Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3111 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: UBI Soft
• Released on: 2007-11-02
• Platform: Windows XP

Customer Reviews

Lazy and pointless update
Chessmaster 10th edition is, in my opinion, the most purely enjoyable chess program on the market. Opt for Fritz, Rybka or Shredder if you want strong analysis but, for the sheer enjoyment of playing chess, CM10 is great. Loads of gameplay options. Very user-friendly format. A wealth of tutorials and other educational features. A classic.

Given this, I was understandably excited about the arrival of CM11. Unfortunately, what arrived was an update of the most appalling laziness. There were three years between the release of CM10 and CM11 and, aside from some minor graphical additions (slightly tweaked main menu, more skins, more wallpapers, etc) and a few mini games, it appears the good people at Ubisoft have added absolutely nothing.

There are no new computer personalities to play. They haven't even bothered to iron out the obvious kinks in the existing personalities (many intermediate-level personalities still alternate between playing like a patzer and playing at master level). There are no new tutorials. The "Famous Games" database has been updated (it now includes games between 2004 and 2007) but none of them have been annotated, something that severely limits their educational value. The database has been updated but this is nothing special since more thorough and user-friendly databases are available free online.

All things considered, this is a shameful effort. For those who own previous CM games, this is awful value for money. There is no reason to buy it whatsoever. I will not even recommend it to people who (1) Don't own previous CM games; and (2) are looking for a program geared more towards game play than heavy analysis because anyone in that position would be just as well buying the near identical CM10 at a much cheaper price.

We can only hope Ubisoft put a bit more effort in next time.

Buy it for the computer opponents, and the value!
This is a worthwhile piece of software for anybody interested in chess. I use Chessmaster for practice and improvement because there are so many useful computer opponents. A player new to chess will find suitable opponents as will a strong club player. Even as an improving club and tournament player I can see that I wont be outgrowing Chessmaster for a long time, if ever. It is tremendous value for money, I don't think that the training is worth much but the library of master games it will display for you justifies the price on its own. It falls down on the analysis of games where it doesn't even come close to other programs like Fritz. I see at as complimenting Fritz rather than competing with it. Fritz is great for analysis but not nearly as much fun to use as a chess opponent. But Fritz is about three times the price. For a really cheap companion to Chessmaster you might try Crafty, its freeware.

Disappointing
I was bought Chessmaster XI as a present, I already had the previous version.

The new version offers little or nothing in terms of an upgrade and online gameplay is limited to other Chessmaster XI users.

Support from UBISOFT is pitifully slow.

Waste of money if you have a previous version, worth a few quid if you don't.