Feel free to comment and discuss this game here. Also, if you have any useful tips or tricks don't hesitate to share them with the others! Thanks!

Review and Download (if available)

Stunning screenshots.:P

Wasn't there a GameBoy version of this?

Thanks. I really wanted to capture the action of the game :angel:

i was very young when i play this games. A very good game..... :cheers:

How good is the grandmaster chess-engine in comparison to the fritz engine? Does

someone know?

I´m asking cause I´m looking for an alternative to chessmaster2000 and fritz 7.

Chessmaster has got a very good library and therefor is quite adequate for learning.

Even for advanced gamers. Fritz7 is quite strong and hasn´t got much of a chess

learning mode. So chessmaster would be the right choice for the beginning. Problem is:

it doesn´t work on XP...


So what do you think?

I learned how to play chess with this program :D

What do you mean?
It works on Win XP, but the animation at the opening doesn't. So after seeing the Capstone logo the screen will go blank (with possibly some red squares), but then the chess board will show up and you can play normally.

For learning I still think that Sierra Power chess was the best one (but as far as I know it wonly works on Win 9x systems).

It crhashed in WIN 98 right on the beginning (VSMON caused an error). Then i tried ion dos with boot disk. worked ok. played untill about 11th move then (when he was loosing) it crashed again. or should i say everything stopped responding (keyboard, mouse...). Quite a serious crash.

No it's not the viruses cause computer just got clean virus scan, defrag, registry scan and repair and finnaly a new power supply unit.

I can only guess what casue the crash, since there was no message in DOS. One it could be a bad file and two the CPU is too fast for this game. so which one is it?

To bo honest - I've no idea. The game works fine for me on my stationary computer, on rainwife's laptop and on my fathers computer (I gave him the game some two weeks ago).

So until now I didn't even know the game is causing any problems... Maybe it's a corrupt download?

I don't have time for easily mastered games such as chess.

Seriously though, thanks, maybe I'll finally brush up on my chess-playing skills (which do not exist as of yet)

it's known as the game that's easily learned, but takes a lifetime to master.

The thing that really gets me is that there is never the same game twice. I've played hundreds of games(and I'm still no master) and I swear to you, unless intentinally, I have never played the same game twice. It is absolutely mind boggling how the situational complexity multiplies exponentially with every thought out move.

I have chessmaster 10th edition, and if you can afford it, and are into learning the game then this is hands down the best avenue for you to go. If you have ever seen a movie called "Searching for Bobby Fisher", then you might remember the boys name was Josh Waitskin(not Bobby fisher). Well he's all grown up now(and ironically has quit playing chess opting instead for martial arts) however he has colaborated with ubi-soft and put together a full-fledged tutorial and learning course that covers all aspects of the game. These elements that he goes over include: beginning, middle, end game play/ tactics/ phsycology/ pawn structure/ piece dynamics and congruity ,as well as much mre. What I loved best was the fact that there is a lecture series included where he'll take you through some of his grandmaster games against his rival and take you step by step through them and explain the train of thought.

I may have to download this one however as i'm sick of having to put that bloody CD in my computer. ( i have bf2 and starwars3 in there right now and niether of them seem to want to leave ;P.

If anyone out there wants a half decent advesary or maybe even a little tutelage (as my theory is much better then my tactics at the moment) let me know. I'm always up for a game.

If anyone is interested, a chess challenge has been issued before :whistle:

But if they're nonexistent as of yet, you wouldn't be doing any brushing up, would you? It would simply be brushing.:P

This is not a chess game for the easily frustrated, I suppose? Because if it isn't, I'd better stay clear of it, no matter how good it is... :tomato:

Bah, this game only gets a 4 in my book, maybe just even a 3, I will dismiss this for all time, as it does not challenge the best chess game of all time! BATTLE CHESS!

Well it won't mind if you start insulting it, cursing, throwing furniture, hireing a hitman to kill the lead programer of the game... So I guess you could play - but don't expect to win :whistle:

Bleh... the only PC chess software worth having is Chessmaster. Preferrably 8000 or above.

I don't get the Chessmaster games for a single reason, that repulsive old man on the cover of each box.

His ugly mug alone makes me shudder.
Battle Chess is chess with violence and humor!

And gets boring once you've seen all the animations 5 times.

BTW - you do know that the main part of a chess game is the THINKING. What will your next move be? Will you defeat the opponent? Animations and game covers are really besides the point here...

One of the best chess games ever only featured CGA graphics, letters representing pieces and a "type the move" interface. But it was still 102kb (which was kindda big for that time, not to mention for a game with virtually no graphics and absolutely no sound). Never got boring (but I never got to win).

