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From: hoffmann@acl.kodak.com (marty hoffmann)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.games
Subject: RE:      Which is the best chess game?
Message-ID: <1991Apr10.125126.23100@ssd.kodak.com>
Date: 10 Apr 91 12:51:26 GMT
Sender: news@ssd.kodak.com
Distribution: usa
Organization: Eastman Kodak
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Originator: hoffmann@wotan

I have seen ChessMaster 2100 on an IBM PC and I own Chessmaster 2000
for the Amiga.  If the Amiga version of CM2100 is like the IBM version,
I'm going to have to buy it.

I find ChessMaster's style of play quite solid.  The Coffee House mode is 
nice too.  In that mode, CM won't necessarily make the best move it finds, 
but it won't make brain-dead moves either.

The interface to (the IBM version of) CM2100 is very nice.  There is a
"war room" mode, that displays the board on one part of the screen and
lots of useful information on the other side of the screen (like what
the computer is thinking about).  This is a great improvement over CM2000,
where the information screens covered the board.

I've also heard that CM2100 will play real timed games.  I.e., if you
limit it's time and it runs out of time, it admits to losing (but gives
you the option to continue the game).  I hope the Amiga version supports
this, because I love speed chess and am looking forward to some 5 minute
games.

I haven't seen Checkmate, but I am a little concerned.  A while back, I
bought a program called "Chess Player 2150".  It claimed to be the best
chess program around, and it supposedly won some British Chess Open for 
computers.  Anyway, the magazine ad description for Checkmate is almost 
word-for-word the description on the back of the box for Chess Player 2150.
Here's my opinion of that program (not Checkmate):

	- User interface was terrible (mouse moves very sluggish)
	- Graphics were not very good
	- "What if" feature very difficult to use (to the point of being
	  useless).
	- Display of move analysis suffered same problem as CM2000.  I.e.,
	  you can't view the board at the same time.  In fact, I liked the
	  information displayed by CM2000 better (and CM2100 even better).
	- Play levels went from brain dead to very good, with little
	  inbetween.  I didn't do a head to head comparison with CM2000,
	  but I got the feeling that CM2000 was a better player (just my
	  opinion)
	- Irritating digitized voice (you could turn it off, but you always
	  had to here that first "Hello, I am chess player.  Would you like
	  a game?" -- like I would boot the damn thing up and then say "no"?).
	- Program supposed to learn as you play it.  I am very sceptical
	  about programs that "learn".  CM2000 doesn't learn, but it started
	  out smart enough to beat me and remains smart enough to beat me.
	- Program includes a ratings test based on a fixed set of chess 
	  problems -- some people swear that this gives a good feel for 
	  where you might stand in the real ratings -- yeah sure.

Even if Checkmate is a repackaging of Chess Player 2150 (anyone care to 
comment?), I'm sure Interplay would have at least improved the user interface.
As for bells and whistles like "learning" and a "ratings test", these are
not as important as how it works in a normal game.  Checkmate is supposed to
let you add lines to its opening book, via a text file.  This is another 
whistle (or is it a bell), unless you are so into chess, that you often play
obscure openings not already included in every program's opening book.

Both Chessmaster and Chess Player could easily beat me at higher levels of
play, so I would say the one with the better interface is the one to go with.
I like to play the computer and use it to analyze chess problems, so how well
these two features are integrated is very important to me.  My advice is to
look before you buy, and if you can't do that, buy Chessmaster 2100 -- 
probably the safer bet.

(BTW, hard disk installability would also be an important issue to me.  Does
anyone know whether either CM2100 or Checkmate are hard disk installable?)

							Marty Hoffmann