Author: John Merlino
Date: 10:26:23 07/23/02
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On July 23, 2002 at 09:30:11, Steve wrote: >Has anyone have information about Chessmaster 9000? Is there going to be a big >difference between Chessmaster 8000 and Chessmaster 9000? What will the >difference between the two programs? Thanks > >Steve Here is the current state of the program (and it is now only a few days from the end of testing): NEW Features for Chessmaster 9000: Boards and Pieces -- True 3D Boards and Pieces. Twenty-nine boards and thirty-four piece sets to mix and match and view from any size and angle (almost one thousand possible 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. For higher-end cards, reflections, shadows and bump mapping are supported. 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. Requires internet connection. Chess Engine -- Updated version of The King chess engine (v3.23) -- Endgame Database Support (de Koning format). Program ships with all 3-man and 4-man, plus a few important 5-man sets. Utility to create the complete set of files, including 6-man files, available for download. It is also POSSIBLE that the entire 5-man set will be available for download as well -- this has not yet been decided. 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 -- "Two-click" method for moving pieces eliminates mouse slips -- 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) -- New exercise types: Memorize the Position, Follow the Game (each with three skill levels) -- New drill types: Mate with One Pawn (e.g. Keep the Opposition), Mate with Two Pawns -- All drills now report "You have a Mate in N" to help users gauge their progress towards drill completion 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 nineteen games. -- Endgame Quiz from GM Larry Evans -- Standard updates to Database and Classic Games -- Nine new GM personalities (Chigorin, Ivanchuk, Kashdan, Kramnik, Leko, Najdorf, Paulsen, Tartakower and Zukertort) Opening Books -- Improved Opening Book format, allowing for "unlimited" number of moves in a book -- Updated Chessmaster and GM personality opening books Support Windows -- New "Mentor Lines" window that shows either the N best moves overall or the single best move over time (the way CM8000 displayed its output in the Thinking Lines window). This window is available in the Game Room and the Library (for quick analysis of Classic Games or opening book lines). -- Thinking Lines window now designates when moves are made from an opening book or an endgame database. -- 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 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 Library Room -- Coach and Mentor Lines windows now available in Library Room, allowing users to better understand the Classic Games, or to be used as tools for modifying opening books. User Data -- Users can now define their initial ratings PGN/FEN Support -- Copy and Paste PGN/FEN 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 Chessmaster 7000 has been put back, allowing users approximately two weeks or two dozen sessions between asking them for the CD on startup. jm
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