What is with most of the new chess games and their insane AI? The developers are trying to kill us.

It's like they're trying to develop a home version of Deep Blue.

Err... and what's wrong with that?
You're not complaining if a mindless shooter gets harder and the thinking players can't even get half way through... The why would you expect a thinking game to be made childlishly easy for people who can't play chess?

Well that would be exceptable, except for the fact that they MURDER you, this isn't forgivable difficulty, this is just a slaughter.
You can't have fun that way, even the easiest difficulty levels are a strain.
That isn't proper challenge, that's just poor balance when it comes to the developer's part.

I'll stick with my Window Internet Chess.

I never said anything about first person shooters, if it's too hard for a thinking person, then it's too challenging period, that's why made Far Cry a poor game at first, a crappy save engine and far too difficult gameplay.

What do you mean?
It works on Win XP, but the animation at the opening doesn't. So after seeing the Capstone logo the screen will go blank (with possibly some red squares), but then the chess board will show up and you can play normally.

For learning I still think that Sierra Power chess was the best one (but as far as I know it wonly works on Win 9x systems). [/b][/quote]
I meant chessmaster8000. Bought it a few years ago and it ran fluently on win2k.

But XP refuses. The game freezes, databases aren´t loaded etc.

An I don´t won´t learn chess from the scratch. That isn´t what I´m talking about. I

doubt that someone in here knows all possible openings. And I even don´t mean the

basic openings. That´s wahat I meant about learning chess.

Every child - and I´m far off being a child - knows how to handle the chessmen.

But I´m still far away from saying I know how to play chess. I play too seldom I think.


And no, the chessmaster engine isn´t really better than fritz´s.

I once let my chess-computer ( nah, not a good one) battle against fritz and fritz won

in less than 20 turns ( don´t know the exact number right now. Might be much more

less).

So what do you think where grandmaster chess has to be placed?

A-ha,
well the chaess engine isn't as strong as Fritz.
The openings the computer plays are far to repetitive (usually the Queens gambit).
Still you can learn a few things by analyzing the game (but then again you can do that with almost every chess programe out there).

For learning openings I still recomend a good chess manual (there are tons of books written on the subject) and for really improving your play - play against a human oponent stronger then you (computers still aren't intuative enough). There's the psychological effect a human player can provide that the computer never will be able to (lureing you into mistakes).

Indeed, this game is not too difficult.

But then again, im quite an advanced chessplayer...
(or actually, i just pick my opponents carefully :cheers: )

yes,there still are some idiots who believe that black is not a color.go figure,eh?

Black is the lack of reflection of any light wave from the color spectrum. Hence, it is the absence of color.


@Pigggy: I hope you're being sarcastic. If not, you should probably be told that Chessmaster has a huge list of choices for difficulty settings. On the lowest ones, it makes completely random moves.

I wasn't speaking of Chessmaster, I was speaking of chess games in general.

But Nikson, think of this.
If you combine certain colors, you can have black, especially paint, if you can solidify it into a shade or etc. it's a color.
And white is a color because it's the combination of all the primary colors.

Incorrect. "total" black or white cannot be found in paint, since you cannot have a mathematically, molecularly equal amount of all primary colors. You will have shades.

True black is the absorption of all light wave frequencies. And white is the reflection of all light wave frequencies.

I know it's all technical details, but in science (i.e: optics), black and white are not "colors".

# 1750's Baron of Kempelen's TURK
# 1950 Alan Turing does LMG
# 1950 Claude Shannon paper design
# 1957 Herb Simon Predicts 10 Years
# 1968 David Levy bets nothing to beat him in 10 years
# 1978 Levy Wins bet
# 1982 Bell Lab's BELLE
# 1988 CMU Deep Thought

* Levy Loses

# 1997 IBM Deep blue defeats Kasparov

taken from http://www.cs.brandeis.edu/~pollack/...es/games19.htm


Building a chess "machine" that can defeate a human has been attempted, as you can see, from as early as 1750. As mentioned before, there are fully customizable settings in most modern chess simulators, and the fact that the chessmaster is whooping your "behind" (as it is mine) should tell you not that it is too hard, but that you need more practice.
personally I like the thought that I have an opponent whenever I want , and no one ever has to know how much it kicks my "behind". This way I can get used to losing so I don't totally lose it when it happens in public :P
Another good thing about the chessmaster series is that they are fully supported online, and you can get ranked officially through it.

