Chessmaster

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chessmaster_head.jpg
Chessmaster,
a series of chess programs developed and released by Ubisoft. It is the best-selling chess franchise in history, with more than five million units sold as of 2002 [1] . Due to its sophisticated GUI, graphics and animations, adjustable playing strength and countless features, Chessmaster is dedicated to the mass market, and due to the strong engine with configurable "personalities", integrated database support, annotated games, and chess lessons and tutorials, also interesting for advanced users.

Chessmaster XI, released in 2007, is the most recent version [2]. Dedicated for chess beginners and casual chess fans, Chessmaster Challenge differs from Chessmaster 10th Edition in its simplified interface, and scaled-down tutorials. It’s a non-retail product available for trial and purchase through download only [3] [4].
Face and hands of the Chessmaster [5]

Screenshots

CM 2100 & CM 4000

[6]
CM2100.JPG
cm4000.JPG
Chessmaster 2100
Chessmaster 4000

Chessmaster 10th

Chessmaster10thEditionDemo.jpg
Chessmaster 10th Edition Demo [7]

Chessmaster Challenge

chessmaster_challenge_3_rm.jpg
Chessmaster Challenge 2D Graphics Board [8]

Chessmaster XI

HouseofStauntonchesssets.jpg
Chessmaster XI - House of Staunton chess sets, 3D Graphics Board [9]

Chess Engines

MyChess II

Chessmaster was first released as Chessmaster 2000 in 1986 by Software Toolworks, Inc., a software and computer game publisher located in Los Angeles [10], co-developed by its founder Walt Bilofsky [11] and Michael E. Duffy [12], with a chess engine by David Kittinger, loosely based on MyChess II published by the same vendor since 1984 [13] . CM 2000 was released for various 8- and 16-bit home computer platforms based on 6502, Z80, 68000 and 8086 processors, such as Amiga, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Macintosh, and DOS PCs. The PC version was a rewrite in C based on the 6502 assembly version [14], which also went into Novag's dedicated Constellation some years before, as mentioned by Larry Kaufman in the USOCCC 1986 tournament report [15]:
Novag's programmer Dave Kittinger also was the programmer of the three PC software entries under the name "Chessmaster". As they employ a version of the rather dated "Constellation" program they were not expected to be competitive with the dedicated units, except for "Chessmaster 2000 Apple" which employed extensive technology to run at high speed.

Sargon 3

After a deal with Fidelity Electronics in 1988, Software Toolworks continued the Chessmaster series for Apple computers with a Sargon III based program by Kathe and Dan Spracklen, market as Fidelity Chessmaster 2100 [16]. PC versions of CM 2100 were based on a Kittinger program [17].

Chessmaster 3000

The Chessmaster 3000 was released in 1991 for MS-DOS and Windows 3.x PCs, as well for Apple Macintosh, based on a Kittinger program as confirmed by John Merlino [18] [19] [20], and mentioned in CCR 5.1 [21]:
Kittinger's first program for personal computers was incorporated into the popular program Chessmaster 2000 developed by Software Toolworks. Kittinger's program was then modified and used in some of the versions of Chessmaster 2100 and Chessmaster 3000.

Fernando Villegas recalled Michael E. Duffy and Andrew Iverson working on the engine [22], which does not necessarily imply they had an own one developed from scratch, but interfacing the Kittinger engine to the GUI.

The King

With the release of Chessmaster 4000 Turbo in 1993, The King by Johan de Koning became the CM engine until the present, with annual, biennial and triennial releases for major Windows versions until Chessmaster XI in 2007, incorporating the The King 3.50 with a parallel search able to support multiple processors. The King Version 3.12 has become a WinBoard engine within the ChessMaster 8000 and newer versions [23] . Some versions were also made available for Mac OS computers, and the Xbox Live Arcade [24].

Releases

[25]
  • 1986: Chessmaster 2000 - based on MyChess II by David Kittinger
  • 1989: Fidelity Chessmaster 2100 - based on Sargon III by Kathe and Dan Spracklen
  • 1991: Chessmaster 3000 - Kittinger program
  • 1993: Chessmaster 4000 Turbo - The King by Johan de Koning
  • 1995: Chessmaster 4000 - The King 2.0
  • 1996: Chessmaster 5000 - The King 2.x
  • 1997: Chessmaster 5500 - The King 2.55
  • 1998: Chessmaster 6000 - The King 2.6D or 2.61
  • 1999: Chessmaster 7000 - The King 3.x
  • 2000: Chessmaster 8000 - The King 3.12a, 3.12c, 3.12d
  • 2002: Chessmaster 9000 - The King 3.23
  • 2004: Chessmaster 10th - The King 3.33
  • 2007: Chessmaster XI - The King 3.50

Endgame Tablebases

Chessmaster 9000 and later versions support their own compact 3-5-man Endgame Tablebases designed by Johan de Koning, which can be generated with the Final Endgame Generator (FEG) via the Windows Command Prompt [26]. Tablebase researcher Marc Bourzutschky further created some theoretically important six piece EGTBs in 2003 [27].

