So who's bought Chessmaster Grandmaster Edition
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Who wants to rebuy a program? I reemphasize the upgrade idea.
great product. a really good all rounder for both beginners and advanced. I really like it.
If you have CM 10 don't bother w/ CM GM. If you have neither, CM 10 is half price and has everything CM GM has except JW's "The art of learning." That seems to me to be more about psychology then chess.
CM 10 is a great product. CM GM is CM 10 for twice as much money.
see also: thread titled "New Chessmaster or Where's your shirt Josh"
Jan 2, 2008
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#24
I got the DS version and on the top level playing the chessmaster himself is only 1800 and something ELO which is about my level on here. If i knew this before i bought it then i wouldn't have bought it.
Elwood> "If you have neither, CM 10 is half price and has everything CM GM has except JW's "The art of learning." That seems to me to be more about psychology then chess.
On the flip side, for only $20 more you're getting eight hours of instruction from an experienced international master. Specifically, he replays some key games from his past and asks you to choose the moves. Once you do, he explains the key ideas and whether your moves were good or bad ideas. He also discusses some psychological errors that beginners and even strong players make.
jona004> "I got the DS version and on the top level playing the chessmaster himself is only 1800"
Yeah, the DS (handheld) version would be useless for me. I think Palm Hiarcs is a better (handheld) option for intermediate and stronger players, but it costs more.
likesforests wrote:
On the flip side, for only $20 more you're getting eight hours of instruction from an experienced international master. Specifically, he replays some key games from his past and asks you to choose the moves. Once you do, he explains the key ideas and whether your moves were good or bad ideas. He also discusses some psychological errors that beginners and even strong players make.
You are completely correct likesforests, but I couldn't help feeling ripped off when I bought GM edition (already owning CM10). I think others may feel the same way, so I'm warning them. 8hrs of instruction from an IM is easily worth $20, if it is about chess. If it is about psychology... $3.95 tops. If you can make the best moves, psychology does not matter. I'll let the other guy worry about that.
"I don't believe in psychology. I believe in good moves" B.F.
golem3, we covered the basics. Is there anything specific you want to know?
Well, I have had this since the beginning of november, I think, and I thought it was a good product. The thing was that Josh's lessons really made me into a better player. I got the principals about attacking, and I started enjoying the game a whole lot more. The personalities are also quite great, since you get different levels of opposition. However, the best feature came in the latest update (it autoupdates).
It's a minigame named "Chain Reactions". The point of the minigame is to connect the movement paths of at least three of the same pieces (knight knight knight, or queen queen queen) etc, and make themdisappear.
At first it was a fun game, but after a while playing it, I've discovered that my game had gotten a lot better against opponents in my school. Pondering what the sudden improvement came from, I concluded with the fact that the minigame had helped me automize some of the positional principals, as well as the movement of the pieces. (Especially knights. I used to hate knights before I got that minigame, and now I simply love them.)
So, it really is recommended from my side, but also note that you probably shouldn't use the game for analysis, as there are far better options out there for doing so. But for a beginner like myself, the game really got my playing to the next level, I feel.
~Amanda