After Deep Blue beat Kasparov, he had a revenge series of games against it and won/drew all of them :D

I got chessmaster 9000 (wich works perfectly on XP). I like it because not only can i find an oppenant of a similar level (approx 1100 at the monent but lickly to drop quit a bit soon) It also help teach my kids to play. My 5 year old loves playing against the chimp :D . I also play against lower oppentents if i'm trying out new openings. (my main openeing is the kings indian attack).

I am partial to the vienna, or kings indian opening(white) and experimenting with sicilian(black).

I believe Kasparov won the first match vs deep-blue, after which deeper-blue*1 won the rematch, and upon doing so retired much to the agaust of Kasparov. I believe that IBM did this in spite of Kasparov's rudeness, as he suggested that there was outside interference; aka. some other grandmaster inputting moves during the match.

In the chessmaster series there are fully annotated coverings of both the matches.

*1. After the first match the deep blue program was over hauled, as well as the actually hardware was supped up considerably, hence the name deeper-blue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Blue

I can run it in XP, but when I "exit" it goes to a MS-DOS screen. Why?

I cannot install this game on my Windows 2000 Professional operating system. Can anyone help me out ?

I have to be honnest i diddnt try the game but i have a really cool link for you chess freaks just like me just go to google and type in "FICS" its an awsum site totaly free dont need money to join dont need any money what so ever hens the name "FICS" Free Internet Chess Server. you can watch the Gms live when there are tournaments on you get your own rating chat in channels (ect...) if you do log on the best interface in my opinion ib "babas chess" look out for me there my name is fishchair.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DonCorleone @ Nov 7 2005, 03:36 PM) [snapback]177478[/snapback]</div>I owned this game in the past and it's extremely weak even to Fritz 1,2 and 3. It plays at a low club level standard.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Nikson @ Nov 8 2005, 06:06 AM) [snapback]177772[/snapback]</div>after deep blue beat kasparov, deep blue was retired by IBM. kasparov made many accusations which i suspect were probably true since anyone who knows a bit about chess can see that no matter how deep the program searches, a few of the moves it played were completel human in nature. furthermore, IBM refused to release score sheets and logs to prove the machine found the move on its own. if they had nothing to hide, why hide it?

kasparov did not beat deep blue in a rematch.

todays software is stronger. that's right. the best software running on a home PC could defeat the deep blue that defeated kasparov. in a recent match, the software available to you folks from chessbase defeated michael adams 5.5 - .5. that means in 6 games it won 5 and drew 1. no losses. adams is within 100 elo of kasparov.. meaning that machine was far stronger than any human at the time.

new software, rybka, is over 100 elo stronger than it's nearest competitor: fruit 2.2.1 which is stronger than any other engine including anything chessbase has pumped out.

chess software is better than any human player. period. EXCEPT in correspondence chess. in correspondence where humans have hours or days or even weeks to consider each move, they can exhaust all the positional aspects.. and delve deeper tactically than a computer who's depth is a log of time wherease a human's depth is more like a square root curve.

thus making stronger computer software still has a reason: defeating correspondence opponents. also, being the strongest software means you will be the best analysis tool for grandmasters (and weak players too if they really know how to use the software well.. since they have to substitute their ability to use the software for the GM's better understanding of the machine's results).

also, when it comes to solving chess, the gauntlet was thrown down hundreds of years ago.. and the challenge still has yet to be met.

we will easily solve chess within 20 years.

if you disagree please email me at sharpnova AT gmail DOT com

i'll explain it and you could paste it in this thread if you like.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Joe Gatt @ Dec 22 2005, 03:07 PM) [snapback]191358[/snapback]</div>Just something you might try.....just installed it successfully on a Windows 2000 sp4.....seems to work
fine....(maybe try the latest service pack of Windows??)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Nikson @ Nov 7 2005, 08:40 PM) [snapback]177587[/snapback]</div>[font=Times New Roman][size=2]
Chessmaster is a very excellant chess game that I've yet to beat.

I'm not a chessmaster but I like this game, it's pretty challenging for me and I would say my chess knowladge is about average.

I still prefer LIVE chess instead of electronic one, then my distraction skills can be of use! :D

Running this in DOSBox 0.74 and I'm having some issues with this game.

1) The savegame feature doesn't seem to work, giving a message that the game wasn't saved. Can someone who have successfully saved a game give step by step instructions on how to save?

2) When reverting to previous steps to review the line, quite often the message "can't put the king in check" appears when no check is happening. Other times the game freezes/crashes. Every time after multiple step-backs and replays of the moves reverting gives duplicate pieces or missing pieces randomly on the board.

