''The Chessmaster 2000'' is a computer

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

game by

The Software Toolworks The Software Toolworks (commonly abbreviated as Toolworks) was an American software and video game developer based in Novato, California. The company was founded by Walt Bilofsky in 1980 out of his Sherman Oaks garage, which he converted into a ...

. It was the first in the ''

Chessmaster ''Chessmaster'' is a chess-playing computer game series, which is owned and developed by Ubisoft. It is the best-selling chess franchise in history, with more than five million units sold . Timeline *1986: '' The Chessmaster 2000''. First pu ...

'' series and published in 1986. It was released for

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore International, Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and sign ...

Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-mold ...

Atari 8-bit family The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE ...

, Atari ST,

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...

, Commodore 64,

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the S ...

MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by Microsoft and ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, then vice-p ...

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...

, and

IBM PC compatible IBM PC compatible computers are similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT, all from computer giant IBM, that are able to use the same software and expansion cards. Such computers were referred to as PC clones, IBM clones or IBM PC clones ...

Gameplay

The game has a chess engine written by David Kittinger.

Reception

COMPUTE! ''Compute!'' (), often stylized as ''COMPUTE!'', was an American home computer magazine that was published from 1979 to 1994. Its origins can be traced to 1978 in Len Lindsay's ''PET Gazette'', one of the first magazines for the Commodore PET c ...

'' stated that ''Chessmaster 2000'' "is now the yardstick for which other similar programs will be measured", and favorably cited Software Toolworks' decision to give all versions of the game the same sophisticated engine. In 1986, ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through t ...

'' wrote of the IBM PC version, "I wish I could find something negative to include in this review but I can't ... It gets my absolute highest recommendation". It was noted that the game had a sophisticated defense, but would resign in hopeless situations without forcing the human to finish an inevitable win. The magazine also favorably reviewed the Amiga version, calling the graphics "exceptional" and concluding "highly recommended". '' Info'' gave the Amiga version five stars out of five, describing it as "the definitive chess program for the AMIGA", praising the graphics, user interface, and options. The magazine gave the Commodore 64 version three stars out of five, stating that it had almost all of the Amiga version's features but criticizing the requirement of using algebraic notation to move. '' Antic'' found that ''Chessmaster 2000'' defeated '' Colossus Chess'' and Odesta Chess. The magazine criticized the Atari 8-bit version's playability, stating that "the 3-D display is unusable even on a very good monitor-you can't tell the overlapping pieces apart", lack of a

chess clock A chess clock consists of two adjacent clocks with buttons to stop one clock while starting the other, so that the two clocks never run simultaneously. Chess clocks are used in chess and other two-player games where the players move in turn, and ...

, and poor documentation and controls. Bob Ewald reviewed ''Chessmaster 2000'' in ''

Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer ''The Space Gamer'' was a magazine dedicated to the subject of science fiction and fantasy board games and tabletop role-playing games. It quickly grew in importance and was an important and influential magazine in its subject matter from the ...

'' No. 78. Ewald commented that "It is a good program for learning the game, playing on many different competitive levels, ease of movement, and replaying famous games." ''Chessmaster 2000'' became the first and only chess game to be the top-rated game in ''Computer Gaming World''s reader poll, with a score of 7.25 out of 10. In 1988, it was among the first members of the magazine's Hall of Fame, honoring those games rated highly over time by readers. In 1996, ''Computer Gaming World'' declared the original ''Chessmaster'' the 46th-best computer game ever released.

References

External links

chessmaster games on chessgames
from C64Sets.com
Review
in

ANALOG Computing ''ANALOG Computing'' (an acronym for Atari Newsletter And Lots Of Games) was an American computer magazine devoted to the Atari 8-bit family of home computers. It was published from 1981 until 1989. In addition to reviews and tutorials, ''ANAL ...

Review
in

PC World ''PC World'' (stylized as PCWorld) is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. Since 2013, it has been an online only publication. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal tec ...

Review
in

Family Computing ''Family Computing'' was a U.S. computer magazine published during the 1980s by Scholastic It covered all the major home computer platforms of the day including the Apple II, VIC-20, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit family, as well as the IBM PC and M ...

{{Authority control 1986 video games Amiga games Amstrad CPC games Apple II games Atari 8-bit family games Atari ST games Chess software Classic Mac OS games Commodore 64 games DOS games MSX games The Software Toolworks games Video board games Video games developed in the United States ZX Spectrum games