Chess Master 10th Edition [Hyperdrive25]

Chessmaster 10th Edition [Hyperdrive25] +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ If you're looking for a good chess program that's packed with a plethora of features and all the bells and whistles, you'll be very happy with Chessmaster 10th Edition. All of the chess engines from the last few years can whip the pants off of any human ranked less than grand master, so how do you entice anyone to buy a new chess program? Chessmaster 10th Edition's approach is to pack the program with a huge bundle of features aimed at everyone from the neophyte who's looking to learn the basics to the advanced wood pusher who may need practice for tournament play. The result is a very good package that will satisfy most any chess enthusiast. Every AI opponent has a rating, a biography, and a style. Chess fans look for three key feature areas in their chess programs: graphics, learning and tutorial capabilities, and modes of play. The Chessmaster series has always excelled visually, and the 10th Edition follows this tradition--but not without some caveats. The 3D pieces and boards look great, and you have the ability to adjust the board size and viewing angle to whatever position you prefer. You also get to choose from a selection of animated 3D sets. But while the game boasts 25 3D chess sets, a number of them must be unlocked before being used--a contrivance that may be acceptable in driving games or other genres, but seems somewhat out of place here. Unlocking a set requires winning a certain number of ranked games (games in which you play a ranked player where the results affect your ranking), and several require a substantial number of wins--we're talking dozens. Some may welcome the incentive to play and win, but many players will be frustrated by the inability to use all of the advertised boards and pieces before winning scores of games. There's also an "enhanced 3D" feature that involves using old-fashioned, red-and-blue-lens paper glasses, which come enclosed. The effect is fun to look at for a short time, but it's more of a gimmick than a long-term, useful feature. For computer chess purists, a few 2D sets are offered. They're OK, but those serious players most likely to use the top-down 2D sets may be disappointed in that none of them are really top-notch. Also, if you have Microsoft ClearType enabled on your computer, the menu bar text will be a blurry purple font. These criticisms should not be taken as a condemnation of the overall graphical presentation, because most players will likely pick a good 3D set or two and will stick with them for most of their playing time (many of the fancy 3D sets are more for show than for play against a foe), and the lighting, reflections, and overall graphic depiction of the chess sets are very good. In addition, free, downloadable chess sets are already available from the makers of the game. Once you get into the learning and gameplay modes, the dual nature of Chessmaster 10th Edition becomes apparent. There's an entire segment of the program that is directly targeted at kids. Click on the "fun" icon and you're presented with several options: play, puzzles, and learn basics. The puzzles and learn basics features are just what they sound like: puzzles and lessons targeted at kids, with simple interfaces, emphases on fun, and rewards (such as printable chess certificates). The play option in the "fun" section of Chessmaster 10th Edition provides games against lower-level players that use a whimsical, animated chess set. This aspect of the game is very well done, and it may serve as an excellent means to draw young, new players into the world of chess. The learning tools in the more "adult" section of Chessmaster 10th Edition include a great deal of information targeted at beginning players. The highlights of the "academy" are the sections taught by Josh Waitzkin (the subject of the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer) and grand master Larry Christiansen. Both feature spoken commentary that accompanies the principles explained on the board. While much of Waitzkin's tutorial will be of little interest to intermediate and advanced players, his annotated games, which illustrate the psychology of chess, are intriguing for all levels of players. Christiansen's "attacking chess" is more interesting for experienced players, but it's too short, because only six (though a very interesting six) games are analyzed. Christiansen also presents a fascinating analysis of a four-game match in which he played against Chessmaster 9 at its highest difficulty setting. The rest of the academy includes a variety of drills and puzzles, which are, again, mostly directed at lower-level players. Other learning materials in Chessmaster 10th Edition include a large database of famous games (that feature mostly sparse annotation) and a section on openings. In spite of the plethora of material, there is actually room for improvement in some sections. For example, in the openings section, there is a practice drill on the difficult king-knight-bishop mate, but there's no explanation on how to accomplish it. As a result, lower-level players will simply become frustrated attempting it. And many of the openings described in the "practice openings" section go no deeper than four moves. Many, in fact, consist of just one move. After all the drills and tutorials, and after deciding whether to go with a standard Staunton 3D chess set or something a bit more off-the-wall (such as a set composed of nuts and bolts), it's time to actually play chess. Chessmaster 10th Edition shines in gameplay modes. You can challenge a wide range of "personalities" with varying strengths (from pure beginner to grand master level) and styles. For instance, one artificially intelligent player may favor bishops inordinately over knights, while another may be much better in speed chess games rather than standard time settings. Each of the AI players has a biography and a photo attached, but, alas, once you're into a match, there are no added personality touches (such as comments on your moves, for instance). You can play ranked games in which you select an AI opponent and in which the results of the game impact your rating; for example, beating a much higher-ranked player will result in a considerable boost in your rankings, while losing to a lower-ranked foe will drop your level significantly. You can also select to play in a wide variety of prearranged tournaments that are set up according to skill levels and playing styles. The only major flaw in Chessmaster 10th Edition's chess-playing modes is that your AI opponent will never resign. Other top chess programs offer this feature, and it should be available as a toggle in Chessmaster. Want to use this chess set? First you'll have to win 60 games in ranked play. Online play has some connectivity bugs that have plagued a large number of players--judging from the game's official message boards--though the developers claim that these issues will be addressed. If you're able to avoid connection problems, online play is straightforward and is well-laid-out, offering everything from quick games to tournaments. The latest Chessmaster isn't the perfect program for hardcore chess aficionados. However, if you're looking for a good chess program that's packed with a plethora of features and all the bells and whistles, you'll be very happy with Chessmaster 10th Edition. The minimum system requirements for running Chessmaster 10th Edition are: Supported OS: Windows® 98/ME/XP (Chessmaster 10th Edition does not officially support Windows 2000 or NT) Tested Service Packs: Win 2000 - Service Pack 4, Win XP - Service Pack 1 Processor: Pentium® III 450 MHz or AMD Duron™ 600MHz RAM: 128 MB Video Card: 4Mb (For 3D game play, the supported graphic cards are GeForce™ 1/2/3/4/FX Families and ATI Radeon 7500/8000/ 9000 Families) Minimum Screen Resolution: 1024x768 (lower resolutions not supported, even if most of the game modes should work) Sound Card: optional but recommended DirectX® Version: DirectX 9 CD-ROM: 4X CD-ROM or better Hard Drive Space: 540 MB Multiplayer: 56 Kbps or better for Internet or LAN play The recommended system requirements for running Chessmaster 10th Edition are: Supported OS: Windows® 98/ME/XP (Chessmaster 10th Edition does not officially support Windows 2000 or NT) Tested Service Packs: Win 2000 - Service Pack 4, Win XP - Service Pack 1 Processor: Pentium III 1Gz or more recent RAM: 512MB Video Card: ATI Radeon™ 9000 family, GeForce™ FX family Screen Resolution: 1280x1024 Sound Card: recommended DirectX® Version: DirectX 9 CD-ROM: 16X CD-ROM Hard Drive Space: 1650 MB, allowing a full install Multiplayer: broadband Install Notes: Double-click the setup file to begin installation. Desktop shortcut menu entry and uninstaller created automatically. ___________________________________________________________________________________ A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL YOU HARD-WORKING SEEDERS! THANK U ALL! :) ***HYPERDRIVE25*** ___________________________________________________________________________________

