Common Actions Training Mode – Mentor

Pause: CTRL+P Quick Hint: CTRL+H

Help: F1 Advice: CTRL+A
Quit: ALT+F4 Chess Coach: CTRL+C
2D/3D Switch: CTRL+F10 Hide/Display Chess Coach Hints: SPACE
Practice Room: CTRL+K – Assisted Mode Display Chess Coach Hints for the
Opposing Side: TAB
Windows
Shortcuts Bar: CTRL+1 Online
Game Status: CTRL+2 Get Game: CTRL+G
Annotation: CTRL+3 Lobby Chat: CTRL+L
Captured Pieces: CTRL+4 In-Game Chat: CTRL+H
Navigation Bar: CTRL+7 Competition List: CTRL+M
Hide/Display Windows: CTRL+TAB Player List: CTRL+Y
Website: CTRL+W
Training Mode – Actions
Offline Messages: CTRL+O
Quickstart Game: CTRL+Q
Online Room: CTRL+A – Create CC Game
New Game: CTRL+N
LAN Room Play & Internet Room Play:
Save Game: CTRL+S
CTRL+8 – Pocket Window
Load Game: CTRL+L
Take Back Move: CTRL+T Mini-Games
Replay Move: CTRL+R Create Mini-Game: CTRL+C
Force Move: CTRL+F Shortcuts Bar: CTRL+1
Wake Up: CTRL+W Mini-Game Info Panel: CTRL+2

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© 2007 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Chessmaster, Ubisoft, Ubi.com,
and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or
other countries. Portions of Chessmaster Academy instructional content, including
those based on The Art of Learning, © 2007 Josh Waitzkin LLC.
Made in the U.S.A.

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 Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
GETTING STARTED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
GAME MODES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
QUICK GUIDE TO CHESSMASTER® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
YOUR ALTER EGO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
THE USER INTERFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
LEARNING TO PLAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
PLAYING AGAINST THE AI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
PLAYING ONLINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
PLAYING IN A NETWORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
STUDYING FAMOUS GAMES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
THE DATABASE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
THE FUN AREA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
PROOF OF PURCHASE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
WARRANTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . inside front cover
TECHNICAL SUPPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . inside back cover
 Introduction Hard Drive Space: 1.2 GB (2.3 GB recommended)
Multiplay: 56 Kbps or faster for Internet or LAN play (broadband
recommended)
Welcome to Chessmaster®: Peripherals Supported: Mouse, keyboards, headsets, ultra 3D glasses
Grandmaster Edition! (not included)
Chessmaster is well known as the most comprehensive chess software *Supported Video Cards at Time of Release
available. The Grandmaster Edition now offers you new and exciting NVIDIA GeForce® 3/4/FX/6/7/8 series (GeForce®4 MX NOT supported)
ways to both enjoy and learn chess.
ATI® Radeon® 7500/8000/9000/X series
Here are the most important new elements:
Laptop versions of these cards may work but are NOT supported.
• 12 chess variants, available online (among them: Marseillais, These chipsets are the only ones that will run this game. For the most
Progressive, Pocket Knight, Kriegspiel). up-to-date minimum requirement listings, please visit the FAQ for this
• Play with your friends even if you are not simultaneously online, game on our support website at: http://support.ubi.com.
thanks to the new Correspondence Chess game mode.
• Have fun while stretching your mind with Chessmaster’s brand-new
mini-games: Fork My Fruit, Minefield, and Pathfinder. Installation
• The new interactive Chessmaster Academy – “The Art of Learning,”
where International Master Josh Waitzkin will teach you to play Installing Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition
chess in a dynamic and introspective manner, learning through You must use the setup program to install Chessmaster: Grandmaster
chess principles, positions, and experiences. Edition. You cannot install it by copying the software from the DVD
to your hard drive. Insert Disc 1 in your DVD-ROM drive. If you’re
• 10 brand-new, exquisitely designed chess sets, courtesy of the installing Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition for the first time,
House of Staunton. Chessmaster’s Autorun screen appears. Clicking Install will launch
• A new 3D animated chess set featuring the famous bunnies from the setup program. Follow the instructions on-screen, choose the
Rayman Raving Rabbids™. installation folder, and select the features you want. Chessmaster’s
• The updated version of The King – more power using multithread minimum space requirements are about 600 MB; installing all the
and multiprocessor capabilities. features takes about 2.0 GB.
To start Chessmaster, insert Disc 1 in your DVD-ROM drive. The
Learn more about what Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition can do in Autorun screen appears. Click Play to launch Chessmaster. You can
the Game Modes section of this manual (page 4). also start Chessmaster using the appropriate shortcut in the Windows
If you want to jump right into the game, make sure you read the Quick programs menu.
Guide to Chessmaster section (page 6) first. When you start Chessmaster for the first time, you will be asked to
create your alter ego first. Read the Your Alter Ego section (page 7) for
details. After logging in using your newly created alter ego, the Main
Getting Started Menu will be displayed.
To begin your Chessmaster experience, click any of the Play, Learn, or
Fun categories.
System Requirements
Supported OS: Windows Vista®/Windows® XP (only)
Uninstalling Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition
To uninstall Chessmaster, insert Disc 1 in your DVD-ROM drive. The
Processor: 1 GHz Pentium® III or AMD K6 III (2 GHz Pentium 4 or Autorun screen appears. Press Uninstall to remove Chessmaster from
AMD Athlon™ recommended) your computer.
RAM: 256 MB (512 MB recommended) You can also remove Chessmaster using the appropriate shortcut in the
Video Card: 32 MB DirectX® 9.0c–compliant video card (128 MB Windows programs menu.
recommended) (see supported list*)
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c–compliant sound card optional
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (included on disc)
DVD-ROM: 4x DVD-ROM or faster
 
 Game Modes new chess variants, watch other people’s matches, or – if you feel like
sharing your knowledge with others – set up your own chess lessons.

Play: Training Play: LAN

If you want to start playing right away, just enter this game mode. You don’t have to be connected to the Internet in order to share a
It puts you in the game as White, facing either a random opponent good time with the friends in your network. This game mode offers you
(if this is the first time you’ve played) or the last opponent you have most of the Online mode features – chat, voice chat, rated or unrated
played against. games, simultaneous exhibitions, and Teaching mode games – but in a
This game mode is where you can hone your skills playing any computer network.
opponent you want while analyzing your game using the tools
available. It’s also one of the two game modes where you can take Learn: Academy
back your moves or get hints and advice. The new Chessmaster Academy features a brand-new and very useful
interactive course on the principles of chess and how they can be applied
Play: Ranked Play – “The Art of Learning,” taught by IM Josh Waitzkin. Also, all the content
If you want to play “for real,” this is the game mode to use. Your collected from previous editions of Chessmaster is still available.
rating is affected by every victory or defeat while in this game mode, The following famous chess players are at your disposal: British GM John
so be careful. Nunn, U.S. Champions GM Larry Evans and GM Yasser Seirawan, U.S.
This game mode tries to be as close to the real chess experience as Junior Champion IM Josh Waitzkin, and renowned chess teacher NM Bruce
possible, and it’s geared toward more advanced players. A minimal setup Pandolfini. The Chessmaster series content includes valuable information
is necessary, as the player must choose his or her preferences (opponent, for beginning, intermediate, and advanced players. The beginners’ section
color, time controls) before starting the match. Also, to correctly measure includes tutorials and drills, while the intermediate area includes an
the player’s performance, no advice tools are available. additional End Game Quiz and Exam Rating section. Advanced players will
benefit from both the Match the Masters section and Nunn’s Puzzles.
Play: Set Up Position
If you want to copy problems from books and use Chessmaster to solve
Learn: Openings
them, or if you want to reproduce a famous position and see if you can This game mode tries to train you in one of the most important parts
do better than famous players, this is the game mode for you. of the game of chess – the opening.
After building the position, the player may continue in the game,
having at his or her disposal all the advice tools available.
Learn: Database
The Database game mode allows you to browse a chess game database
Play: Tournaments containing almost 800,000 entries, including grandmaster-level chess
games from 2002 to 2007. If you feel intimidated by the complex
What if you want to play in a tournament? Well, this game mode offers a
searching tools available, you can switch over to a simple “who/when/
series of increasingly difficult tournaments, allowing you to test your playing
where” search form or you can use the brand-new Improved Search.
strength in a competition environment. With more than 50 tournaments
overall, this game mode will certainly require a long time to complete.
Learn: Famous Games
However, for players who need more freedom, this game mode also
allows the creation of new tournaments. Almost 900 famous chess matches played between 1619 and 2007
await you in this fully searchable database. You can watch them move-
Play: Online by-move, reading the commentaries made by famous chess players. In
our opinion, this is perhaps the most addictive of all the game modes
Playing against computer opponents is fine, but the real challenge is – some of the games are more tension-filled than an action movie!
to play and win against other people. The Online game mode lets you
do just that – see who’s playing on the ubi.com™ Chessmaster servers, Fun: Play
make friends and exchange messages in the Chat area or in the Forums,
challenge people from all over the world in rated or unrated games, These game modes allow kids and absolute beginners to play chess
play in tournaments, ladders, or simultaneous exhibitions, try the brand games against low-level opponents – with the help of simplified tools –
using funny animated chess sets in a colorful and easy-to-use interface.
 
 Fun: Puzzles Interface
If you don’t feel like playing a full game, then you can just have some Learn to use the navigation bar. Don’t forget that clicking on the main
fun trying to solve the puzzles proposed in this game mode. button sends you back to the Main Menu.
You can try as many times as you want, and you can get another Use the shortcuts bar. If you’re not sure what a button does, leave the
puzzle at any time. cursor over the button for a second. A text hint will appear.

Fun: Mini-Games Online

To solve a problem, sometimes you have to look at it from a different Make sure the Player List and Competition List are visible. You can
angle. You’ll become a better chess player while playing chess-based display them using the icons in the shortcuts bar; these lists are very
mini-games (Fork My Fruit, Minefield, and Pathfinder). Try them to important when you’re not playing, as they allow you to interact with
exercise and boost your memory, and analyze and focus your skills. others.
To chat with your fellow players, first make the Lobby Chat and/or the
Fun: Learn Basics In-Game Chat windows visible.
The Learn section offers lessons on the basics of chess and simplified To use the voice chat, make the In-Game Chat window visible, then
drills. On top of that, when beginners complete lessons they will earn click on the Speaker icon. Communication is possible after both
Master Class points and can print Chess Certificates. players have activated voice chat.
Use the Chess Coach during Training games – it will help you better
understand the situation. Use Tab to switch between White’s view and
Quick Guide to Black’s view.