3) A few times, the game simply stops responding out of the blue. Any ideas?

Anwer to 2: I do not know what the situation was. However if you have what is called a "check" that means you are one step before taking over the country of the other King! That's all I know and it is an important step in chess.

Thanks. I know what a check and checkmate is :) I might be a terrible chess player but this I know. What I'm talking about are what very much seem like bugs in the game to me.

I'll give you an example from an actual game:
I open with pawn to e4, then black moves d5. I capture at d5 and black moves knight to f6. I revert to before the knight move to move the queen instead but gets the message "can't put the king in check". This is absurd as there is nothing to check the king at this point.

I see. Being a hobbyist programmer I often leave what I consider little details because the program takes so long to make. For instance I might not even know about the bug until someone plays the game so I need someone to tell me that something is wrong. However I have over one thousand discs with various revisions. I might never be able to solve the bug so I just leave it at the current best and glitch version! Only God is perfect so I do not know much more than that if any.

Tried. Worked.

1. File - Save game.
2. [Game dir opened as C for me]File name - any. (I used ASDF)
3. Game name - any (it's internal, not file name. I used aasdf, accidentally).
4. Ok.

Game saved with set file name and .glb extension.

Unfortunately, that's not working here for some reason. I keep getting the message "the game could not be saved" :/

Hai :hai: Mighty Giant (not TheGiantMidgit nor Titan :wacko: :tease:).

I am not an expert like Emperor Japo(deis) :king: and Spectre(man) :borg:. And I do not intend to be... Well, since Spectre(man)’s :borg: instruction did not solve your problem, I would have some suggestions:

• Does the game installed on your PC contain all the files? Nothing is missing?

• Are some of the game files corrupted?

01) The installation of the game (if it is by the installer) may be corrupted due to incompatibility with Operating System, AV engine, errors in Windows registry, etc...

02) Just to get an idea, after I installed Windows XP (I was pretty newbie at the time :palm: :picard:), I installed several programs and guess what? Some of them got corrupted or the installations were not perfect.

03) I updated the Dropbox version by installing over the current one without uninstalling - guess what? The program did not start anymore and even the blessed Dropbox Support did not solve the problem! Neither the Registry Cleaner, Uninstallers, etc. solved the problem. So the problem was mysteriously solved out of blue. A tip for anyone using Dropbox. Let the program runs self-update and avoid headaches for you.

I cannot ensure that your issue will be resolved, but try to see if any of the files are missing or your AV engine is causing problems. And check into AV engine quarantine.

I would also suggest using a program that is to your liking like Ashampoo WinOptimizer, System Mechanic, TuneUp Utilities to look for errors in Windows Registry. Or try a free program with good evaluation and reviews on the site Softpedia.

Because for the game to be freezing indicates some problem of incompatibility with Operating System and / or Hardware, missing files, etc. I’ve already tried installing programs and Blue Screen of Death due to incompatibility with hardware (Windows XP at the time).

And it may be that your problem is solved out of blue and everything I’ve written may be merely a novel... :mhh:

I got Abandonia version, and used default parameters, so no fine-tune. Strange.

Is it possible that you use the same save file that was used earlier, and game cannot overwrite it? Or maybe you start game right from the archive, or from CD? Or in the somehow otherwise protected directory?

I got the game from AB as well. Anway, seems like there are more problems with this game (or rather download) than I'm willing to spend time on. The most serious is a strong tendency to crash not only DOSBox but the entire computer when DOSBox goes down. Bobby Fischer Teacher Chess is working like a charm (even though the AI is attrocious) but I really like the option of human vs human player in GMC, which is not available in BFTC. I think I'm done with this one.

PS: I did manage to save a game (out of the blue that one) but loading the same game is not working, rendering the save game feature as useful as a car made of french fries.

That's a shame. I do not have the game. However I used to place chess for 1 whole year seriously. It is one of those games where your skills go down if you don't use it often. At least that is the case with me so my skills are minimum. Did you know even a kid can beat me! It is true.

However chess games glitches are common. Somehow I got chessmaster status for 2 or 3 games and could never achieve it again.

I have a chess game somewhere in dos that was never widely realized. However I'll look for it. It is only for 2 players though so you need to play with someone.

I am putting my foot in my mouth since I am lazy and I don't want to look through a thousand disks again!

You'll have to try to figure out the instructions because I don't remember.

Uh-oh. %() It must never to happen!

