have CM, Rybka and Shredder and for someone with a live chess rating like yours, I'd go with fritz over CM.  I bought CM when I first learned chess a little over a year ago and it was good.  Josh Waitzkin's tutorials are awesome for beginners.  I imagine you are mostly looking for an analysis engine, and for that I'd suggest Fritz or Rybka

CM GM edition has the best set of tutorials ever created, imo. They are very much worth the price themselves. Fritz 12 is a high quality GUI with a weak engine.

You can get a so-so GUI (Arena, SCID, ChessDB etc.) and much stronger engines (fire, stockfish, houdini etc) for free online.

  I have both Fritz 12, CM 10 (the previous version before the GM Edition), and SCID, along with Chessbase Lite, and I use all of them to varying degrees. All of the programs have been incredibly useful for my chess progress. 

  -Mark

Actually, if you're a chess player who's serious to improve your skills to a top level (like those NM, IM and GM level) learning all the teachings and tips and techniques and the psychological stuff in Chessmaster Gm edition will REALY REALLY help you a lot, ive seen some International Masters still learning the teachings in the CM Gm editions particularly the variated openings which, NOW A DAYS are the trend to play strong and dominating chess. And, with additional advanced josh's teachings there, will really help you improve you skills and the way you think and calculate moves, gauge the position at hand and gauge your opponents will be different than before. And by playing the various AI there and beating it one by one specially in the 2400+ to 2600+ ratings or even the Chessmaster AI will really make you a very very strong chess player, the level of your skills and rating you'll acquired only depends on your brain's capabilities to absorb, learn, understand and process information. If you're really bright and smart and very serious to improve your chess skills to a top level, there's a strong possibility you'll master and memorize all the teachings there in 3 months that includes memorizing and learning the value and functionality of the each chess openings. Well, thats if, you're smack stuck right in front of a computer or laptop 5-7 hours a day reading and interacting with the CM Gm edition. If not, and you only have 2-3 hours a day, not a problem, make your learning a fun way improve your skills also, take your time. Learning slowly but surely, its really effective.

Dont move to the next topic until you dont understand the information currently at hand. But, most serious beginners i came across, they tackle the teachings and after an hour or two, they rest for a minute or two then move to the learning the interactive chess openings, in that way, as they progress, they also learn the various chess openings ever developed in the history of chess, as a result, they learn and apply the skills from what they read at the same time, knows how to play different openings. After an hour they would stop and rest for a minute or two again and play the AI which they think on the same level of their skill and would continue to play up to the AI where they have a hard time beating and wont move forward until that AI has been beaten. And, doing it again and again and again until they memorized the openings, memorized and learned the teachings and play the rated game with the AI to a much harder level, until they get better and better and better..

BUT, if you're a beginner with very little knowledge in chess openings and skills in general, just learn the basics there once you mastered it and learned it well then move to advanced topic and make sure you learn it by topic before proceeding to the next one. And rest for a while then move to learning the chess openings interactively, do it over and over, as those usual serious beginners do i said above, then the next day proceed to the next topic, down to the next one and so on until you learn and understand every bit of it and if you feel like playing the AI, then feel free and test how far your skills and capabilities could go until you improve and improve.

Before playing with the AI, rest for a minute or two, focused your self then play seriously. And just incase you forgot some of the topics, just read it back again and understand what has been taught in that topic and then proceed.

Just incase you beat the Chessmaster GM edition AI, and based on its Real rating internationally, which is 3,000+ when you participate in a local chess tournament, dont be amazed or get mad when your opponents succumb to you bigtime and get mad and would say "ARE YOU A HUSTLER KID?!!" Because beating it is like beating the highest rated Super GM on earth or the toughest GM around today, who ever he is, when you cross paths in the future, chances are you'll beat them.

Though getting better and beating the top AI's in CM Gm edition will take you a long time and tons of effort, but in that way, your skills and playing level are enhanced.

Hope this helps. God bless.

Chessmaster is better as a means of developing your tactical and positional ability, as well as your strategy, and as a means of memorising the openings, and other such details.

Fritz is good for analysis, for everything else I've found that Chessmaster is most definitely its superior. Its training systems are a joke, too.

The above comment are all good guides about both programs.  With your rating being at 1817, which should equal a club player, you should have a good understanding of basic chess strategies and tactical maneuvering. So the question maybe, "What do you want the chess software to do mainly for you?" Do you want to use it to play against, create drills for your, assess or analyze games and positions features...etc. I own both programs and each has it up and down. I started with ChessMaster and then add Fritz.

Chess Master is better for me because its way easier to handle and fritz 12 takes a larger loading time.Overall both games are good but i have to go with CM:GM on this one.

Can you play the computer and ask it to give you a hint as to where to move? I heard you can on Fritz. What about CM GM Edition?

What is the hint like? Is it "you should cover square c3," or can you get a specific hint as to what move to make, or both?

What are the tutorials like on each? The old Chessmaster 2000 had a great tutorial (narrated by Josh Waitzkin), but it was only for beginners. Do Frtis and CM GM Edition go beyond that much?

Hey, shameentx.  It's easy to overlook when a thread began.  

This one began 4 years ago when it was still possible to buy Chessmaster.

You can still buy it.

Yes you can, but on the aftermarket, and it's gotten a bit pricey, at least for the PC version.

That was my point - that, and the fact that it's no longer a supported product. 

Ok i tested chessmaster 4000 turbo 7 depth against deep fritz (16) android on an 8 core mobile deep fritz one I'll post the moves