Chessmaster 10 available?

All, 

I am a 1300 =/- rated player who is trying to get better.  Currently I have Lucas Chess installed and find it to be extensive but also clunky.  Some of the options I cannot get to work no matter how I try it.  I hear that I can get Chessmaster 10 (or a better version) somehow which I've heard is great for developing skills.  I've also heard that Scid is good as well but know nothing about it.  My question is 2-3 parts.  Where can I get Chessmaster 10 for windows 8.1 (or what version is it good for) for as cheap as possible.  And what does everyone think of with Lucas Chess or Skid and would they recommend it?   I'm seeing online that Chessmaster 10, the full edition is out there but the prices vary so widely that I'm thinking that there are scams out there.... thoughts anyone?  Goods and bads of any of the three?   PS... list a link if needed. 

Regards,... TheKnightOne

$20 here: http://www.amazon.com/Chessmaster-10th-PC/dp/B00023XXMM/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1456807181&sr=1-1&keywords=chessmaster

I think Lucas Chess is wonderful, though, considering it's free. You just have to spend time playing around with all the features. There are some good online guides and FAQ's for it that will help you a lot. Google it. 

@TracySMiller,   Do you recommend that version over the others?   Not sure which one might be the best....

Chessmaster 10 (CM10) hasn't been sold by Ubisoft for many years, so you'll have to look on Amazon resellers, eBay, etc.. So, seller reputation will be important. The CM10 disks have very good copy protection, so don't plan on making backup copies. You probably should try to stay away from disks with any significant scratches. New is best, but it's also $100 and up. (I don't suppose you know a local friend who has a copy that he can loan you... )

CM10 works fine on my Windows 7 machine; I don't know about Windows 8.1. If you get CM10, you'll want to install the three patches, which incidently, eliminate the need to keep the CM10 disk in the CD drive during use.

CM10 has nice tutorials that might help you. However, with YouTube chess videos available for free, you might not need the CM10 tutorials.

I'm assuming you were talking about the Chessmaster versions?

CM11 (i.e. Chessmaster Grandmaster Edition) will cost you even more than CM10. I don't have CM11, so my information is from just what I've read in the forums. CM11 has more engine personalities, and I think it may have some kind of "Art of Learning" tutorial. I seem to remember one guy claimed that CM11 only allows several installs, but I'm not sure this has been verified by others. And CM11 might be a bit buggier than CM10.

Technically, Chessmaster 9000 is less buggy than either CM10 or CM11, but it has a slightly older look to it. CM9000 doesn't have quite as many engine personalities as CM10, and the CM9000 tutorials may not be quite as large as the CM10 tutorials. CM9000 installed OK on my Windows 7 PC, although, even after applying the patches, you'll have to periodically insert the CD into the drive for the program to run. (It requires the CD to be inserted every 14 days or 20 uses, whichever comes first.) One advantage of CM9000 is that it's not copy-protected, so you can burn backup ISO copies. The prices for CM9000 are usually less than the prices for CM10.

In case you're not aware, none of the Chessmaster versions can directly import UCI engines; They can only import Winboard engines. (It IS possible to hammer a square peg into a round hole and force CM to import UCI engines by using a Polyglot adapter, but this is a lot of extra work.)