Chessmaster
If you don’t feel like reading the whole manual before starting to play, Your Alter Ego
this section is just for you – it’s the bare minimum you need to know In order to be able to track your evolution as a chess player,
in order to be able to explore Chessmaster on your own. Chessmaster needs to know who you are. That’s why the first thing
you need to do when starting Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition is to
Operating the Chessboard create a fictional player who will take your name and reside on your
To resize it, use the mouse wheel or the Page Up/Page Down keys. computer. This will be your alter ego in the world of Chessmaster.
To move it around, click and drag it by the border (the cursor changes
when dragging is an option). Creating a Player
To rotate it, use the left and right arrow keys. When you start the game for the first time, Chessmaster automatically
To tilt it, use the up and down arrow keys. opens the Player Login window and asks you to create an alter ego.
You can’t proceed without creating one, so click the New Player
Right-Click button.
In any game mode, right-clicking over the wallpaper or the chessboard You must first choose a name for your player, then answer a couple of
displays most (if not all) of the actions available. Use this shortcut to simple questions (age, chess play experience) meant to determine your
speed up your Chessmaster operation. starting chess rating.
In Online mode, all the lists support specific right-click contextual menus. After answering those questions, Chessmaster will compute a chess
Right-click on any element of any list to see the available actions. rating and ask you if you want to log in using the newly created player.
You can also choose an avatar (a graphical representation of yourself)
Double-Clicks from the available images. Read the Tweaking Chessmaster’s Interface
Use double-clicks extensively in Online mode to speed up operations: section (page 27) for details.
challenging players, joining open games, and viewing games. Double-
clicking an idle player sends him or her a challenge, while double-
clicking a challenge accepts it.
 
 Log In Using a Player Already Created The navigation bar displays the same icons used in the Main Menu
to help the player easily recognize where to go. The largest icons are
If you’ve previously created a player, you can use it to log in anytime. Play, Learn, and Fun. Clicking on these sends the player back to the
Display the Player Login window by clicking on the appropriate button Main Menu.
in the Main Menu, then select the player from the list and click The player can switch from one category to another by left-clicking on
on Login. To confirm the change, the name of the new player will the vertical arrow.
be displayed in the lower left corner of the Main Menu, next to the
Change User button. To display all the game modes associated with the selected category,
the player can use the horizontal arrow.
Deleting a Player
To delete a player, select it from the player list in the Player Login
window and click the Delete button. A confirmation is necessary in
order to avoid accidentally deleting a player. Also, you can’t delete the
currently logged-in player – you must log in as another player before
deleting it.

Click here to retract the Click on a button to go to the

The User Interface game mode selection. corresponding game mode.
Chessmaster’s interface was designed to be as clear and intuitive
as possible. Please browse through this section and make yourself Left-clicking the horizontal arrow expands a menu, allowing the player
comfortable with the available tools – the navigation bar, the shortcuts to select another game mode.
bar, and the right-click menu. Mouse over a button to highlight it and display its name. If you change
Take a look at the Tweaking Chessmaster’s Interface section (page 27) your mind, retract the menu using the same horizontal arrow, which is
for more on the user interface. now pointing left.

The Main Menu The Right-Click Menu

The Main Menu is divided into three main categories: Play, Learn, and In the Training and Ranked Play game modes, right-clicking anywhere
Fun. Each category has several subsequent game modes/icons that on-screen displays a menu that summarizes most (if not all) of the
appear when you move the cursor over the main buttons. If you’re not actions available to the player.
sure of an icon’s meaning, keep the mouse cursor over it for a second Training Mode Ranked Play Mode
and the name of the button will appear.
Don’t forget, the Main Menu is the only place where you can bring up
the Login window, using the small Change User button in the lower
left corner.

The Navigation Bar

Click here to change categories.

Click here to expand the game

mode selection.

Click here to return to the Main Menu.

 
 In the online game mode, the right-click menu is available only when After selecting the area you want to
clicking on the background or on the chessboard. That’s because visit, a specific area window will
the Competition List and Player List windows have their own distinct appear. The large buttons on the left
behavior when right-clicked – they display specific menus (see the are the chapters; each chapter
Playing Online section on page 31 for details). contains one or more topics.
Because of space constraints, the components of the drop-down File To run a tutorial, press the button
and Edit menus aren’t available in the right-click menu. If you want to corresponding to the chapter you’re
save your games or copy moves and paste them in other game modes, interested in.
you’ll have to use the drop-down menu situated under the taskbar. This will open all the topics contained
in that chapter. Click on the + or
The Shortcuts Bar - icons to expand or collapse the
All the play modes (Training, Ranked Play, Set Up Position, LAN, topics, then select the tutorial’s name
Online, Fun: Puzzles, and Fun: Play) display a small shortcuts bar in from the list. Finally, click on the
the lower right part of the screen. These shortcuts bars help the player Select button and the tutorial will
easily retrieve the most common actions available. start.
Tutorials are divided into pages; you
Managing Windows can use the Next and Back buttons to
Most of the windows in the game can be closed by pressing the X navigate, or you can simply type the
icon in the upper right corner. To display the window again, use either page number you want, then click Go.
the right-click menu (look for the Windows section; visible windows If a tutorial asks you a question, you have to click on the correct
are checked) or the drop-down menu. If a window lacks the X icon, it answer, click on the appropriate board square, or make the move on
means it can’t be closed and must remain on-screen. the board. All tutorials provide instructions on-screen.
Some of the windows also display a small triangle icon next to the Moreover, you can experiment; if you’re not supposed to move a piece,
X icon. Clicking on the triangle will usually minimize the window. To you won’t be able to grab it – it’s as simple as that.
revert the window to the previous state, click the triangle icon again. To hear the current explanation again, press Replay.
To get back to the list of available tutorials, just close the current
tutorial’s window by clicking on the small X icon in the upper right
Learning to Play corner. (With some skins it might appear as a circle instead of an X,
but you get the idea – it’s the classic Windows-style behavior.)
Chessmaster provides the most comprehensive teaching tools available
in any chess program. Whether you’re a beginning, intermediate, or After you complete a tutorial, it will be marked with a small red check
advanced player, you’ll discover many ways to improve your game using icon in the tutorial list.
Chessmaster – tutorials covering all the areas of chess, drills that make
you apply what you’ve learned, tests to check out your strength. Academy’s Shortcuts Bar
To learn how to play, select the Learn/Academy menu button in the The shortcuts bar available in every section of the Academy has the
Main Menu. following structure:

Running a Tutorial
The Learn/Academy section is divided into three areas. If you’re new to
chess, please start with IM Josh Waitzkin’s Academy. It will gradually
take you through the fundamental principles of chess, all the way to
basic chess strategies. Advanced players might want to browse GM
Larry Christiansen’s Attacking Chess course, featuring a set of famous Watch another Previous Next
examples of attacking games. Also, Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition tutorial
contains all the tutorials previously featured in the Chessmaster series.

10 11
 The Watch Another Tutorial icon closes the current tutorial and opens The second exam is CM Larry Evans’ Endgame Quiz, available in
the previous area window (be it Josh’s Academy, Larry’s Attacking the Intermediate/Larry Evans’ Endgame Quiz chapter. Each of the
Chess, or Chessmaster Series). 50 questions in this quiz will give you an endgame position on the
The Next icon displays the next page (for tutorials or drills) or takes chessboard, taken from famous games or composed game studies.
you to the next set of moves (for commented matches). Each question has only one correct answer. After each question, you
The Previous icon displays the previous page (for tutorials or drills) or are told if you were right; then you must use the Next button to go on
takes you to the previous set of moves (for commented matches). to the next question.
After you have answered all the questions, Chessmaster will rate your
Solving a Drill performance. Just as in the previous exam, the rating given at the end
To solve a drill, just follow the on-screen instructions as you did in the of the quiz is just a way to display the results. It won’t affect your
Tutorials section. All the menu elements work in the same way. player-strength rating.
Chessmaster records how long it takes you to finish each drill. The
best times are displayed in the Drill Records window, available from
Learning from IM Josh Waitzkin
the Windows/Drill Records menu. One of the best ways to learn and improve your play is to study
After you complete a drill, it will be marked with a small, red check with a master-level player. Chessmaster offers you the next-best
icon in the drill list. thing by including a number of features from International Master
Josh Waitzkin. Whatever your skill level, these features – including
Commented Matches situations taken from Josh’s own games – provide you with precious
information you won’t find anywhere else.
The interface changes slightly when you’re watching commented Josh’s features are presented in the Josh Waitzkin’s Academy training
games. You can browse the game using the Move List window, while area. Each chapter has a progressive level of difficulty, from the
the commentary can be read in the Annotation window. Introduction all the way up to the Psychology of Competition course
In the Move List window, you can see that a whole group of moves is and the Annotated Games chapter.
highlighted. That’s because most of the time the commentary applies Please note the latest addition: “The Art of Learning” tutorial, a brand-
to several moves, not to only one. You can move within the game using new, exciting, interactive way to learn chess.
either the shortcuts bar or the small icons over the list of moves. The
meaning of the small icons is: Beginning, Previous, Play/Stop (when
the audio commentary is played, this icon changes to Stop), Next,
Practicing Openings
End. Opening moves in chess have been studied and improved upon for
hundreds of years. Chessmaster recognizes more than 2,200 opening
Taking Exams book lines, and you can practice any of these openings.
After you’ve learned how to play chess and feel confident in your To do so, you must reach the Learn/Openings section. The four options
skills, maybe it’s time to see how good you actually are. A great way available to you are:
to test yourself is to take the two available exams, both geared toward • Practice Openings, where you can watch any of the available
intermediate users. openings, then try to learn and reproduce them.
The first exam is Bruce Pandolfini’s Diagnostic Rating Exam; it can be • Opening Book Reference, where you can browse Chessmaster’s
found in the Chessmaster Series/Intermediate/Rating Exam chapter. opening database.
Read the introduction, then choose any of the 10 available tests. • Opening Book Editor, where you can modify existing opening books.
You will be asked a series of questions. For each question, you’ll need • New Opening Book, where you can create your own opening book.
to either move a piece on the board or select an answer. To practice an opening, browse the opening list and select one of the
After you have answered all the questions, Chessmaster will rate your openings, then press the OK button. Some openings have a number
performance. The rating given at the end of the exam is just a way of variations; if this is the case, press the + and - icons to expand or
to display the results, and it won’t affect your player-strength rating. collapse the variations.
Your best results in the rating exams are displayed in the Rating Exam
Scores page.

