Summary

This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
Fantastic Chess game with in depth training, great graphics and numerous levels to play against.

Summary

This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
If you want to fix the opponent option for this system you can download a beta patch update by emailing support@feralinteractive.com and requesting it.

It works now! yay!

Summary

This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
If you want to fix the opponent option for this system you can download a beta patch update by emailing support@feralinteractive.com and requesting it.

It works now! yay!

Summary

...opponent
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
Like the previous person who commented on this program, after updating to OS 10.4, I found that I can no longer select from players ("personalities") in the program's "game room." And like the previous person who commented, I contacted Feral's support by email (no phone support allowed) several times about this problem. They never responded. I too think this is a potentially nice program, looks good and has a few decent features -- but that's about as generous as I can be. A chess application for which you cannot select an opponent? Please don't waste your money.

Summary

This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
I bought Chessmaster 9000 in December 2004 and instantly encountered many bugs. The program looks good and has great potential, but it is a terrible port by Zonic (a company that has become a brand name for doing a terrible job in bringing games to the Mac). Not only have I been reporting all bugs to Feral (without receiving ANY support at all), but also continued hoping that an update would be around the corner. Iâ??m starting to lose that hope now. Donâ??t know what issues the update to version 1.01 addressed, but surely not the ones Iâ??m having, namely:
+ pieces move very slowly at times and are not positioned correctly (which is reason for crying out loud when playing in tournament mode where a move cannot be taken back);
+ no chance to win a rated game under hourglass timing. The pieces cannot be moved smoothly enough, sometimes even wobble around after being positioned;
+ a further annoyance of the game is the fact that I have to insert the DVD each time I want to play, which means I have to carry the DVD on travels with me... now, if this would be a FPS like Doom 3 I would understand that a DVD is needed, but as it stands Chessmaster is a chess program and has performed a full install;
+ in the classroom, when running a tutorial you cannot select a subsection of the tutorial and get credit for completing it without doing the ENTIRE section from start to finish;
+ when playing in tournament mode and the computer is loosing, the game always ends with the message that the computer draws and my rating is adjusted! Why am I not made an offer and can make the decision myself? Maybe I don't want to draw and would prefer to defeat the computer, increasing my rating by more points than it would be the case when accepting a draw;
+ furthermore, at least on my system, since upgrading to MacOS X 10.4.1 all computer players in Chessmaster 9000 1.01 are invisible. When selecting a random player in tournament mode (as the drop-down window is not working anymore) the program crashes without notice.

I think the program is very good in its concept and visual look... it's just the overall playability that sucks and makes me return to shareware SigmaChess. If anyone from Feral is reading this: PLEASE GET THE JOB DONE AND FIX THE BUGS!!!