Maybe something wrong with your system in general? Failed memory? Failed HDD? Out of space on C disk?
Ouch. :|

Well I could not find the one that I worked on. However for the time being you can play Rebel Decade. They do ask you to donate however I sent money in a Vietnamese New Years envelope to them once and they sent it back. This is one of my favourite games. It is well done in my opinion.

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/xh3...3/Rebel_Decade

Just when I want something I couldn't find it. I need a disc organizer. Well I am too lazy to even organize my one thousand discs. It always end up being the last discs. Anyways if you really want my software someone on chess dot com should have it. I released it many years ago. However mine is very simple compared to the AI of this one I just presented! This one is also for DOSBox from the label.

Well..... I found it. An old forum that I used to be on still keeps a copy. I only saw 3 parts to it and rar it up. It should be in DOS. Just in case the previous program has copyright concerns you know I am allowing use of my software. The one on mediafire might be a little complicated. And so is mine. So take your pick. hehe

Dear GrandMaster Spectre(man) :borg:. You will have to checkmate the bugs!

When you have insufficient RAM, your Operating System may freeze. The way is to reboot the PC and use a RAM optimizer.

Another situation that may cause Operating System crashes may be the blessed Motherboard or some incompatible Hardware or Drivers. The result will be a beautiful Blue Screen of Death. Maybe the failed Memory can also cause Blue Screen?

The failed HDD may cause the disk drive to be unrecognized. The HDD will “disappear” in the Operating System, and only being detected in BIOS setup. If the failure is in the main HDD, then I would not know how to answer.

That must be what was happening on my end. I have a cheap computer so it is only like 1 year old and it is HDD and memory failing already. Just recently it forced me to check memory when it is only 1 year old.

Being on welfare I cannot afford a MacBook Pro that is made of aluminum! I can only afford a cheap laptop to do the basics with. It only cost like $200 USD that any family can afford. Get what you pay for.

Just like today I cannot afford Win3.11 because my mother tells me either Snapple flavored drink or Win3.11. Being a diabetic I don't get much sugar so I chose Snapple yummy yummy

If you knew the cost of living here... and the costs of the products... here gives more emphasis to indirect taxes than direct taxes... for the bad luck of the most disadvantaged classes... :headslap: :palm: :picard:

I think you should give preference to good and reliable brands. :OK: I always do this to avoid headache and more expenses with maintenance and repair of computer products. :wall: :hairpull:

Jesus Christ! I beg to differ... if you learn to purchase wisely you will save yourself a lot. For instance HP had a bad reputation for an accident years ago. A kid was playing and the power cord was bitten off somehow and the kid got shock. So now they sell HP computers for $200 at times (I have one). Bad reputation however for adults and wise people like you who knows to look for a good buy when you see it then it is really a matter of taking good care of what you have. You see... HP is trying really hard to recover from that blow with cheap prices. You get to use it almost like a MacBook Pro except it doesn't have the Mac side to it. I am stupid because I got scammed by my cousin who ask for 2 of my laptops when he already has enough stuffs of his own. So that's what I get for being trustworthy. I'm not complaining. It is just that I got ripped off when I should have been more careful. My point is you are right... the MacBook Pro is a better buy than the plastic HP. However I don't have the cash or money in any form to buy it unless I eat out of the trash! In fact I eat all my welfare money because my mother tells me I do# That is a good thing since I am growing and healthy 43 year old croaking young man. Anyways I saw a few COA and sealed Win3.11 for under $40 except they say it is not guaranteed delivery. Sigh!!! Now I am still waiting for Q+bert and it says shipped but when I do not know it will arrive if ever. Now you could imagine the embarrassment my mom must have and you know she is embarrass when her son still lives with her and plays Q+bert in the corner of the house. So now that I got you all confused I hope you keep a good head on your shoulder and always question yourself with "Is this person a good person? Can I trust what this person says and do? Or will it lead me down fatal paths like the guy/gal that died in Mortal Kombat and was trapped for a while actually forever hehe

Step by Step in Control Panel in Windows XP / Windows 7
 

I noticed that the setting in the Control Panel of Windows 7 is similar to that of Windows XP. This setting deactivates the Automatic Restart of the Operating System if any action causes an error in the system.

In the case of Windows 10, I would not know how to configure it as I did downgrade to Windows 7. Windows 10 has some things that I do not like despite some superior features (better Windows Update, etc.).

Yes... Grandmaster Chess might be looking for a specific ini file because I installed Windows 3.11 on top of DOS and it was asking for a missing ini file. Because it could not find a missing ini file I was not able to see all the options and stuffs in the Windows until I installed it in the right directory. So this could be your problem? So much can go wrong.