12 13
 In the Opening Selection window you can search for an opening
instead of just browsing the opening list. The search isn’t case- New random puzzle
sensitive, and applies to the complete name of the opening. Searching
for “g,” for example, will bring up results including “Alapin’s Opening” Another puzzle
and “Guimard.”
To clear the search results and reset the opening list to the default
values, click the Clear button. The second puzzle-solving feature of Chessmaster is a collection
While practicing openings, after choosing the opening to watch, you of brain-teaser chess puzzles assembled by the British GM John
can either click the Play button to watch the opening first (all the Nunn. They’re available in the Learn/Academy/Chessmaster Series/
moves are commented), or you can click the Practice button to try and Advanced/Nunn’s Puzzles chapter. This collection is both harder and
reproduce it. During practice, you can click the Hint button and you’ll more rewarding than the Fun/Puzzles area, as all the puzzles are
be shown the move to make; however, this will ruin your accuracy commented. The drawback is that there are only 50 of them.
rank, so use it only as a last resort. For each puzzle, you’ll have to make the correct move or select the
While browsing for an opening correct square on the board.
in the Opening Book
Reference, you can see the Playing Mini-Games
most commonly used pieces in
openings (the three-points Chessmaster invites you to experience a new game mode – mini-
circle is the symbol for the games. In Fun/Mini-Games you may find three chess-based mini-
most common piece, while the games: Fork My Fruit, Minefield, and Pathfinder. They are perfect
empty circle is the symbol used exercises for your mind, boosting your memory and improving your
for the least common piece; analytic and focus skills.
pieces without symbols are not Fork My Fruit
used in the opening branch The theme of this game is using chess forks with various chess pieces.
selected). A board is displayed with squares containing a random selection of
You can browse the openings fruit, such as apples, oranges, and bananas. The player has a selection
by either using the openings of white pieces deployed on the board. The player must “fork” fruit by
tree (click on the + and - icons to expand/close the branches) or moving a chess piece so that it attacks two or more fruits of the same
simply moving the pieces on the board. When you grab a piece and lift type. The fruits then disappear, scoring points, and new replacement
it off the board, if there are any possible destinations for that piece fruits appear randomly.
that are part of the current opening, the respective squares are marked
with symbols. This helps you develop a visual understanding of the Minefield
game flow during openings. This game involves some randomly hidden mines. The player starts
The above system is used in the Opening Book Editor as well; when with a specific deployment of white pieces, but there are no black
the player strays from existing openings, the newly created pattern is pieces. Instead, there are hidden mines randomly deployed somewhere
added to the database and appears in the tree structure. between the 4th rank and the 8th rank. If the player moves a piece
into or through a mine, he loses the game, unless the mine is attacked
Solving Puzzles by two or more pieces. In this case, the mine can be safely “defused”
and destroyed. After moving a piece, any piece which is currently
Chessmaster provides two puzzle-solving areas. attacking a mine is lit up. The player must clear all the mines within a
The first is Fun/Puzzles, which proposes an unlimited number of limited number of moves.
puzzles you can solve when you don’t feel like playing a full game. To
solve a puzzle, just read the description in the Puzzle Info window,
and then make the correct move. If you’re stuck, click the Solve
Puzzle button. If you want another puzzle, you can choose from
the eight puzzle types and then click the Another Puzzle button.
Otherwise, you can always use the New Random Puzzle button.The
Fun/Puzzles section has its own shortcuts bar:
14 15
 Pathfinder The elements visible on-screen are:
The player has control of a set piece, which he can move freely all The Chessboard
over the board and capture pieces that appear. Upon capturing a To grab a piece, click on it and keep the left mouse button pressed.
piece, a copy of the player’s piece appears, which follows the player’s When you move the cursor over a piece, the cursor changes to a hand.
piece, acting as a tail. With each captured piece, the tail grows. The Also, watch the colored square – it helps you see exactly which piece
goal is to get the tail to be a set size (number of pieces) before the you’ll be grabbing.
move limit expires. Should the player take a piece of his own tail, he
loses the game. • To move a piece, drag and drop it onto the destination square.
As the game progresses a number of obstacles appear on the board, • To rotate the chessboard, use the left and right arrow keys.
providing the player with additional challenges. Black pieces on the • To tilt the chessboard, use the up and down arrow keys.
board can capture the player’s piece (in which case the game is over) • To zoom in/out, use the mouse wheel or the Page Up/Page Down
or the tail (severing it so it is shorter). keys.
• To flip the board, use the Preferences/Flip Board command.

Playing Against the AI The Captured Pieces Window

There are three possible displays of the
One of the best features of Chessmaster is its versatility – it’s the only captured pieces: Fixed Position, displaying
chess program in the world that allows you to play over 190 different symbols for every piece type and the number
computer opponents. This way, no matter what your playing strength of captured pieces of that type; Order of
is, you’ll be able to find someone to play against (and beat). Capture, displaying all the captured pieces in
the order in which they were captured; and
Jumping Right In – Training Mode finally Piece Value, displaying all the
To play straight away, just select the Play/Training Mode button in the captured pieces in order of piece value
Main Menu. This will send you directly to the game screen. If this is (queens first, etc.).
the first time you’ve played, Chessmaster will choose your opponent To change the display format, click on the
automatically, according to your rating. From the second match small icon next to the Minimize icon, or use
onward, you will face the last opponent you played against. Of course, the Preferences/Captured Pieces menu.
you can change your opponent anytime.

The Game Screen

This is where you’ll spend
most of your time in
Chessmaster.
The Game Status Window
This window displays the most important information about the current
game: the names, pictures, ratings, color of play, current timers, and
time controls for both opponents, as well as the list of moves.
The meaning of the small icons above the list of moves is: Beginning,
Play Backward, Previous, Stop, Next, Play, End. During Ranked Play
mode (rated) games, these icons are grayed out and cannot be used.
As soon as one player has made a move, his or her timer stops and
the opponent’s timer starts. You can tell which player may move by
watching the timer – it’s not only running, but it also changes color.

16 17
 The Chess Coach The New Game icon displays the New Game window and lets you set
The Chess Coach is a visual hint collection. Most up a game with the parameters you want (opponent, color to play, time
of the hints are available only in Training mode; controls, etc.).
however, Openings is available during Ranked Play The Offer Draw icon can be used only during your turn and lets you
mode games as well. request a draw. Your opponent can accept the draw or reject it. If it is
Four types of visual hints are available: rejected, you can’t ask for a draw the same turn.
Moves: Displays various types of moves as arrows. The Quick Hint icon displays on the board the move Chessmaster
Blue arrows are legal moves, red arrows are thinks you should make. There are three steps to the Quick Hint:
captures, green arrows are defense moves, dotted clicking the icon once displays a highlight over the target square (you
red arrows are pin or skewer moves, and mauve must figure out what piece to move yourself). On the second click, the
arrows are check or checkmate moves. Players can piece to move is highlighted as well. On the third click, Chessmaster
check multiple hints at once, even if the board displays the move in algebraic notation and offers to make the move
might become overcrowded. for you.
Pieces: Displays specific piece hints – passed or The Turn Blunder Alert On/Off icon activates or stops the Blunder Alert
isolated pawns are rendered semitransparent. tool.
Board: Displays various board information by The Take Back Move icon allows you to take back the last move you
highlighting squares. Green squares are safe, red made.
squares are dangerous. Legal Moves also displays The Advice icon gives you a more detailed advice, after you’ve set up
all legal moves for the selected piece. the time Chessmaster can think about the position.
Openings: Displays the available opening moves The Resign icon allows you to resign the game immediately.
for the current position, using the dotted-circle The Ranked Play mode’s shortcuts bar contains only the New Game,
symbols familiar from the Learn/Opening game Offer Draw, and Resign icons.
mode. (See the Practicing Openings section on
page 13.) Setting Up the Game
Show Hints: Displays the hints for either White To set up the game and choose
or Black. The Tab key duplicates this setting the opponent, color, and time
for easier access – pressing Tab will display the controls, simply click the New
currently selected visual hints, but for the other Game icon in the shortcuts bar
side, whether it is White or Black. or choose Game/New Game (from
This is very helpful, because it shows possible opponent retaliations. the drop-down menu) or Actions/
In fact, our recommended use of the Chess Coach is to take the piece New Game (from the right-click
and move it to the target square (while still keeping it over the table), menu). This will display the New
then click Tab to verify that moving there won’t lead to disaster. Game Details window.
More details on the Chess Coach tool are available in the Getting To define the opponents, first
Advice section (page 23). choose whether they’re human
(click on the silhouette icon)
The Shortcuts Bar or AI (click on the computer
The shortcuts bar appears in every game mode. The shortcuts icon). To change the opponent,
structure for Training mode is: click the Select button. A list
Resign Quick Hint Advice Take Back Move of all available AI opponents is
displayed. You can browse the
list and read your opponents’ bios or filter opponents by type, age, or
rating. Press OK after selecting the AI you want.