Companies

Software Toolworks was founded in 1980 by Walt Bilofsky, who was one of three programmers who designed and created the Chessmaster in the mid 80s [28]. In 1994, Software Toolworks, Inc. was merged to Mindscape [29] [30] in conjunction with the acquirement by Pearson PLC [31] with Michael E. Duffy [32] and David Grenewetzki [33] involved, in 1998 sold to The Learning Company, in the same year bought by Mattel and renamed to Mattel Interactive. In 2000, The Gores Group carves out the re-renamed Learning Company from Mattel, and the Game Studios of The Learning Company was sold to Ubi Soft - all employees were given the opportunity to become employees of their most well-known studio, Red Storm Entertainment [34] .

Associated People

Programmers

Engine


Database


Tablebase


Chess Tutorials


Project Lead & Misc Programming


Selected Games

Aegon 1995, round 5, David Bronstein - Chessmaster 4000 [37]
[Event "Aegon 1995"]
[Site "The Hague NED"]
[Date "1995.05.02"]
[Round "5"]
[White "David Bronstein"]
[Black "Chessmaster 4000"]
[Result "1-0"]
 
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nf3 e5 6.axb4 Bxb4 7.c3 Bd6 8.Na3 Nc6
9.Bc4 Qe4+ 10.Be2 Qg6 11.Nc4 Bc7 12.d4 exd4 13.cxd4 Be6 14.Ne3 Nge7 15.O-O Rd8
16.Ba3 Bb6 17.Qa4 O-O 18.Ne5 Qf6 19.Nxc6 bxc6 20.Bc5 Bxc5 21.dxc5 Rd2 22.Bf3
Rfd8 23.Qxa7 Nf5 24.Nxf5 Bxf5 25.Qc7 Qd4 26.Ra7 Rf8 27.Qxc6 Bd3 28.Rfa1 Qxf2+
29.Kh1 Bf5 30.Qc7 Bg4 31.Qg3 Bxf3 32.Qxf2 Rxf2 33.gxf3 Rxf3 34.c6 Rc3 35.c7 h5
36.Rd1 Rc2 37.Rd8 g5 38.Rxf8+ Kxf8 39.Ra8+ Ke7 40.c8=Q 1-0

See also


Publications


Forum Posts

1994

1995 ...

2000 ...

2001
2002
2003
2004

2005 ...

2010 ...


CM11 Settings and Testing

[38]

