Chessmaster 10th Edition

Chessmaster version 10 is the 10th instalment of the chess playing game from Ubisoft.

Any game that makes it to a tenth version and beyond is sure to be a popular one – developers seldom spend time and money upgrading games that are not popular with their customers! Chessmaster is the most popular computerised chess game in history.

The rules of chess are well-known and the rules of the physical game apply in cyber-space too. A brief summary is as follows: the king is the most important piece and one of the weakest, able to move only one space at a time, albeit in any direction, the queen can also move in all directions but she can cover as many squares as there are in that direction. Bishops move diagonally, as far as possible, while castles (also known as rooks) move only in straight lines. Knights move in an L-shaped configuration and pawns can only move forwards, except when they take another piece which is done on a diagonal. Pawns can only move one space at a time except for their very first move which can be two spaces. Other moves like castling and more complicated gambits and plays have also been translated into the game’s programming for an authentic chess playing experience.

Players can choose from various ‘personalities’ against which to play, ranging from very skilled grand-masters to personalities that amount to little more than unskilled beginners, especially programming that makes random moves. These various personalities enable players to match their own skill sets to those of the computer player, giving them a challenging game with a good chance of winning. Players can manipulate the personalities, weighting them towards stronger pawn attacks, greater or lesser mobility and a host of other features in order to strengthen their own game and work on known weaknesses.

While chess fiends are not particularly fussy about what the chess pieces look like – the moves and winning the game being all important – no player can fail to be charmed by the solid-looking virtual pieces provided by the game. The controls are easy to use and players will quickly learn to move the pieces as effortlessly as in the physical game. As a special feature, players of the 10th edition can even play using the wizard’s chess set, featuring the chess pieces made famous in J K Rowling’s Harry Potter book series.

Pros

• A fantastic chess game, offering an authentic playing experience
• Multiple skill levels, enabling the players to choose an evenly-matched opponent to test his or her skills against, or even to try themselves against a better player to improve their game

Cons

• As long as you are interested in chess this is a great game – but it is only about chess!