New Game Offer Draw Turn Blunder Alert On/Off

18 19
 To set up the color to play, use the Rotate Board button (if you can’t If you make a mistake, you may take back your move. This action is
see it, make sure the Colors tab is selected). available only in the Training and Set Up Position game modes, and it
To set up the time controls for the game, select the Time Controls tab. can be done in two ways:
There are six time controls available: • Click on the Take Back Move icon in the shortcuts bar.
• Moves/Minutes: Specify the number of moves each player needs to • Use the Actions/Take Back Move menu item from either the drop-
make in a certain number of minutes. Most chess tournaments are down menu or the right-click menu.
played at this rate. After taking back a move, you might want to replay the move you just
• Seconds per Move: Specify the number of seconds each player has took back. As with taking back a move, this action is available only
to make a move. This time control is useful for setting the amount in the Training and Set Up Position game modes, and it can be done
of time it takes for the computer to move. Keep in mind that this is using the Actions/Take Back Move menu item from either the right-
the average time it will take for the computer to move, and it may click or drop-down menus.
move more slowly or quickly on an individual move. Attention! When you’re playing against a computer personality, taking
• Minutes per Game: Specify the number of minutes each player has to back moves when it’s the opponent’s turn to move will interrupt the
complete the entire game. computer’s thinking. In this case, you must wait until it’s your turn to
• Fischer Style: Assign each player a specified number of minutes to move, and then take back your move. When you make a new move,
complete the game, with a certain number of bonus seconds added this will awaken the computer and the game will resume.
to the game each time a player makes a move. If you play against a computer personality and your opponent takes too
• Infinite Time: No time limitations for your game. Using this time long to move, you may force the move. To force the opponent to move,
control will make your AI opponent wait a lot before moving, so use the Actions/Force Move menu from either the right-click or the
make sure to use the Force Move command extensively. (See Playing drop-down menu. This action is available only in the Training and Set
a Game in the Playing Against the AI section on page 16 for details Up Position game modes.
on the Force Move command.) You may want to play as your opponent from a point of the game
• Hourglass: Each player gets a specified number of seconds per move onwards. You can do that by switching sides. To switch sides, use the
at the start of the game. As one player uses time, the other player Actions/Switch Sides menu from either the right-click or the drop-
gains the same amount of time (like an hourglass). So, if you move down menu. This action is available only in the Training and Set Up
rapidly, you can force your opponent to do the same. Position game modes.
Some of the time controls have a Separate Time Controls option. When To pause the game, use the Actions/Pause menu or the keyboard
checked, this displays two sets of time values for you to set – one for shortcut Ctrl+P.
each player. This is useful if you want more or less time than your You may realize that you can’t win and want to end the game faster. To
opponent, and it is a good way of balancing the game between players resign a game, either click on the Resign icon in the shortcuts bar or
of different skill levels. use the Actions/Resign menu.
Finally, you can decide to alter the rules of the game by giving one There might be games where you feel like neither you nor your
of the players fewer pieces (this is called Set Up a Handicap) or by opponent may win, as the situation is equal and likely to stay this way.
playing blindfold chess. Both options are visible after displaying the To offer a draw to your opponent, either click on the Offer Draw icon in
Rules tab. the shortcuts bar or use the Actions/Offer Draw menu.
If you simply want to quit the game and get back to the Main Menu,
Playing a Game click on the large section icon in the navigation bar. However, you
The game begins as soon as you or your opponent has made a move. can also use the navigation bar to go quickly to another game mode
Until then, the timers are stopped. without going back to the Main Menu – make sure you’ve learned how
If you are White, you will move first. If you’re Black, you must wait for to get the most out of this tool. (See The Navigation Bar on page 8 in
your opponent to move. the User Interface section.)
To move a piece, drag and drop it on the target square. If it’s a legal
move, the piece will move there. Otherwise, the piece won’t move at
all and you’ll hear a warning that will also be displayed on the status
bar.

20 21
 If you want to plan several moves ahead, you can use a secondary
chessboard available for experimentation during training games. When
Post-Game Analysis
Memo Board mode is activated, the player can move in turns for both After each game, Chessmaster displays the Post-Game Analysis
White and Black, visually developing variations of the current position. window, containing a short summary of the game and suggesting (or
This tool is aimed at beginning players who need to see the moves not) a new opponent.
played on the board. The text displayed contains:
Essentially, the Memo Board is a virtual copy of the chessboard. While • A general appreciation of the game.
the opponent is thinking, a player can switch to Memo Board mode • A classification of the game by type:
and build variations. To make manipulations simpler, we kept a single
board visible, but there are actually two virtual boards available: the – Dominated (when the winner never lost advantage).
Game mode chessboard and the Memo Board mode chessboard. – Blunder (when the victory/defeat was caused by a blunder).
– Balanced (when more than 40% of the game was about even).
– Disputed (when the advantage went in turn to both opponents).
• The opening used.
• The suggested opponent.
• The rating modification (for Ranked Play/rated games).
You can see a graphic chart of the game using the Game Chart button.
Using the Windows/Memo Board menu option, from either the drop- The X-axis marks the moves and the Y-axis marks the overall situation
down or right-click menu, will activate the Memo Board. The meanings after each move, as noted by Chessmaster. Positive values are good for
of the various options are: White; negative values are good for Black. To see the exact value of
• Auto Switch: Automatically switches to the Game mode chessboard if each move, keep the cursor over the graphic’s vertices. The values are
the opponent has moved. displayed under the graphic.
• Auto Update: changes the Memo Board as soon as the opponent has To play against the suggested opponent, click the Play Suggested
moved. Opponent button.
• Update: Copies the current situation from the Game mode You can also analyze the game from the Post-Game Analysis window
chessboard to the Memo Board mode chessboard. using the Analyze Game button.
Pressing the big button toggles the board between the normal Game Once closed, the Post-Game Analysis window can’t be brought back
mode and Memo Board mode (the text on the button changes to on-screen, so take care.
reflect this).
A new element in Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition is Analysis mode, Getting Advice
available using the Actions/Analysis Mode menu (or by right-clicking), While playing in the Training or Set Up Position modes, you can ask
a mode that helps you to experiment with future developments of Chessmaster for advice.
the game not only in Training mode, but also during Ranked Play, To get a quick hint, click on the Quick Hint icon in the shortcuts bar
Tournaments, and while playing online. or use the Mentor/Quick Hint menu.
Be careful, because if you use it during your move, the timer is still Using the hint tool will display on the board the move Chessmaster
running. When using this mode during the opponent’s turn, his time thinks you should make. There are three steps to Quick Hint: clicking
counter is stopped. the icon once displays a highlight over the target square (you must
figure out what piece to move yourself). On the second click, the
piece to move is highlighted as well. On the third click, Chessmaster
displays the move in algebraic notation and offers to make the move
for you.

22 23
 Better move advice can be obtained by clicking on the Advice icon • Board/Board Coverage: Highlights all the squares of the board
in the shortcuts bar or by using the Mentor/Advice menu. Enter the covered by either side, using green or red highlights according to
number of seconds you want Chessmaster to take to analyze your the controlling side (green for the currently selected side, red for the
position and determine the best move, and then select the Think opponent). Use this mode to see all the squares protected by your
menu button. Chessmaster uses the specified amount of time to think pieces.
and then suggests a move. Another helpful feature is Blunder Alert, which warns you if you make
During the spoken explanation, you may use the Pause button to a move that could result in checkmate or the loss of a significant
stop the explanation and resume it later from the same spot, or you chess piece. This feature is disabled by default.
may use the Stop button to stop it completely and rewind it to the To turn Blunder Alert on, click on the Turn Blunder Alert On/Off icon
beginning. in the shortcuts bar or use the Mentor/Blunder Alert menu.
Chessmaster provides a very useful Chess Coach – a set of visual tips When you make a disastrous move, Blunder Alert will pop up on the
that will help develop and improve your strategic and tactical playing screen. To find out why Chessmaster thinks your move is bad, click on
skills and enhance your awareness of the different positions during Why? Then, you can hear the spoken explanation of the move if you
play. press the Play menu button. To take back your move, click on I Take It
To display the Chess Coach, use the Mentor/Chess Coach menu item Back. To keep your move, click Disagree.
from either the right-click or drop-down menus. To turn Blunder Alert off, click on the shortcuts bar icon, use the
The Chess Coach options are: Mentor/Blunder Alert menu, or uncheck the check box in the pop-up
• Moves/All Legal Moves: Shows you all the possible moves for the side window.
at move, using blue arrows. During endgames, Chessmaster can help you find a checkmate. To
• Moves/Capture Moves: Shows all capture moves using red arrows: find a checkmate, use the Mentor/Solve for Mate menu item from
thin arrows for exchanges, and fat arrows for captures leading either the right-click or the drop-down menu. Set the number of moves
to material advantage. Defended pieces and their defenders are you want Chessmaster to look ahead to solve for checkmate, then
displayed using green arrows. press Think. If Chessmaster finishes its search, clicking the Move
• Moves/Pin Moves and Skewer Moves: Shows all moves that pin or button adds the moves one by one to the Move List.
skewer pieces. Pinned pieces cannot or should not move because One of the most interesting advice tools in Chessmaster allows you
they’re protecting a more valuable piece. Skewered pieces are to analyze a game in order to discover your good and bad moves. To
protecting pieces of lesser attack value on the same rank, file, or analyze a game, use the Mentor/Game Analysis menu command from
diagonal. The ability to identify pinned and skewered pieces is an either the right-click on the drop-down menu. First, enter the number
essential middle game skill. of seconds Chessmaster must spend analyzing each move, then use
• Moves/Check Moves: Shows all check moves. A check is a direct the Think menu button. The Annotation window is automatically
attack on the opponent’s king. displayed.
• Pieces/Isolated Pawns: Exposes pawns that are not directly supported To hear the commentary, click on the Play button. To see the
by another pawn of the same color and are potentially weak. comments for each move, use the Move List: just click on the move to
display or use the First Move, Next, Previous, and Last Move icons.
• Pieces/Passed Pawns: Highlights pawns with no enemy pawns in
front of or adjacent to the same file. Passed pawns are considered
strong because their path to promotion is clear. The ability to
Saving and Restoring Games
identify passed pawns is an essential part of endgame tactics. To save a game, use the File/Save menu item from the drop-down
menu. This action isn’t available in the right-click menu.
• Board/Legal Moves: Highlights the possible destination squares
for the selected piece using green for safe squares and red for To load a game, use the File/Load menu item from the drop-down
dangerous squares. menu. This action isn’t available in the right-click menu.
• Board/Danger Zones: All the dangerous squares (controlled by the
opposite side) are highlighted in red.
• Board/Safe Zones: All the safe squares (not controlled by the
opposite side) are highlighted in green.

