From the perspective of the total package (novice-friendly interface, tutorials, etc.), I don't know of anything better than Chessmaster.
The freeware Lucas Chess has some decent training features, but no tutorials.
The single-player portion of Majestic Chess is sort of a poor man's version of Chessmaster, but not nearly as good as Chessmaster. You'd have to get it on the used market, but it's cheap. (Many Half Price Books stores in the U.S. have it for $3.99.)
You could go the Fritz route from Chessbase, but it doesn't have tutorials (a few limited video clips I think). Some people like Fritz, but some think the Fritz interface is a bit user unfriendly.
I think the Shredder GUI (the native version downloaded directly from the Shredder site) is a bit more user friendly, but again, no tutorials or videos. The Shredder site does offer a 30-day demo of the Classic Shredder GUI, which is virtually identical to the Shredder 12 GUI, except for a weaker engine.
I don't know that you really need Chessmaster, unless you just want to go through the tutorials again. If you decide to go the Chessmaster route, I'd opt for getting a copy of Chessmaster 10th edition. Chessmaster 9000 isn't copy protected, but I had some problems installing it into my Windows 7 box. And I've heard that Chessmaster 11 (aka Grandmaster Edition) only allows two installs from the disk. (And CGE prices are nuts on the used market!)
Chessmaster 10 installed with no problem on my PC. However, it is heavily copy protected, so you probably won't be able to make any archival copies. I'd recommend patiently scouring the used market (eBay, Amazon, etc.) for a brand new, never-opened copy. I'd think if you're diligent, you should be able to get a copy for $30 to $40 bucks. And I'd only buy from someone with a spotless feedback rating. Also, download and install the patches from the Ubisoft Chessmaster 10 forum so that you don't have to run Chessmaster with the disk in the drive. (Put the disks in a safe place so they won't get lost or scratched - remember, there won't be any backup copies.)
Good luck!
Years ago, I used to be serious about playing chess. I was a USCF member, participated in local tournaments, had a rating (not a very good one, mind, but still...), and I enjoyed. As I progressed, I failed to continue, and stopped playing. I've not played competatively for near 10 years.
I'd like to change that. At some point, I wish to, once again, attend a local tournament, and start playing again.
Before I do that, however, I'd like to get some games behind me to at least know again where I stand. Sure I remember a great deal of what I've learned in the past, from tactics to basic opening theory, but I've forgotten much more than I remember. I'd at least like some experience in training, starting with weaker opponents, and then building on that to get at least a bit closer to where I was when I last played, and avoid embarrassing myself at my first events, as well as the disappointment of attending tournaments that I know I will get no even games from.
Years ago I enjoyed the Chessmaster product from UBISoft, Which let the user choose a distinct leveled opponent against which to play, from a borderline random engine to an engine strength that rivaled GM strength play. It let you tune the engine, from altering the playstyle down to piece weighting, as well as training against differing opening styles. It had a game-management system, similar to, but weaker than chessbase. It also included excelent video lectures, training information, etc. All-in-all, it was a solid project.
It appears, however, to be discontinued. Amazon still lists it, but at an insane $300 pricetag, which, for software I remember being less than a third that price, is robbery. I've seen used copies, but I remember that software was made in the heyday of extreme copy-protection measures and registration schemes, making purchase of a used copy somewhat scary.
What I want, then, is something similar. Something I can train against, starting at a lower level, and working up. Something that will estimate my rating as I progress, so I can asses my progress. Something that I can tune a bit to train against.
I'm not against paying a reasonable ammount for such software either.
I tried playing online in several places, but it became obvious that people either wanted to play very rapid time controls, which I never liked, or were using analysis engines while playing - if I wish to play against a full-strength analysis engine, I can do so on my own machine...
Does anyone know of any software of this type? Can anyone recommend anything?