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Chessmaster XI: Grandmaster Edition (PC DVD) | 
 enlarge | From: Ubisoft
Category: Video Games
List Price: £19.99
Buy New: £7.41
You Save: £12.58 (63%)
New (11) from £7.41
Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 3152
Platform: Windows Xp
Genre: board-games
Rating: Universal, particularly children
Media: Video Game
Operating System: Windows
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 3307210264299
ASIN: B000VY15K4
Release Date: November 2, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Lazy and pointless update October 16, 2008
Mr. A. J. SMITH (Aberdeen, Scotland)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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.
Crap, same problem December 8, 2007
P. Booth
3 out of 15 found this review helpful
It still freezes my computer for minutes at a time while playing profiles. Is crap because i like it, and learned a few things to..
 STILL THE BEST AMATEUR CHESS-SIM OUT THERE November 25, 2007
NeuroSplicer (Freeside, in geosynchronous orbit)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Sure there are much more powerful chess-analysis software available (ChessBase's DEEP FRITZ comes to mind), yet they are either much more expensive or sport features only professionals (or at least truly advanced players) would know how to use.
Not to be outdone at the gate, CHESSMASTER-11 features an exceptionally good teaching tool as well a human-simulation engine which is adaptable to various personalities and is now even multi-core and 64bit-compatible. For any chess-player ranked below 1400, this is the most recommended series.
True, compared to CM-10, this edition is not that different - with the exception of some visuals and animated board options. I could not see a reason to upgrade if one already owns CM-10
My advice: wait for Boxing Day sales - you will be able to pick this up for a song.
New version same bug! November 25, 2007
NintendoMan (UK)
14 out of 25 found this review helpful
I bought the previous version, CM10000 and discovered it had a serious bug. If the program was asked to analyse a position then within a few minutes it would generate a 'Buffer overrun error message' and close down!!?? I discovered several other people suffered the same when visiting the ChessMaster forum. I contacted the manufacturer (UBI Soft) who virtually denied the existence of the issue, saying they could not replicate the problem. In fact it was very easy to replicate by setting the program to the infinite level and getting it to try and solve a chess position, bang! I tried the program on 3 other machines which made no difference. I was somewhat surprised to discover that the new version is no different! I have not bought it, nor will, but visiting the forum on the UBI web site, I asked the question and people are reporting the same issue on this new version, TUT TUT. It is probably a very good program for learning to play, but useless for analysis. I have given the program 1 star for fun, the minimum possible! Overall I would not recommend it, the program has not been improved if it still contains the same serious issue. Why should we pay for this? I wouldn't even want it for free! I have several other chess programs, such as Rybka, Hiarcs, Shredder, and Fritz. These programs never crash, even if left analysing for hours on end. Be warned.
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