24 25
 During Ranked Play mode games, you can’t save games unless the • Sliding Pieces: The default value is on, which causes your
game is over. However, you can adjourn a game – that is, suspend opponent’s pieces to move across the board quickly. If you turn it
it and retrieve it later. To adjourn a game in Ranked Play mode, use off, your opponent’s pieces will snap to their destination.
the Actions/Adjourn menu item. You’ll be asked whether you want to The Global Visual Settings affect the overall look of Chessmaster:
adjourn the game. If you choose to adjourn, the game will be stored • Stereo 3D makes use of our stereoscopic vision, displaying the 3D
and you will be able to load it later. In Ranked Play mode you can load sets in stunning “real” 3D (requires a pair of glasses with red/cyan
only adjourned rated games. lens).
Various Game Settings • Glare is a visual effect available for the 3D sets – a complex use
of light similar to a thin fog layer enveloping the pieces (requires
All the game settings can be found in the Preferences menu, DirectX and a graphics card able to handle pixel shaders).
accessible both from the right-click menu and the drop-down menu.
• Board Visual Settings defines various effects like the use of
There are two sections: game-related and interface-related settings.
reflections, bump mapping, or the animated board transitions while
To learn about the interface-related settings, go to the Tweaking
loading a new chess set.
Chessmaster’s Interface section (page 27).
• Finally, Shadows defines the type of shadows used.
To change the chess set used, simply go to the Preferences/Chess Set
menu. This will display the Select Chess Pieces and Board window, To change the notation system used, use the Preferences/Notation
where you can browse the list of chess sets. There are three types of menu. The selected option is checked. If you are unfamiliar with chess
chess sets: 2D, 3D, and animated 3D. Some of the chess sets are notation, we strongly suggest that you use the Academy/Chessmaster
locked and can be used only after fulfilling certain conditions (of the Series tutorials to learn about the various methods of recording chess
“Win N rated games” category). games.
To flip the board and see the game from your opponent’s perspective, To change the engine settings, use the Preferences/Engine menu to
use Preferences/Flip Board. bring up the Engine Settings window.
To turn the moves sound on or off, use Preferences/Sound to display Warning: Change these at your own risk.
the Chessmaster Sounds window. Click on the Piece Movement tab to • The Blunder Alert Threshold sets the awareness level for the Blunder
display the radio buttons, then choose one of the options: No Sounds, Alert tool.
Thematic Sound Sets (different sounds for different chess sets), or • The Transposition Table Memory sets the amount of memory used to
Spoken Move Announcements (instead of hearing the pieces hit the store analysis results in order to avoid evaluating identical positions
board, a neutral voice will dictate the moves). twice.
In the same window, you can set up the use of voice by clicking • Chess Engine Priority sets the balance between the CPU percentage
on the Voice tab, or you can set up various window and online allowed for the chess engine and for the rendering and interface.
announcements sounds (buddy login, chat, and challenge) by clicking • Blunder Alert Priority sets the balance between the CPU percentage
on the Effects tab. allowed for the PGA engine and for the rendering and interface.
To choose the board settings, use Preferences/Board Settings.
• Move Highlights: Chessmaster reiterates each move by highlighting Tweaking Chessmaster’s Interface
the piece’s original square and then the destination square. The The new Chessmaster interface can be customized at will. You can
highlights can be square selections or arrows traced from start to build your own layout, play using one of the 36 chess sets available,
destination. and choose any one of the graphical skins available (or even build your
• Piece Movement defines the handling of pieces. The default method own).
is drag and drop and the alternative is two-click move, where you The layout of the playing area contains the chess set, its position, the
first click on the piece, then on the target square. interface skin used, the wallpaper background, and the position and
• Quick Entry lets you move a chess piece by clicking its destination size of any window displayed. To save the current layout, click on the
square rather than dragging and dropping it. When Quick Entry is Preferences/Layout menu and choose Save. Take care not to overwrite
active, and you click a piece that has exactly one legal move, that the default layouts.
move is made. If you click a square to which only one piece can
move, that move is made. Quick Entry is off by default.

26 27
 To load a previously saved layout, click on the Preferences/Layout your rating will change. For example, “loss: -424, draw: -24, win:
menu and choose Load. If you want to restore the default layout, click +376” means that your rating will drop by 424 points if you lose, will
on Preferences/Layout/Restore Default. drop by 24 points if you draw, and will rise by 376 points if you win.
To change the background of the playing area, use the Preferences/ During rated games, the only mentor feature available is the Chess
Background menu. You can choose between using a bitmap and using Coach’s Opening Moves feature.
a color gradient. Note that all chess sets have predefined backgrounds;
to avoid using the set’s background, uncheck the check box from the Setting Up Positions
Preferences/Chess Set menu. Chessmaster provides a Play/Set
To change the interface skin, use the Preferences/Skin menu. There Up Position game mode that lets
are seven skins available. you set up a specific position on
To change your current avatar, use the Preferences/Avatar menu. the chessboard. Then you can
To add your own picture to the game, replace one of the bitmaps in either have it analyzed or play it
the Data/Avatars folder. Make sure your picture is in bitmap format, out yourself.
76x97 pixels, in 24-bit depth, and has the same name as the bitmap The Set Up Position mode has
you’re replacing. a small window containing all
the tools necessary to build any
Playing a Rated Game position on the chessboard.
After you’ve spent some time in Training mode, you’ll probably be To clear the chessboard and leave only the two kings, click the Clear
curious to see how well you’re doing. Chessmaster allows you to find Board button.
out what your real playing strength is, using Ranked Play mode. In To reset the chessboard to its starting position, click the Starting
this game mode, the Mentor menus aren’t available, you can’t take Position button.
back your moves, and at the end of each game your rating is modified To choose a piece from the menu, click on it. It will remain marked.
according to your result. To place a piece on the board, click on the target square. The piece
In other words, you’re playing for real, and any of your actions on the will appear on the chessboard. If you try to place a piece over another
chessboard will have consequences, just like in real competitions. one of the same type, the piece already on the board will be erased
When you created your alter ego (see the Your Alter Ego section on and the square will remain empty. If you try to place a piece over any
page 7), Chessmaster computed a starting rating for you based on your other piece, the piece already on the board will be erased and the new
answers to several questions (age and level of chess knowledge). piece will appear on that square.
That was just a quick estimation. For your rating to be really To move a piece to another position on the board, select the + icon
meaningful, you need to let your rating evolve as you play more rated from the window, then click on the piece on the board, then on the
games. target square.
During your first 20 rated games, your chess rating is still provisional. To erase a piece from the board, select the X icon from the Set Up
During these games, your rating will evolve very quickly toward a more Board Position window, then click on the board piece to be erased.
accurate representation of your playing strength. Afterwards, your To determine which side is playing first, check either White or Black in
rating will evolve much more slowly. the window.
To play a rated game, choose Play/Ranked Play mode from the Main
Menu.
The first thing to do is set up your game, just the way you did in
Training mode (See the Setting Up the Game section on page 19). The
difference is that you can no longer play a human opponent, and the
number of time-control modes available is smaller (seconds/move and
infinite time are gone).
To see how your rating might change by playing the current opponent,
read the description in the upper area of the window.
The description contains your current rating and the amounts by which

28 29
 Playing Tournaments Choose a name for the tournament and a destination folder.
The Tournament Schedule window is identical to the one used when
You can create a tournament of your own or join predefined playing a predefined tournament. When you close it, the tournament is
tournaments. Both of these options are available in the Play/ automatically saved and the Tournaments window is displayed.
Tournaments game mode.
To load a tournament you’ve created, click on the Load Tournament
The Tournaments window displays a list of predefined tournaments for button in the Tournaments window.
you to choose from. When you select a tournament, its description is
displayed. Half of the predefined tournaments are hidden; placing in To exit Tournament mode, use the navigation bar to select another
the top three in one of the available tournaments usually uncovers a game mode.
hidden tournament.
To play a predefined tournament, select it from the list, then click the
Launch Predefined Tournament menu button. Playing Online
The Tournament Schedule window displays a list of all the games in Maybe you don’t have friends interested in chess. Or maybe you’ve
the tournament. When you select a game from the list, you can either become too good for them and they don’t want to play you anymore.
play the game, if you’re one of the players involved, or, in the case of Or maybe they don’t have time to play you anytime you want. Whatever
AI vs. AI games, watch it (this option forces you to watch the game all the case, Chessmaster offers you a way to play another human
the way to the end, so make sure you have enough free time) or ask opponent of your strength, anytime you want. All you need is an
for a quick result (this option simply gives you the result and nothing Internet connection.
else).
To see the current tournament rankings, click the View Rankings Configuring the Network
button in the Tournament Schedule window. Before you’ll start playing, you need to fulfill some system
To see the current tournament crosstable, click the View Crosstable requirements.
button in the Tournament Schedule window. For the game to function properly, the ports needed to be opened are
To return to the Tournaments window, simply close the Tournament TCP: 668, 40000–42999 and UDP: 41006, 44000, 45000, 45001
Schedule window by clicking on the small icon in the upper for the ubi.com matchmaking services and UDP: 17110 for the game
right corner of the window. If at least one game was played in communication. The game was designed to facilitate connectivity
the tournament, you’ll see the words “(in progress)” next to the even if the computer is connected through a NAT to the Internet (but
tournament’s name. keep in mind that not all router/NAT combinations work). If you can’t
To create your own tournament, click on the Create Tournament button connect to the matchmaking services or to a game server, please
in the Tournaments window. contact your network administrator and provide him or her with this
You’ll have to decide on a set of values defining the tournament. information.
First, pick the tournament type: round robin or Swiss. In a round-
robin tournament, each player plays all the other players; in a Swiss
Logging On to ubi.com
event, the players are matched according to their progressive scores To play Chessmaster online, click the Play/Online button. First, you
after each round. By default, tournament games aren’t rated; you can need to create a new ubi.com account (or activate it, if you already
change this using the Rated Tournament check box. have one). When asked, click on the corresponding button and type
Second, set the time controls. the information requested.
Then, enter your opponents’ rating range, either as a global value (My If you have a ubi.com account and forgot your password, please use a
Level, Grandmaster Level, etc.) or as specific limits. You can also web browser to navigate to www.ubi.com and request your password.
choose to play against randomly chosen opponents, or you can choose Note: Children under 13 years of age need permission from their
them yourself from the opponents’ list. parent or guardian before creating a user account. Please reach
Finally, you’ll be presented with an overview of the tournament’s www.ubi.com’s sign-up area and create a ubi.com account there (you’ll
parameters – just to be sure you got what you wanted. You can always need to print the permission form and fax it to ubi.com).
return to any of the previous steps and modify your choices.
After creation, the tournament must be saved for future reference.

