Chessmaster Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Chessmaster

Genres	Computer chess
Developers	David Kittinger Kathe Spracklen Dan Spracklen Johan de Köning
Publishers	The Software Toolworks (1986–1994) Mindscape (1993–1999) Mattel Interactive (2000) Ubisoft (2001–2008) Feral Interactive (OS X)
Platforms	List Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Mac, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Game Gear, NES, Super NES, Windows, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Xbox, Xbox 360
Original release	1986–2008

Chessmaster is a very popular chess video game series. It was first called The Chessmaster. This game series is now owned by Ubisoft. It is the best-selling chess video game series ever. More than five million copies were sold by 2002. The same picture of actor Will Hare was used on the game covers for many years.

A Look at the Chessmaster Games
How the Chessmaster Plays Chess
- The King Chess Engine
- Playing Styles and Personalities
The Face of Chessmaster
Famous Chess Games
Where You Can Play Chessmaster
See also

A Look at the Chessmaster Games

Chessmaster 10th Edition was released in 2004.

The Chessmaster series has released many games over the years. Here are some of the main ones:

1986: The first game, The Chessmaster 2000, came out. It was made for many different computers like the Apple II and Commodore 64. The game had a special program, called a chess engine, that played chess. It was designed by David Kittinger. This first game even won a computer chess championship!
1988: The Fidelity Chessmaster 2100 was released. It came out for Apple II and Commodore 64 first.
1990: The Chessmaster became available on game consoles. It was released for the NES. Later, it came to Game Gear and Game Boy.
1991: The Chessmaster 3000 was special because it could explain moves using voice!
1993: The Chessmaster 4000 Turbo was the first game in the series to let players play against each other online or on a local network.
1996: Chessmaster 5000 was released for Windows 95.
1999: Chessmaster came to the Game Boy Color.
2002: Chessmaster 9000 was released by Ubisoft. It was a very popular version.
2004: Chessmaster 10th Edition was released for Windows and Xbox.
2007: Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition (also known as Chessmaster 11) came out. It had many helpful lessons for players. These lessons were taught by famous chess players like Joshua Waitzkin. It also included fun puzzles and mini-games with Raving Rabbids.
2008: Chessmaster Live was released for Xbox 360.

How the Chessmaster Plays Chess

The Chessmaster games use a special computer program called a "chess engine." This engine is like the brain of the game. It figures out the best moves to make.

The King Chess Engine

The main chess engine used in Chessmaster is called The King. It was created by Johan de Köning from the Netherlands. This engine was first used in Chessmaster 4000 Turbo. The latest version of The King engine, version 3.50, is in Chessmaster 11.

The very first Chessmaster 2000 game used a different engine. It was made by David Kittinger. Later, Chessmaster 2100 used an engine designed by Kate and Dan Spracklen.

Playing Styles and Personalities

The King engine lets players create different "personalities" for the computer opponent. This means you can change how the computer plays. You can adjust things like how much it protects its king or how random its moves are.

For example, Chessmaster 9000 had over 150 different personalities. Some played like very strong human chess players, called Grandmasters. Others played very differently, like "Stanley," a chimpanzee personality that made mostly random moves!

The Face of Chessmaster

The people who made Chessmaster 2000 wanted the game to feel like you were playing against a real person. So, they created a mascot character for the game. This character, called "The Chessmaster," was a picture of actor Will Hare. He was dressed up to look like a wise wizard or a chess master. This image became very famous. The same photo was used for the game's branding for 17 years!

Famous Chess Games

Chessmaster 9000 even played against a real human International Master named Larry Christiansen in September 2002. Chessmaster won the match by a score of 2½ to 1½. The computer used different "personalities" for each game. Some of these personalities were based on famous human Grandmasters like Alexander Alekhine and Bobby Fischer.

Where You Can Play Chessmaster

Over the years, Chessmaster has been available on many different gaming systems. These include:

Old computers like Amiga, Apple II, and Commodore 64.
Windows and Mac computers.
Game consoles like NES, Super NES, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and Xbox.
Handheld devices like Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS.
Even mobile phones!

Newer versions of Chessmaster offer both 2D and 3D views of the chess board. They also have many different board designs and chess piece styles. Chessmaster 10th Edition even had animated 3D sets. In these, the pieces would "walk" between squares and have fun battles when one piece captured another. It was a bit like the Wizard's chess from Harry Potter!

Chessmaster facts for kids

Contents