udp://tracker.openbittorrent.com:80
udp://open.demonii.com:1337
udp://tracker.coppersurfer.tk:6969
udp://exodus.desync.com:6969

mudbone32 (2011-09-09)

Forgive me if I'm being thick here but this torrent is useless. When running the game keeps asking to insert other disks and not having the info it needs to load personalities of opponents.
The blurb says you will need 1650mb to run this but the file is only 188.75mb. Looks like a lot of the content is missing making it a waste of time.

 Hyperdrive25 (2011-09-12)

@mudbone32 :
The game works fine for me. I always CHECK before uploading the torrent.
So its simply a small matter of configuring your PC.
Hope this helps :)

Sauloca (2011-09-18)

Forgive me if I'm being thick here too, but this torrent is useless. When running the game keeps asking to insert other disks and not having the info it needs to load personalities of opponents.

 Hyperdrive25 (2011-09-20)

I have been playing this game for some time now and I have never noticed the above mentioned error. This is a small sized rip of the game for persons with low download speeds.
I have found out that the full version is more than 1Gb. I may upload the larger version in the days to come....

Thanks for bearing with me and my sincerest apologies for any inconvenience given.

muwaters (2011-10-01)

Every time I try to play a single game or tournament it writes "failed to attach personality", can anyone help? Thanks

_Karan_ (2011-10-21)

useless same above "failed to attach personality" error !!! in single play why dont you delete it

no-name19 (2011-11-29)

i launched the game normle but when i started playing it told me inser CD2 or failed to attach personality

timnorris (2011-12-03)

This torrent is useless. Please find a solution to the 'Failed to attach personality' error and
Insert CD 1/2/3 error' If you have a crack. give us a pointer to the torrent for the crack.

Night_Cat (2012-05-22)

He's dim, Jed.
Chess Master installed okay, but when I tried to play a game, it kept giving me an error message - Failed to attach personality.
Coincidentally, that's also what happened when George W. Bush was born.
This is pointless. It doesn't work. Don't bother.
I have a Thinkpad with Windows XP (32 bit) and service pack 2.

blackestsheep (2012-07-03)

thanks worked for me on wxp
just installed n worked fine
pretty complicated chess game i just wanted a simple one but this has it all thanks

cool1919 (2012-11-07)

having 'failed to attach personality' problem here.

cool1919 (2012-11-07)

failed to attach problem!

chaman59 (2013-04-08)

Hello, Hyperdrive, works good to me, but can you tell me if it's UK or US version? cause i've to install an update patch...
Thanks

chaman59 (2013-04-09)

Well......Is it "untouched version", My dear? cause i had a knox problem about Chessmaster: impossible to play online "Client is not compatible with the server"...this can be resolvved by patches, but i tried Uk, US, and even french version of these patches, but: "unknown version"....
So, is it an Hyperdrive version?