30 31
 After you’ve created or activated your ubi.com account, Chessmaster In the Lobby layout, the shortcuts bar’s structure is:
asks you for the CD key number. You can find this number on the back
Hide/Display Games Hide/Display Chat
of the manual. Make sure you type the number carefully – any mistake
Create Game (Competition List) (Lobby Chat Window)
might prevent you from accessing Chessmaster’s online servers.
You can try to reconnect by either clicking the large Join button
located above the navigation bar or by using the Actions/Connect
action in either the right-click or the drop-down menu.
After you’ve set up your ubi.com account, Chessmaster automatically
associates it with your alter ego. If you return to the Main Menu, you’ll
see the name of the ubi.com account in parentheses next to your alter
ego. Get Game Create Correspondence Hide/Display
Chess Game Players
If you have several ubi.com accounts and want to switch between
them, you don’t need to go back to the Main Menu and create a new When playing an online game, the shortcuts bar’s structure depends
alter ego. Instead, simply use the Online Settings/Change User menu on the type of game you’re playing.
command. You will be disconnected from the game servers and will
have to enter a new user/password combo.
If you want to change information in your ubi.com account, like your For training games:
name, email address, or country of residence, use the Online Settings/ Create Correspondence Take Back Analyze mode
Modify User Info menu command. Chess Game Move On/Off
Playing an Online Game
The Lobby and Play Layouts
The first layout you’ll see after connecting to the Chessmaster
servers is the Lobby layout. The chessboard is present, but appears Create Game Offer Draw Resign Chess Coach Submit
semitransparent, and the Competition List, the Player List, and Lobby On/Off Move
Chat windows fill most of the screen. The Game Status and Captured
Pieces windows aren’t available. For expert games:
A lobby is in fact a game server where a maximum of 500 players Create Game Resign
can be present at any time. Chessmaster has several lobbies and
distributes players automatically between them. All the information
you receive during your online session comes from the lobby you’re
connected to; there is no communication between lobbies.
Therefore, it is possible that if your friends are online, you won’t be
able to see them – they might be in other lobbies. Offer Draw Analyze mode On/Off
To change lobbies, use the Online Settings/Change Lobby menu
command. A list of lobbies appears, displaying the number of players Get Game
connected to each of them. Select the lobby you want, then click on You can start a game using Get Game – an instant matchmaking tool.
the Join Lobby button. Get Game is available both from the shortcuts bar and from the Game/
After a match has started, the board becomes plain, and the Game Get Game menu.
Status and Captured Pieces windows are displayed while the other Click on the Get Game button and Chessmaster will select the
windows disappear, replaced by the In-Game Chat window. This is the closest match to the values set up in the Game Description. If no
Play layout. match is available, a warning is displayed; otherwise, the game starts
immediately.

32 33
 The default values for Get Game can be changed easily; they are
defined in the Get Game window as drop-down lists.
Create CC Game
You can start a Correspondence Chess game by clicking on the “Create
The Get Game icon from the shortcuts bar immediately starts the CC Game” icon from the shortcuts bar, from the Game/Create Game
search for a game, while the Game/Get Game menu command (from menu, or from the right-click menu.
the drop-down and right-click menus) displays the Get Game window.
Create Game Game List
The Game List displays all the games currently played, as well as all
Another way to start a game is by creating a game session. The player the challenges (games waiting for an opponent) available. It is a part
creating a game is called the host. The Create Game command is of the Competition List, which also integrates the Tournament, Ladder,
available both in the shortcuts bar and the Game/Create Game menu. and Clan Lists.
There are two main game types: The challenges are always displayed first, and you can easily identify
• Private, visible only to the host and the players he or she invites. them because the guest fields (name, rating) are always empty.
• Global, visible to all players. You can sort the whole list by left-clicking on the column title. For
The game modes available are Training (not rated), Expert (rated), and example, left-clicking on the Host Rating column title sorts the list by
Teaching. The host must also set up the color to play and the time host rating. However, the challenges and the ongoing games are not
controls. amalgamated; each of these parts of the list is sorted separately.
According to the user-specified time values defined, “games” are By right-clicking on a Game List row, you can either view the selected
defined as bullet (under 3 minutes/game), blitz (under 10 minutes/ game or accept the selected challenge. View Game is only available
game), and standard (10 minutes/game or more). if the game has actually started and the spectator limit for that game
Two special values are the spectator limit, which defines how hasn’t been reached yet.
many players can watch the newly created game, and the Chat Double-clicking a game makes you either accept a challenge or join a
mode available during the game. The Chat mode makes possible game as a spectator.
communication between players and spectators together, or between
just players and just spectators. Of course, if you don’t want to see
Correspondence Chess
your opponent’s messages, you can simply close the In-Game Chat Play with your friends even if you are not simultaneously online, in
window. Correspondence Chess mode.
After creation, the game is visible in the host’s Game List. Private You can join a Correspondence Chess challenge in the CC Challenges
games are invisible to other players unless the host specifically tab in the Competition list window, or manage your already-started
challenges a player using the Player List. When this happens, the games in the CC Games tab in the same window.
challenged player sees the game in his or her Game List; after a After each move, click on the Submit Move icon from the shortcuts
challenge is accepted, the ongoing game is globally visible (everybody bar, or from the right-click menu select Correspondence Chess and
can become a spectator in a private game). Global games are visible in then Submit Move.
everybody’s Game List. You can also play Correspondence Chess games from a web browser (if
The most direct way to challenge a player is to double-click on his or you have an account on ubi.com). Just visit www.chessmaster.com.
her name in the Player List. This will send a challenge. Challenges are
displayed in small windows in the lower right corner of the screen. If
Player List
several challenges are received at the same time, these windows stack The Player List displays all the players currently online. Four
each other. Each challenge window remains on-screen for 20 seconds, parameters are displayed:
then closes automatically. • The icons, which display the current activity (pawn for playing, eye
To save an online game locally, you can use the File/Save menu for spectator), and the status of players and spectators (smiley for
command. The game will be saved as a PGN file, with all the In-Game friend, forbidden sign for ignored).
Chat text saved as player commentary. • Players’ names.
To leave a game and return to the lobby, use the Game/Leave Board • Players’ ratings (bullet/blitz/standard ratings).
menu command. • Current activity status (idle, playing, viewing, teaching).
As with the Game List, you can sort this list by left-clicking on any
column title.
34 35
 The default display order of the players is always: Friends first, then with the name of the invited player.
others, then Ignored. This ensures the highest visibility for the player’s The In-Game Chat window is always available during games, but the
friends while hiding the players that are on the current player’s Ignore host decides if the players can see what spectators say (by setting
list. This display order is always respected, and left-click sorting works Chat mode to Players and Spectators while creating the game) or not
separately on each part of the list. (by setting Chat mode to Players Separate).
By right-clicking on a Player List row, you can: To use the voice chat feature, you first need a microphone connected
• Challenge a player (available only if the selected player has created to your computer. Then, click on the small Speaker icon in the
a game). upper right corner of the In-Game Chat window. This will activate
• Watch a game (available only if the selected player is currently your microphone/headset (a message will be displayed in the chat
playing and the spectator limit isn’t reached). window). To actually converse, your opponent must activate his or her
• Add someone to Friends List/remove someone from Friends List microphone/headset as well.
(self-exclusive). Note: Voice chat is not available during regular lobby chat sessions.
• Add someone to Ignore List/remove someone from Ignore List (self- Offline Messages
exclusive). If you want to send a message to a player who’s not online at the
• View more information (displays the player’s online statistics). moment, you can do so using the Offline Messages window. You open
• Chat in a Private Channel (opens a private chat window). Double- it with the Windows/Offline Messages menu command. The window
clicking a name in the Player List will lead to different outcomes contains a list of the last 100 messages you received.
according to the target’s current status: To read a message, click on it. The content will be displayed under the
– If the target player is currently playing a game or teaching, message list.
double-clicking will let you become a spectator/student of that To send a new message, click on the New Message button. Type
game. the exact name of the player you want to send the message to, then
– If the target player is currently idle or watching a game, double- write your message and click the Send Message button. The Offline
clicking will let you create and send a challenge. Messages window will pop up automatically upon your correspondent’s
– If the target player is challenging (waiting for opponents to accept next login, letting him or her see your message.
his or her challenge), double-clicking will let you join the existing To reply to a message received, double-click on the message or select
challenge or create and send a challenge. the message, then click on the Reply button.
• When challenging someone to a rated game, keep in mind that due You can always delete a message by selecting the message in the list,
to the way ratings are computed, two players can’t play rated games then clicking on the Delete button.
if the rating difference between them is more than 400 points.
Chat Windows
Tournaments
To create a tournament, you can use the Game/Create Tournament
There are two main chat windows available:
command. You must provide the following information:
• The Lobby Chat window, where all players can talk to each other.
• Tournament structure:
• The In-Game Chat window, where the two opponents can talk to
– Round robin, where every player gets to play every other player
each other and/or spectators.
once.
To chat with other players, you can simply type your message in the
– Double round robin, featuring double confrontations (one as
edit box under the main display area. The special character # stands
White, one as Black).
in for a player’s name. If Joe types “# feels tired,” the other players
will read “Joe feels tired.” • Tournament type:
The upper part of the chat window contains only news and official – Fast, where a single tournament takes place in a single day.
announcements. Chessmaster displays these automatically at regular – Daily, where the tournament takes place in successive days; there
intervals. is a round at the same hour each day.
To chat one-on-one with a specific player, you can use the Private Chat • Time control values.
command available by right-clicking on that specific player’s row in • Starting date and hour (hour for fast, date and hour for daily
the Player List. This will open a separate chat window that is titled tournaments).
36 37
 • Number of participants. The simplest way for any player to reach a scheduled game is to
• Rating range (as the tournament creator always joins the answer yes when asked to join the Tournaments Area.
tournament, the maximum limit of the rating range is creator’s The hard way is to use the Tournaments List to reach a game:
rating +/- 200). 1. Use Actions/Join Tournaments Area.
All tournaments have a registration period that starts immediately after 2. Open the Games/Tournaments/Ladders/League List window.
the tournament’s creation and lasts until a date/hour provided during 3. Click on the Tournaments tab to display the list.
creation.
4. Double-click on the tournament row.
Tournaments List 5. Click on Join Game or right-click + Join Game from the pop-
The Tournaments List is part of the Competitions List window up menu.
including the Games List, Ladders, and League; the separate lists are A shorter, alternate way is:
tab-delimited within the window.
1. Use Actions/Join Tournaments Area.
The Tournaments List contains all the tournaments currently available
(not closed), sorted by the registration period (tournaments with 2. Open the Games/Tournaments List window.
registration periods that haven’t ended will be first). 3. The Games tab is already selected, no need to check it.
The information displayed in the Tournaments List is: 4. Double-click on the scheduled game row. Players within the
• Host name and rating. Tournaments Area are announced with a pop-up window at
the moment the match starts.
• Tournament type (fast/daily + RR/DRR, where RR=round robin,
DRR=double round robin). There is a fixed time period during which a player can still join the
match after the official starting date/hour has passed. For bullet
• Number of players registered/total slots available. games, the time is one minute; for blitz games, the time is three
• Registration deadline. minutes; and for normal games, the time is five minutes. After the
To join a tournament, you can: time has passed, the missing player loses the match. If both players
• Click the Join This Tournament button at the bottom of the list, after aren’t present, the game is ignored in the classification.
selecting a row. You can save a tournament game using the Files/Save menu command
• Right-click the tournament’s row and choose Join This Tournament during the game or after the game is over. It will be saved as a PGN
from the pop-up menu. file with all the In-Game Chat text included as player commentary.
To view more information about a tournament, you can: Ladders
• Double-click the tournament’s row in the list.
A ladder is an event that takes place between two clearly delimited
• Click the View Tournament Information button at the bottom of the dates. All players registered for a ladder can play each other regardless
list, after selecting a row. of their ratings; after each match, the new positions in the ladder are
• Right-click the tournament’s row and choose View Tournament computed for each opponent.
Information from the pop-up menu. If the winner is situated on a lower ladder position, he or she will
Playing a Tournament Game advance by half of the distance between opponents, rounded up. If the
After joining a tournament, each participant will be notified that a winner is above the loser, he or she will advance one position.
tournament match is incoming before his or her match starts. Also, during a ladder, each player may play every other player twice:
For technical reasons, all tournaments are held in a separate lobby, once with White and once with Black. On the first encounter between
called the Tournaments Area. Players wandering outside of the two players, the host automatically plays White; on the next encounter,
Tournaments Area are notified with pop-up windows that appear 10 the colors will change accordingly.
minutes, 5 minutes, and 1 minute before the match starts (as well as To create a ladder, you can use the Game/Create Ladder command.
when the match starts), asking them to join the Tournaments Area in
order to play the tournament.

