Author: Jorge
Date: 08:08:39 05/08/02
Go up one level in this thread
On May 07, 2002 at 22:33:37, John Merlino wrote: >Well, it's about that time. Chessmaster 9000 has gone into Beta, so I get to >tell you all what's new (or improved or modified) for this version. > >WARNING! Any or all of this may change as the program goes through testing! So >don't complain if this list turns out to be not 100% accurate! > >New Features for Chessmaster 9000 (in no particular order): > >Boards and Pieces >-- True 3D Boards and Pieces. Currently there are twenty-eight boards and >thirty-four piece sets to mix and match and view from any size and angle (over >950 combinations of boards and pieces!). Some of the piece sets are "flat", >making them useful for users who prefer 2D boards. Also includes 8 "presets" >which users can set to any board orientation and recall via a single keystroke. >Requires DirectX 8.1 or higher. > >Online Play >-- Chessmaster Live restored on Ubi Soft servers. One big community for all >Chessmaster owners to play against each other and chat. Persistent data keeps >all users' records on file at all times. Requires internet connection. > >Chess Engine >-- Updated version of The King chess engine >-- Endgame Database Support (de Koning format). Program ships with all 3-man and >4-man, plus a few of the more important 5-man sets. Also includes utility to >create the complete set of files. > >Game Play >-- QuickStart! game feature makes starting a new game against a random opponent >(within a strength range that you can select) just one mouse click away >-- Sudden Death time control modifier >-- Most recent move can now be designated either by highlighting the from/to >squares or by an arrow between the two squares > >Learning Tools >-- Blunder Alert, notifying users instantly when they make a "blunder" (a move >which shows a loss of more than a pawn, although this minimum value can be >changed by the user from between 0.5 to 3.0 pawns) >-- Two new exercise types: Memorize the Position, Follow the Game (each with >three skill levels) >-- Two new (Beginner) drill types: Mate with One Pawn (e.g. Keep the >Opposition), Mate with Two Pawns >-- All exercises now report "You have a Mate in N" to help users gauge their >progress (or lack thereof) towards exercise completion (thanks to the EGTB >support) > >Personalities >-- Ability to edit the biography and playing style descriptions of user-created >personalities >-- Users can now define ratings for user-created personalities >-- Style settings for personalities are now "mirrored", meaning that there is >now MY King Safety and OPPONENT'S King Safety, MY Pawn Weakness and OPPONENT'S >Pawn Weakness, etc. Five more personality settings to play with! >-- Increased Selective Search maximum to 16 > >Mentor Engine >-- Mentor engine activity status messages >-- Mentor engine settings dialog (Hash Table size and Blunder Alert threshhold) >-- UNDOCUMENTED AND UNSUPPORTED! -- INI file setting to allow the user to change >the mentor personality > >Content >-- Josh Waitzkin's "Psychology of Competition" Audio Course. Over five hours of >audio in 19 games. >-- Endgame Quiz from GM Larry Evans >-- Standard updates to Database and Classic Games >-- Eight new GM personalities (Chigorin, Kramnik, Ivanchuk, Leko, Najdorf, >Paulsen, Tartakower and Zukertort -- NOTE: This list is DEFINITELY not final and >some of these may not appear in the final version) > >Opening Books >-- Improved Opening Book format, allowing for an "unlimited" number of moves in >a book (basically, 32-bit indices are now used instead of 16-bit indices) >-- Updated Chessmaster and GM personality opening books > >Tournament Room >-- Random and/or hidden opponents for Tournaments and Rated Games >-- Increased number of players that can be in Tournaments. Round Robin >Tournaments now support up to 32 players, and Swiss Tournaments now support up >to 128 players. >-- Tournament Crosstables for both Round Robin and Swiss tournaments >-- Copy Tournament Results, Summaries and Crosstables to Clipboard >-- Thinking Lines window available in Tournament Room (only if the current game >is comp vs. comp -- otherwise this window will be blank) > >User Data >-- Users can now define their initial ratings > >PGN/FEN Support >-- Copy and Paste PGN/FEN > >Support Windows >-- New "Mentor Lines" window that shows either the N best moves overall or the >single best move over time (i.e. the way CM8000 displayed its output in the >Thinking Lines window). This window is available in the Game Room and also in >the Library (for quick analysis of Classic Games or opening book lines) >-- Side-to-move indicator in Visual Thinking window >-- Visual Thinking window now flips when main board is flipped >-- One keystroke combination will now toggle the visibility of all child windows > >Game Analysis >-- Time and Depth for each move of Game Analysis indicated in "Analysis" tab of >Annotation window > >Tutorials >-- Replay button added to Tutorial window > >Miscellaneous >-- Compatible with Windows XP/ME/98 >-- The CD is no longer ALWAYS required. The old "CD Refresh" code (from CM7000) >has been put back, allowing users approximately two weeks or two dozen sessions >between asking them for the CD on startup. (WARNING! That's the way the code is >now, but the powers-that-be may make us change it! Don't say you haven't been >warned!) > >At this time, Chessmaster 9000 is due to be released in around the end of >August. At some point in the near future, the Chessmaster website is going to >have a CM9000 preview page, which will also include some screenshots. > >Enjoy! > >jm As an avid ChessMaster fan, (have 6000 and 8000 series), I am eagerly awaiting for this one. Maybe I missed it, but I did not see the word "strength", or somewhat expected strength in your post John, or maybe you are saving the best quality for last :D. I guess we will soon find out! regards, jorge
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