On Wed, 2 Jan 2008 10:17:17 -0800 (PST), Chess Hack
wrote:

I am a long time Chessmaster user, but for some reason my copy of CM9
freezes up on my computer with TheKing.exe eating up 100% CPU time!
This prompted me to look into Fritz as an alternative since my level
of play is not really novice or beginner, and yet I am not really a
great player either. I don't even know my rating! At any rate, I
found a copy of Fritz 8 Deluxe at a local GameStop store for $10 and
bought it.

All I can say is wow! This program is light years ahead of CM9 (or
any previous versions) in terms of sophistication and tools to help me
get actually better at chess. The CM line had good tools also, but as
a professional programmer I feel pretty comfortable with Fritz's
interface, even as clunky as it is at times.

I see that the program is up to version 11 now, but the reviews seem
spotty, claiming little if any real value to upgrading from an
interface standpoint. My computer is a fairly modern one with an AMD
Sempron 64FX 3100+ processor with 1.5 GB memory, an ATI 1300X Pro
video card and a Soundblaster xTreme gamer sound card. I like what I
see with Fritz and I feel like I would never buy another CM product
for various reasons, but is there any compelling reason for a guy at
my level to upgrade past Fritz 8 at this point?

Thanks in advance.

Unless you're concerned with sheer playing strength, or want to
upgrade your Playchess subscription, there's probably not a really
compelling reason to upgrade. The GUI is slightly updated, but not
enough to justify a $50 purchase, IMO. You got Fritz at a pretty
decent price.

Are you running Vista? From what I've read previously on this
newsgroup, CM9K doesn't work under Vista.

Tony