38 39
 Next, you must provide the following information: Playing a Ladder Game
• Ladder type: Unlike tournaments, ladder games can be played at any time.
– Defined registration period, where players can join only during a To play a ladder game, you must:
limited time. Registration starts as soon as the ladder is created 1. Open the Games/Tournaments/Ladders/League List window.
and lasts as long as the creator specifies.
2. Click on the Ladders tab to display the list.
– Unlimited registration, where new players can join the ladder
anytime during the ladder’s lifetime. 3. Double-click on the ladder row.
• Ladder duration (a week, a month, etc.). 4. Check the list of players, select one, and click on Challenge
Player, or right-click + Challenge Player from the pop-up
Ladders List menu, or click on Challenge All Players.
The Ladders List is part of the Competitions List window, including Challenging all players results in automatic matchmaking with other
the Games List, Tournaments, and League. The separate lists are tab- players who chose the same option. Challenging one player will
delimited within the window. generate a challenge window.
The Ladders List contains all the ladders currently available (not To save a ladder game, use the Files/Save menu command.
closed), sorted primarily by the registration period (ladders whose
registration periods haven’t ended will be first). The Clans and the League
The information displayed in the Ladders List is: Clans are groups of players that compete in a yearly event called The
• Status (joined/not joined). League. The League starts every year on Chessmaster 10th Edition’s
• Host name and rating. launch date. All existing clans are automatically entered in the
• Number of players that have joined the ladder. competition.
• Start date. Only players with more than 100 rated matches (be they bullet, blitz,
or standard) can create clans. The player who creates the clan receives
• Remaining days/hours/minutes. the title of founder and automatically becomes the manager of the
• Registration deadline. clan.
To join a ladder, you can: To create a clan, you can use the Game/Create My Clan menu
• Click the Join This Ladder button at the bottom of the list, after command. Provide the requested information, including the clan’s
selecting a row. name and description (maximum 255 characters).
• Right-click the ladder’s row and choose Join This Ladder from the The manager (usually the founder) can:
pop-up menu. • Invite new players to join the clan.
To view more information about a ladder, you can: • Banish clan members.
• Double-click the ladder’s row in the list. • Pass management rights to another clan member.
• Click the View Ladder Information button at the bottom of the list, To invite new players, the clan manager has a specific new command
after selecting a row. in the right-click menu of the Player List: Invite [Player] to Join Your
• Right-click the ladder’s row and choose View Ladder Information Clan. Sending the invitation is only possible if the target player isn’t
from the pop-up menu. playing a game.
If the target player accepts the invitation, he or she automatically
leaves his or her previous clan (if any) and joins the new clan. A
clan manager can’t accept an invitation to join another clan without
entrusting the current clan’s management rights to someone else.
There is no upper limit on the number of clan members. However, if
a clan shrinks to fewer than three members, it automatically becomes
inactive.

40 41
 To banish clan members, the clan manager uses the Banish [Player] • Victory against a weaker player, rating difference (0,50): 4 points.
from Your Clan command in the right-click menu of the Clan • Victory against a stronger player, rating difference (0,50): 4 points.
Information window. This is possible even if the banished player is • Victory against a stronger player, rating difference (50,200): 5
currently offline. The banished clan member will be notified of this points.
status change on his or her next connection.
• Victory against a stronger player, rating difference >200: 6 points.
To pass management rights to another clan member, the clan manager Games played between the members of the same clan don’t count
uses the Entrust [Player] as Future Manager of Your Clan command toward League scores.
in the right-click menu of the Player List. This is possible even if the
target player is currently offline. The manager-to-be will be notified Clans must play a number of games each month equal to 10 times
of this status change on his or her next connection. Clan managers the number of clan members. Clans that don’t meet this minimum
can’t create a new clan until they entrust the management right of the requirement are automatically marked as inactive. A clan becomes
current clan to someone else. active again when its members play the minimum number of games.
The League window contains a list of all the clans, sorted by the total Another condition for a clan to remain active is that it must have at
points gained. You can reach it by clicking on the League tab in the least three members. If it does not, it becomes automatically inactive.
Competition List window. To get back on track, the clan needs new members. During inactivity
periods, clan points aren’t computed.
To view information about a clan, select the clan from the list, then
click on the View Clan Information button, or double-click the clan’s
row from the list. You will see the clan’s name, description, and
Simultaneous Exhibitions
statistics and the list of members. A simultaneous exhibition (simul) is a game where a stronger player
To join a clan, select it from the list and then click on the Join Clan takes on several opponents at the same time.
button. You will be asked to contact the clan’s manager and ask for To create a simul, you can use the Game/Create Simul command.
permission to join. Requesting a membership doesn’t mean you’ll Next, you must provide the following information:
become a member – the manager is the only one who can decide to • Time control.
send you an invitation. When you receive an invitation from the clan’s
• Number of opponents.
manager, you can decide to accept or reject it.
• Rating range (either as values, or as global categories: My Level,
Clan members have access to a specific chat window called Clan Chat,
which allows clan members to converse privately. This is just like the Beginner, Novice).
Lobby Chat, but is only available to the clan members. To reach it, During simultaneous exhibitions, the host always plays White.
display the Clan Information window, then click the Clan Chat button. A simul game can’t start unless at least two opponents have joined, so
The ultimate goal for each clan is to win the League. Each clan the Start button in the Create Simul window is grayed out unless this
member brings points to the clan from each of his or her rated games, condition is fulfilled. Also, there is a compulsory waiting time of 10
as follows: seconds.
• Defeat: 0 points. Playing a Simultaneous Exhibition
• Draw against a weaker player, rating difference >200: 0 points. Players can join a simul the same way they join any Training, Expert,
• Draw against a weaker player, rating difference (50,200): 0 points. or Teaching game – through the Game List. (One can easily identify
• Draw against a weaker player, rating difference (0,50): 1 point. simuls by reading the Game Type column.)
• Draw against a stronger player, rating difference (0,50): 1 point.
• Draw against a stronger player, rating difference (50,200): 2 points.
• Draw against a stronger player, rating difference >200: 3 points.
• Victory against a weaker player, rating difference >200: 2 points.
• Victory against a weaker player, rating difference (50,200): 3 points.

