I just saw on the apple web site that they are selling chessmaster 9000
for the Mac (OS 9 and OS X).

This is great news, considering that none of the top computer programs
like Fritz, Shredder or Junior are available for the Mac. And fpr
analysis, as far as I know, there is not a single good Mac program.

I already have both CM 9000 and Fritz 8 at home on my PC, but so far all I
have on my G5 Mac at work is MacChess, which has very limited functions.

I consider CM 9000 to be the best program for learning, with its great
tutorials, as well as for playing human-like weaker opponents. Fritz is
unbeatable for game analysis, but at the weaker levels it plays like a
grandmaster who makes blunders. That is why I have both Fritz8 and CM
9000. I used to get the earlier versions of Fritz for free, when I was the
chess reviewer for the gamesdomain web site, but that was some years ago.

So I am considering buying another copy of CM 9000 for my Mac. (but if
someone wants to send me a free copy of the Mac version for review, I will
be happy to oblige...).

Henri

This is good news, I suppose, however I would point out that Sigmachess
(www.sigmachess.com) is an excellent shareware program for the Mac with
lots of features - I can't compare the analysis/strength of it vs
engines like Fritz, but the author claims that it has a strength of
around 2500 ELO on a 1 GHz G4.

I'd be especially interested in finding out how CM 9000 stacks up
against Sigmachess, along with other engines that run on the Mac (such
as Crafty).

John

Henri Arsenault wrote:

I just saw on the apple web site that they are selling chessmaster 9000
for the Mac (OS 9 and OS X).

This is great news, considering that none of the top computer programs
like Fritz, Shredder or Junior are available for the Mac. And fpr
analysis, as far as I know, there is not a single good Mac program.

I already have both CM 9000 and Fritz 8 at home on my PC, but so far all I
have on my G5 Mac at work is MacChess, which has very limited functions.

I consider CM 9000 to be the best program for learning, with its great
tutorials, as well as for playing human-like weaker opponents. Fritz is
unbeatable for game analysis, but at the weaker levels it plays like a
grandmaster who makes blunders. That is why I have both Fritz8 and CM
9000. I used to get the earlier versions of Fritz for free, when I was the
chess reviewer for the gamesdomain web site, but that was some years ago.

So I am considering buying another copy of CM 9000 for my Mac. (but if
someone wants to send me a free copy of the Mac version for review, I will
be happy to oblige...).

Henri

(Henri Arsenault) wrote in message ...
I just saw on the apple web site that they are selling chessmaster 9000
for the Mac (OS 9 and OS X).

This is great news, considering that none of the top computer programs
like Fritz, Shredder or Junior are available for the Mac. And fpr
analysis, as far as I know, there is not a single good Mac program.

I already have both CM 9000 and Fritz 8 at home on my PC, but so far all I
have on my G5 Mac at work is MacChess, which has very limited functions.

I consider CM 9000 to be the best program for learning, with its great
tutorials, as well as for playing human-like weaker opponents. Fritz is
unbeatable for game analysis, but at the weaker levels it plays like a
grandmaster who makes blunders. That is why I have both Fritz8 and CM
9000. I used to get the earlier versions of Fritz for free, when I was the
chess reviewer for the gamesdomain web site, but that was some years ago.

So I am considering buying another copy of CM 9000 for my Mac. (but if
someone wants to send me a free copy of the Mac version for review, I will
be happy to oblige...).

Henri

Yes, a company called Feral (www.feral.co.uk) is doing it, although it
is not yet finished, to the best of my knowledge.

But, be careful! It might be the same engine that was in the last
version of CM for the Mac. I have not heard anything from Johan
regarding him working on porting his current engine to the Mac. So
either Feral is working from the old archives, or they have gotten
somebody else's engine (or Johan hasn't kept me up to date :-).

I would find out this critical information first before I bought a new
Mac version.

jm

Henri Arsenault wrote:
I just saw on the apple web site that they are selling chessmaster 9000
for the Mac (OS 9 and OS X).


Indeed, it seems to be available. Estimated shipment is July and at
feral software it is still listed in the section available soon. It is
right on planned delivery date.

The best commercial must be the Kasparov one. It uses the Ruffian
engine. Amongst PCs, this engine is also one of the strongest.

In the freeware section, crafty runs very well on Mac using xboard or
eboard and is very good.

From my viewpoint, both Crafty and Ruffian are much much stronger than
I am, I do not sense the difference. (I have about 2000 Elo) I doubt
that anyone below 2300 will feel a difference in the program strength.
Personally, I think Crafty is a very good program because you can easily
work with different opening books and it plays a more human style.

You can read all about chess for Mac on the website I dedicated to it:
www.internetcontact.be/~macchess