Fritz/Chestmaster vs Human Play

I've played chess on and off for most of my life, friendly matches here and there, and the occasional 10games in a row against the same person.  About 3 months ago a friend of mine got chessmaster so i've been going through the program and started off with ranked play.  I usually play 5/10min blitz games, and in the beginning i was keeping up with game profiles in the 1300's.  Then i started doing all the tutorials the program has to offer, and since then, my ranking has steadily decreased (vs the programs).  I've continued to play online chess and my chess play seems to have increased online against other players, but i just can't seem to beat the computer. 

Do the engines somehow record the way you've played in previous games and get you to try and change your playing style by playing certain openings? Or do they keep to an exact pattern and once you figure out that pattern you move up to the next level..

Well, as I see it based on my experiences with computers, a computer won't play brilliantly at 1300, but it won't make really bad errors either.  A computer playing at 1300 level is simply not going to give away a piece with an open blunder. The humans you are playing at that level, and lower, will do that occasionally. So, as soon as you make a bad error against a computer, you're cooked. Those dang computers play like machines!

Some computers can be set to play either deterministically (always the same best move, in its opinion, in the same position) or non-deterministically (randomly choosing between multiple good moves). The latter is more human like, and it also prevents you from memorizing the computer's opening lines.

From your Forum Title: Fritz/ChessMaster (Chess Engines) vs Human Play, here are sample of it.

Weakness of Engines - Part #1: Bendcat vs Fritz 5.32

Weakness of Engines - Part #2: Fritz 5.32 vs Bendcat

Hello, I am computer scientist and I have programmed A.I. engines for turn based games.

Most chess programs have an opening library and use when a board is contained into this library, they randomly select one of the possible moves within the library without even thinking.

When the board is not contained in the library which will most likely happen after 4-5 moves with a beginner opponent or 8-10 at maximum with an expert most programs don't care of the past, they just try to make the best move at each turn, and according to the level setting they just spend less time in doing so.

How the move is selected is simple, they go through all the possibilities as deep as time allows, let's say ten moves for exemple. For each resulting board after those ten moves a score is given, then at each sub move the computer will play the role of the current player and select the best move. Therefore it will try to find the best move considering the opponent does no mistake.

To summarise, the computer will select the path where the outcome will be the best for him in the case the opponent always plays the best move.

I hope my two cents will help those not already familiar with chess computers.

I enjoy playing and piting my wits against chess computers...I've owned various models over the years....computers are generally willing opponents and they never say NO!!!!!!!!!!!!

payet_alexandre's description is on the money. There's no adaptation.

The "dreaded" Lacey is a 1308-level Chessmaster personality. Her opening book is Depth2--she only knows one or two opening moves. Her search_depth=1 & randomness=0. She never hangs pieces, but falls for any tactic. I had a won game by move eight.

So, as you train, you're doing better against real opponents but worse against computer opponents. That's really odd. Which Chessmaster tutorials are you working on? If the tactical ones, those should help you against everybody.

If you're doing something silly like memorizing opening traps, those may be more successful against your friends than against computer opponents.

thanks for all the input guys.

but yeah, likeforests, its exactly as you put it.  i'm doing better against real opponents, but worse against computer opponents.  i try not to memorize any opening strategies, which is where i find myself having complications vs the computer.  i know that they have set restrictions to the number of moves they can choose from etc.  this is where i think i'm having trouble.  am i supposed to make move Y if the computer makes move X?  every time?  its so unsatisfying.  i get caught up thinking that the computer will make a certain move, whereas with humans, you can make a move and make them think you're doing one thing when you're going for something else. 

you can't really scare the computer into making a bad move though
(not that you'd be able to scare a grandmaster either)

pamananian> i know that they have set restrictions to the number of moves they can choose from etc.

Lacey uses Depth2.obk, which only goes two moves deep. In response to 1.c4 she will pick Nf6, e6, c5, e5, g6, or c6--quite a variety of replie! If that gets boring, play a different opponent. Shaun uses Depth6.obk. Josh uses EarlyQueen.obk.

pamananian>  am i supposed to make move Y if the computer makes move X?  every time?  its so unsatisfying.

It's good to play similar opening moves so you get used to the positions that arise from your openings, but similar doesn't have to mean the same. For example, if I played Lacey again maybe I would try 4.e4. I would continue to play 1.c4.

In most positions, there's more than one right move. It's Ok to be creative!

pamananian> you can't really scare the computer into making a bad move though

That is a drawback. Computers don't feel pressure, or miss attacks from far away pieces. I could see a 1200 playing 24...Rxb7?? 25.Re8#

pamananian> (not that you'd be able to scare a grandmaster either)

Tal could scare Grandmasters. :)

l believe fear is the element that makes Human player makes his move , while a computer doestn know what fear is it just follows a logical analyisis of the board that is given by Human.

so less fear leads to better results, at least that is what l believe in .

That's interesting.  Is it possible that you're unconsciously playing differently against the computer than you do against human opponents?  Sometimes if you try too hard to not make an error (or otherwise try to play how you normally don't) you can throw yourself off.

Other times as we learn new things and try to apply them to our game at first it makes us a little worse!  At least for me.  As I try to internalize and use these new ideas I can't play the same old why I used to and it takes me awhile to digest and apply this new information. 

I remember having a funny thought while playing a guy at my club, he made a good move and I thought to myself "you're going to get worse before you get better" I thought this because to me he was finding "the right move for the wrong reason" -- maybe not what you're talking about but it seems related.

lol, chestmaster? When I was like 5 I used to think the game was called chest.