42 43
 The structure of the Game List has a slightly different meaning for Students can watch the board and talk to the teacher via the In-Game
simuls: Chat window. They can’t make moves on the board, but they can
• The Black column displays the current number of opponents who choose the move to be made as an answer in a multiple-choice quiz.
have joined and the total number of free slots. They can also indicate moves by typing the coordinates in algebraic
• Black’s Rating column displays the simul’s rating range. After at notation via the In-Game Chat window, so there is a fair amount of
least two opponents have joined, the simul can start. In addition interactivity in the chess lecture.
to the usual game windows (Game Status, Captured Pieces, etc.), You can save a Teaching game using the File/Save menu command.
a specific Simul window is displayed. It contains a list of all Games are saved in Chessmaster’s proprietary tutorial format; you can
the boards involved in the simul and displays the names of the load them later in the Academy to watch them.
opponents, the results of individual games (if available), and Status After creation, the Teaching games are visible just like other games in
icons for each board (green if the master can join the board and the Game List.
play, red if not).
First choose a color, then the
During a simul, the master can join any board anytime, but can make arrow type.
a move on a board only if the opponent has moved (the Status icon is
The first click defines the
green).
starting square; the second click
After the last game ends, all players receive a simul report containing defines the target.
the results of all games. You can save the simultaneous exhibition
using the File/Save menu command. All the games will be saved as a
single PGN file. “Light color” highlight
Warning: You can only save the simul as long as the master doesn’t “Dark color” highlight
close the simul report.
Mark this check box to enable
Online Teaching ghost pieces.
Chessmaster allows stronger players to teach others online by creating
a Teaching chess game. Move tool
To create a Teaching game, just click the Create Game icon in Erase tool
the shortcuts bar or choose the Game/Create Game menu. Choose
Teaching as the Game mode; time controls are deactivated in this
Game mode. The students won’t see the
situation on the teacher’s board
The player who creates the game is the teacher; the others are until the teacher clicks this
students. The teacher has a set of tools that helps him or her button.
modify the board and highlight situations, pieces, attacks, etc. while
explaining the moves using the In-Game Chat window.
The tools available are: If checked, any modification
of the teacher’s board is
• Arrows: The teacher can draw thin or fat arrows, choosing one of the automatically visible on the
eight colors available. students’ boards.
• Highlights: To highlight a square on the board, the teacher can
choose one of the two highlights available (dark/light).
Rewind
• Board setup: The teacher can add/remove pieces or ghost pieces.
Undo
• Multiple-choice quizzes: The teacher can create simple multiple-
choice quizzes by typing the question, then the answer (the correct Forward
answer must be checked), and then the countdown timer (how long Redo
students have to answer).
• Undo/redo: If something goes wrong, the teacher can simply undo/
redo his or her actions.
44 45
 The News System and the Website Studying Famous Games
Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition benefits from a real-time news A great way to study chess is by watching the famous games of the
system announcing new events as soon as they’re available. News is past and present Grandmasters. Chessmaster offers you a database of
displayed in the upper part of the Lobby Chat window. 825 games played by the best players in chess history and annotated
The types of events announced automatically are: by GM Larry Evans (among others). The Famous Games section is a
• A master-level player logs in. part of the Learn area of Chessmaster.
• A master-level player plays somebody else.
• A master-level player plays another master-level player.
Watching a Game
• A preprogrammed event approaches the start or completion date/ The Famous Games window contains a list of all 825 games in the
time (preprogrammed events are tournaments, ladders, simultaneous database. To watch a game, first scroll down the list and select the
exhibitions, lectures by master-level players). game you want. When clicking on a game, you can see the ending
position, as well as the game’s starting commentary. Click on the
• Other important information Watch Game button when you’ve decided on a game. The Famous
In addition, these announcements can be displayed during any Game Games layout contains the chessboard, the Game Status window, and
mode in the Online News window. To display the window, use the the Annotation window.
Windows/Online News command. If you want to receive the news To browse the game, use the Move List or the Next/Previous icons from
automatically, mark the check box (default is unchecked). the shortcuts bar. You can read the commentary from the Annotation
Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition has a dedicated website, window. To choose another game, use the Watch Another Game icon
www.chessmaster.com, which can be seen by players from within from the shortcuts bar.
Chessmaster using the Windows/Website command. While browsing The structure of the shortcuts bar is:
the site, you can download the game or tutorial files and load them
later from the Training or Academy game modes. Watch Another Famous Game

Playing in a Network
If you and several buddies are linked in a network and each of you has
a copy of Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition, you can play chess using Previous Next
your network. Just install each Chessmaster copy on the respective
computers and you’re set. There are a couple of important differences
between the Online and LAN Game modes. Searching for a Specific Game
First, you don’t need to create any other user to play in a LAN. You’ll You can filter the games displayed in the Famous Games window by
be identified by your current alter ego. using the Search tool. To search for a specific game, type your search
Second, three of the features found in Online Game mode aren’t term in the edit box under the game list. If there are no results, try
available in LAN Game mode; more specifically, you can’t play using just a part of the word you’re searching.
tournaments or ladders and you can’t create or join clans. All the other To clean up the search and display all the famous games again, click
Online features work identically in LAN Game mode. on the Restore Game List button.
For further assistance, please refer to the Playing Online section (page 31).

46 47
 The Database 1. The four tabs: Moves, Key Info, Data Query, Position Search
2. The board and the navigation buttons (Beginning, Previous,
Chessmaster has a database of almost 800,000 games. You can find Next, End).
it in Chessmaster’s Learn area. 3. The list of all the games (also list of games in a search
To help players navigate the database easily, Chessmaster provides result).
four types of navigation by splitting the Database window into four 4. Game information.
tabs. 5. The currently selected match is sent to Training mode for
• The Moves tab displays a list of all available matches. Browsing further study.
through the list updates the match information displayed – 6. The match moves. Clicking on a move advances the game.
opponents, moves, and other statistical data like the event, the site,
the date, etc. 7. After a search, the game list is modified to contain only the
search results. To set the list back to the default value (all
• The Key Info tab displays the tree of all available keys (chess games available in the database) the players can use Reset
positions) in the database. The current position is taken from the Game List.
currently selected match (see the Moves tab), whose moves are
displayed next to the board. 8. Searches the current position displayed on the board within
Browsing through the keys tree or through the game moves updates the database. The results are displayed in the game list.
the key information displayed (results, ECO, subkeys/subgames, Improved Search
etc.). In the Data Query tab, you can now search the chess games using new
• The Data Query tab allows the player to search the database for and interesting criteria:
player names, events, dates, etc. There are two search types: basic, • Fastest games (games ranked by the number of moves).
where the player asks simply who, where, and when; and advanced,
with six different query slots and three alternative search items • Biggest struggles (games ranked by the number of checks).
possible. • Most impressive moves (games ranked by the number of consecutive
• The Position Search tab allows the player to build a position on the captures).
board (in a more visual manner than, say, the Key Info tab) and • Most subtle games (games finished without a capture ranked by the
search for that position in the database. number of moves).
• Raising challenges (games ranked by the number of promotions).
1 • Pawn wars (games ranked by the number of passed pawns).
• Hunted draws (games ended with stalemate ordered by the number
3 of moves).
2

The Fun Area

7 Chessmaster has a game area specially designed for kids and players
4 8 who just want to have fun. It’s a place where kids and beginners of all
5 ages can enjoy a little of everything Chessmaster has to offer without
6 entering any of the other areas.
To play, just use the Fun/Play menu. As you can see, the Fun area has
a specific interface.

48 49
 To play a chess game, click the red pawn in the shortcuts bar.
3 Please read the Setting Up the Game section (page 19) for a detailed
explanation on setting up your game.
To ask for a hint, click the exclamation point in the shortcuts bar.
Please read the Getting Advice section (page 23) for a detailed
explanation on the hint tool.
To take back your last move, click the yellow pawn in the shortcuts
1 bar.
To change the chess set, click the right mouse button and choose the
Preferences/Change Chess Set menu command.
4 To learn the basics of chess, use the books icon in the navigation
2 bar. For a detailed description on running tutorials and solving drills,
5 please read the Learning to Play section (page 10).
To return from the Learn area to the Play area, use the board icon in
the navigation bar.
1. The Chess Coach
To play a puzzle, use the board and pieces icon in the navigation bar.
Click on any box to display the corresponding hints. For a detailed
For a detailed description on solving puzzles, please read the Solving
explanation of the Chess Coach, read the Chess Coach section in
Puzzles section (page 14).
Playing Against the AI (page 16).
2. The Navigation Bar
Click on the horizontal arrow to expand the bar; the options
available are Play, Puzzles, Mini-Games, and Learn Basics. Click on
the vertical arrow to browse the other areas of Chessmaster.
Warning: If you leave the Fun area, the interface will change to the
classic one.
3. The Game Status
This simplified version displays the opponent’s picture, name, and
remaining time.
4. The Chess Board
The default chess set in the Fun area is animated. To move a piece,
click on it and then click on the destination square. To rotate the
board, use the left or right arrow keys. To resize it, use the mouse
wheel or the Page Up/Page Down keys. To move it around, click and
drag it by the border. To tilt it, use the up or down arrow keys.
5. The Shortcuts Bar
The three icons are: New Game, Hint, and Take Back Move.

50 51
 Chessmaster®: Grandmaster Edition
PROOF-OF-PURCHASE

© 2007 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Chessmaster,

Ubisoft, Ubi.com, and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft
Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. Portions of
Chessmaster Academy instructional content, including those based on
The Art of Learning, © 2007 Josh Waitzkin LLC.

52
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User: Alex Andrist Computer: Alex Andrist’s Computer Date: 10/24/05 - 03:37 PM Print Scale: 100 Handling#: 8

based on Shorewood template

 Common Actions Training Mode – Mentor
Pause: CTRL+P Quick Hint: CTRL+H
Help: F1 Advice: CTRL+A
Quit: ALT+F4 Chess Coach: CTRL+C
2D/3D Switch: CTRL+F10 Hide/Display Chess Coach Hints: SPACE
Practice Room: CTRL+K – Assisted Mode Display Chess Coach Hints for the
Opposing Side: TAB
Windows
Shortcuts Bar: CTRL+1 Online
Game Status: CTRL+2 Get Game: CTRL+G
Annotation: CTRL+3 Lobby Chat: CTRL+L
Captured Pieces: CTRL+4 In-Game Chat: CTRL+H
Navigation Bar: CTRL+7 Competition List: CTRL+M
Hide/Display Windows: CTRL+TAB Player List: CTRL+Y
Website: CTRL+W
Training Mode – Actions
Offline Messages: CTRL+O
Quickstart Game: CTRL+Q
Online Room: CTRL+A – Create CC Game
New Game: CTRL+N
LAN Room Play & Internet Room Play:
Save Game: CTRL+S
CTRL+8 – Pocket Window
Load Game: CTRL+L
Take Back Move: CTRL+T Mini-Games
Replay Move: CTRL+R Create Mini-Game: CTRL+C
Force Move: CTRL+F Shortcuts Bar: CTRL+1
Wake Up: CTRL+W Mini-Game Info Panel: CTRL+2

Ubisoft, Inc. · 625 Third Street · San Francisco, CA 94107

683667-MNL
© 2007 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Chessmaster, Ubisoft, Ubi.com,
and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or
other countries. Portions of Chessmaster Academy instructional content, including
those based on The Art of Learning, © 2007 Josh Waitzkin LLC.
Made in the U.S.A.

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