External Links

CM 2000

CM 2100

CM 3000

CM 4000

CM 5000

CM 5500

CM 6000

CM 7000

CM 8000

CM 9000

CM 10th Edition

CM Challenge

CM XI


References

  1. ^ Chessmaster from Wikipedia
  2. ^ Ubisoft - Chessmaster XI
  3. ^ Ubisoft - Chessmaster Challenge
  4. ^ Chessmaster Challenge Game - Download and Play Free Version!
  5. ^ Will Hare (1919 – 1997), VC&G | The Chessmaster Died in 1997 by Benj Edwards, August 27, 2012
  6. ^ Septober - Computerschach by Herbert Marquardt
  7. ^ Chessmaster 10th Edition Demo : Ubi Soft Entertainment Software : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive
  8. ^ Chessmaster Challenge Game - Download and Play Free Version!
  9. ^ PC-Screenshots | Chessmaster XI: The Art of Learning | Ubisoft
  10. ^ The Software Toolworks Home Page
  11. ^ Walt's Home Page - Software Publisher
  12. ^ The Chessmaster 2000 - MobyGames
  13. ^ MYCHESS for DOS (1984) - MobyGames
  14. ^ Re: Hello all by Dave Kittinger, CCC, April 25, 2012
  15. ^ Larry Kaufman (1986). 2nd U.S. Open Computer Chess Championship. Computer Chess Reports 1986, Fall/Winter Edition
  16. ^ Reply by Mark Manyen in Fidelity Chessmaster 2100 from The Spacious Mind
  17. ^ Re: Hello all by Dave Kittinger, CCC, April 25, 2012
  18. ^ Re: Historical Chessmaster ? by John Merlino, CCC, April 24, 2005
  19. ^ Re: Historical Chessmaster ? by John Merlino, CCC, April 24, 2005
  20. ^ Re: Hello all by Dave Kittinger, CCC, April 25, 2012
  21. ^ The Editor (1994). David Kittinger, Professional Biography. Computer Chess Reports, Vol. 5, No. 1, p. 21
  22. ^ Re: David K: did you write CM3000 code? Great discussion here by Fernando Villegas, CCC, April 25, 2012
  23. ^ What can Winboard do? by Aaron Tay, March 01, 2002, hosted by Ron Murawski
  24. ^ Chessmaster LIVE for Xbox 360 (2008) - MobyGames
  25. ^ Chessmaster (+engine) version history by Vincent Lejeune, CCC, August 28, 2013
  26. ^ An Introduction to FEG and Endgame Databases
  27. ^ De Koenig's endgame databases by Emil Vlasák
  28. ^ Walt's Home Page - Software Publisher
  29. ^ Software Toolworks (Mindscape) is there, and *yes* they do care! by Joe Stella, rgc, December 24, 1994
  30. ^ Net Contact List of Chessmaster by Carlos Justiniano, rgc, April 06, 1995
  31. ^ Mindscape from Wikipedia mentions: Mindscape sold to Pearson PLC for $503 million in 1994
  32. ^ Michael E. Duffy mentions sale of The Software Toolworks to Pearson PLC for $462 million, April 1994, Michael E. Duffy & Associates
  33. ^ David Grenewetzki mentions $462 million sale of The Software Toolworks to Pearson PLC, Mai 1993, David Grenewetzki - LinkedIn
  34. ^ Software Toolworks to Ubi Soft (OT) by John Merlino, CCC, March 20, 2001
  35. ^ The Art of Learning Project
  36. ^ CM5000 We welcome input! by Carlos Justiniano, rgc, December 29, 1994
  37. ^ David Bronstein vs Chessmaster from chessgames.com
  38. ^ Re: Which is the best personality CM XI ? (in elo strength) by Graham Banks, CCC, January 07, 2014

What links here?

Page Date Edited
3D Graphics Board Sep 23, 2017
Aegon 1994 Mar 26, 2017
Aegon 1995 Apr 6, 2017
Aegon 1997 Apr 7, 2017
Alain Zanchetta Feb 20, 2018
Almond Feb 14, 2012
Andrew Iverson Apr 21, 2014
Atari 8-bit Aug 3, 2016
Atari ST Dec 7, 2016
Bryan Whitby Jan 2, 2017
Carlos Justiniano Jun 25, 2017
Chess-Master Sep 7, 2017
Chessmaster Jan 21, 2018
Constellation Oct 2, 2016
David Bringhurst May 15, 2014
David Grenewetzki Apr 19, 2014
David Kittinger Dec 27, 2017
Depth Feb 25, 2018
Disney's Aladdin Chess Adventures May 15, 2014
Donald W. Laabs May 15, 2014
Eigenmann Endgame Test Jun 1, 2017
Engines Mar 10, 2018
Eric Schiller Dec 5, 2016
Fidelity Electronics Dec 1, 2017
Grandmaster Chess Dec 7, 2016
HAL Jun 14, 2016
Hans Kuijf Jul 16, 2017
Harvard Cup 1992 Mar 26, 2017
Harvard Cup 1994 Apr 21, 2014
Harvard Cup 1995 Nov 9, 2012
Henrik Markarian Apr 21, 2014
Heuristic Software May 4, 2013
Javier Ros Padilla Sep 2, 2015
Jessica Harmsen Jul 29, 2012
Johan de Koning Jul 3, 2017
John Merlino Feb 26, 2015
Leonid Liberman May 23, 2015
Majestic Chess Jan 20, 2018
Marc Bourzutschky Dec 16, 2013
Mark Manyen Apr 21, 2014
Mephisto Vancouver Sep 2, 2017
Michael Byrne Jun 23, 2017
Michael E. Duffy Apr 19, 2014
MyChess Dec 25, 2017
Rex Jan 7, 2016
Santos Gerardo Lazzeri Mar 19, 2016
Sargon Dec 25, 2017
Search with Random Leaf Values Apr 23, 2018
Shawn Benn Jan 2, 2015
TASC SmartBoard Feb 25, 2018
Terry Everett Dec 1, 2017
The King Jan 21, 2018
United States Open Computer Chess Championship Dec 2, 2017
USB Chess Board Apr 21, 2015
USOCCC 1986 Dec 1, 2017
USOCCC 1987 Nov 30, 2017
USOCCC 1988 Dec 1, 2017
Walt Bilofsky Apr 18, 2014
Wb2UCI Feb 1, 2018
ZX Spectrum Aug 3, 2016

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