Chessmaster Grandmaster Edition. Will run on Windows XP or Vista. Plenty of tutorials, the ability to analyze games, plenty of different chess sets to use, and many different levels of computer opponents to choose from. Currently $20 (USD) on amazon.com.
recommend chess programs?
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i don't know why everyone is so eager to spend money when they don't have to. i've only been here a very short time, but i must say that everything you need to improve your game is here on this site. try your hand at the tactics trainer, do some puzzles, read through an article or two.
it's not something where you can just pay $50 (or whatever) and automaticly be good at chess. it takes education, and most importantly, practice.
Apr 18, 2008
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#4
Masakari wrote:
i don't know why everyone is so eager to spend money when they don't have to. i've only been here a very short time, but i must say that everything you need to improve your game is here on this site. try your hand at the tactics trainer, do some puzzles, read through an article or two.
it's not something where you can just pay $50 (or whatever) and automaticly be good at chess. it takes education, and most importantly, practice.
well said, but by doing the tutorials on a program like chessmaster you are practicing.
i've got no beef with chessmaster, or any other program. i'm sure they'll do the job. mabye some people don't have access to the internet on a certain computer or something. but since we're all already signed up here, and it's offered free, why not master these lessons, before investing.
Masakari wrote:
i don't know why everyone is so eager to spend money when they don't have to. i've only been here a very short time, but i must say that everything you need to improve your game is here on this site. try your hand at the tactics trainer, do some puzzles, read through an article or two.
it's not something where you can just pay $50 (or whatever) and automaticly be good at chess. it takes education, and most importantly, practice.
i wasn't asking for a magical program that will make me a grandmaster after a few tutorials, i was asking for a program that i could use while on my laptop on the go becuase i enjoy playing chess more then most games. Considering most chess programs are 20$-50$ that is still alot cheaper then alot fo computer games or console games.
could somone recommend some other programs i could look at as well? or would chessmaster be the best option?
You can check out the download section of this site for some free chess playing and training programs, I have not looked at any in depth so I do not know what they have to offer. You can but the Chess Mentor and install it on your computer, depending on which version you get this can be costly. There is also a program called CT-Art which is for tactics, I believe it is in the 30 to 40 dollar range. You can pick up an earlier version of Fritz (11 being the current one), while it is a strong playing partner with analysis features there is little on the training courses that come with it.
You might want to consider doing a web search of your own and see what is out there.
Apr 18, 2008
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#8
Tactics are the key to improving at chess. Try the tactics trainer on this site.
Apr 18, 2008
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#9
I agree that everything you need to improve your game is on this site but Chessmaster is a great program that you can enjoy and learn from when not on the internet.
GnuChess is free.
Rybka is free
Toga is free
Crafty is free
The last 3 all play at (conservatively) near-GM strength.
It is really easy to configure Arena and Crafty to work together which is what I prefer.
You'll have to do a little reading but you'll get them going.
As far as learning aids, this forum is superb. And try sites such as The Chess Tactics Server.
I have a copy of ChessMaster 11: The Art of Learning edition. It's the newest version of ChessMaster, but my computer was too old to handle it very well. It works fine, just a bit slow, so I stuck with 10th edition. All the ChessMaster line are great. If you have a newer computer, I'd say go with that one.
Fritz is a great program, but a bit short on tutorials. ChessMaster is great for tutorials, plus a huge range of playing partners with various styles, and strengths in the personalities.
The others above are correct too, about the freebies out there, and I love Arena with Crafty for analysis. But, unless you're GM level, it'll win everytime, so I like ChessMaster for real games so I can play near my ability and win occasionally. Sure, you learn from losing, but if you never win it's pretty demoralizing.
I'd offer to sell you my copy, but I'm not sure that's worth it to you for the cost to ship from US to Australia. Let me know if you're interested though. I'd take $20 plus shipping.
I'm very sorry to do this but:
You want the latest Fritz.
You don't want Chessmaster.
I don't have time right now to make my case! Like I said, sorry. That's the executive summary. If I can find the time this weekend I'll make my well-reasoned logical case for Fritz over chessmaster (and the free engines).
Chessmaster 10th edition is a good one for players eager to learn.
Talk to cheater_1, he's pro in this stuff about programms... 
If you are learning chess then you dont need the strongest engine available i.e Fritz 11, Rybka etc.I have recently purchased Chessmaster XI and for content its excellent.It has 3 seperate tutorials, each one very informative that will have you learning tactics for months, if not years.Also 800,000 game database you can watch in 3D, hundreds of famous games, puzzles, set up your own games from magazines etc, different levels of play(not just strength but personality eg attacker/defender/weak with some pieces,strong with others), plus many more features, and it costs only $50 from games and computer shops anywhere in Australia.
I am surprised that I never see mention of a terrific, totally free chess playing engine that is available for download over the internet...Rebel Chess...only drawback is it's not yet available for Win XP, although I see they're working on it. This free version plays 200 ELO points below it's maximum strength of 2500 except on Friday's when it plays at full strength...but I doubt that would be an issue for the majority of us. http://www.rebel.nl/decrel.htm
seuss68 wrote:
Chessmaster Grandmaster Edition. Will run on Windows XP or Vista. Plenty of tutorials, the ability to analyze games, plenty of different chess sets to use, and many different levels of computer opponents to choose from. Currently $20 (USD) on amazon.com.
Its $39 via Ubisoft for PC and you can download the game as soon as you buy it.
Jesstears wrote: seuss68 wrote:
Chessmaster Grandmaster Edition. Will run on Windows XP or Vista. Plenty of tutorials, the ability to analyze games, plenty of different chess sets to use, and many different levels of computer opponents to choose from. Currently $20 (USD) on amazon.com.
Its $39 via Ubisoft for PC and you can download the game as soon as you buy it.
I am curious, why would you want to spend twice as much money on something, when retailers, i.e. Gamestop, Target, Wal-mart, et al., are selling it at $20 and you get a hard copy.
Just wandering if anyone could recommend a good chess program, somthing that also helps me learn, tips etc. i really need somthing for my new laptop