MY VIEW
Games: 'Chessmaster 9000

By Robert Uyeyama
Special to The Advertiser

The Verdict: 5 THE RATINGS 5 — Outstanding: Add it to your collection now. A must-have. 4 — Great: Buy it or rent it — definitely play it. 3 — Good: Worth playing despite some flaws. 2 — Fair: Unless you're a fan of the license or series, don't bother. 1 — Poor: You'd have more fun playing Pong.

Platform: Windows, Macintosh

Developer/publisher: Ubisoft (Windows), Feral Interactive (Macintosh)

Genre: Strategy

Number of players: 1-2

ESRB: Rated E, for everyone

The premise: This title is the first Mac port of the long-lived "Chessmaster" franchise since "Chessmaster 3000" in 1998. In the meantime, the Windows series has grown incrementally from what was originally a way to play against the computer to a full-fledged teaching system, which has gone one step further than the Mac version with last year's "Chessmaster 10th Edition."

Game play: You can play the computer, adjusting the overall skill of its AI (artificial intelligence) from beginner all the way to grandmaster level. Its playing style may also be adjusted, such as positional preferences and valuation of pieces. For beginners, any attempted illegal moves will be pleasantly explained via audio. For intermediate and advanced players, a barrage of mentor functions may be enabled.

The real highlight is the tutorial system (an interactive textbook), which includes 13 lessons, quizzes and workshops for beginners through advanced players. There's also a database of more than half a million historical games through 2002, but the real detail is reserved for a library of 800 classic games from 1619 to the present.

The good/bad: "Chessmaster 9000" will easily make you a better player, no matter what your level of play. Beginners will learn the underlying reasoning behind opening play without memorizing openings. Advanced players will appreciate the Match the Masters quizzes, where the goal is to guess the next move of master-level games in a multiple-choice format. Also a gem is the tutorial section by Josh Waitzkin, the former child prodigy from the film "Searching for Bobby Fischer."

A few audio glitches exist, and the multiplayer aspect is worth ignoring. Players on a LAN each require a purchase of the game. The multiplayer browser rarely shows other players, so it's much better to go to a game Web site like Pogo.com, which has hundreds of online players (or on a Mac to use Freeverse Software's "Big Bang Chess" with its iChat and iSight integration to play with friends).

Tips: The interface can seem cluttered, so jump straight to the tutorial section, where everything is self-explanatory. Later, try playing the AI while exploring the coaching functions one-by-one to decide what is useful to you at your level of play. In the library, explore the early games through the 1800s first, as these were chosen more for their teaching value, whereas later games are often provided for historical reasons, such as the matchup of Kasparov vs. IBM's Deep Blue supercomputer in 1997.

My take: Because of its strong teaching functions, "Chessmaster 9000" has a clear and important place in your chess library, and stands high above most any other chess resource for the average player. Windows users will be pleased with either "10th Edition" or saving money on "Chessmaster 9000." Xbox and PlayStation2 owners can also find Ubisoft's "Chessmaster," which essentially is the same game.

Robert Uyeyama, a University of Hawai'i-Manoa graduate student, is the founder of the Macintosh game site Macologist.org.

UPCOMING VIDEO GAME RELEASES
Dates are tentative.

PlayStation 2

• June 27: "Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam"; "Fantastic Four"
• June 28: "Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana"
• July 6: "Killer 7"
• July 11: "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"; "NCAA Football 06"
• July 12: "Full Metal Alchemist 2"; "FlatOut"
• July 13: "Flipnic"
• July 19: "Jackie Chan Adventures"; "Colosseum: Road to Freedom"; "Delta Force: Black Hawk Down"
• July 26: "Graffiti Kingdom"; "Makai Kingdom"

PlayStation Portable

• June 26: "Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition"
• June 28: "Dead to Rights: Reckoning"
• July 6: "Coded Arms"

Xbox

• June 27: "Fantastic Four"
• June 28:"King of Fighters: Maximum Impact Maniax"
• July 5: "Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack"
• July 11: "Sid Meier's Pirates!"; "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"; "NCAA Football 06"
• July 12: "FlatOut"
• July 19: "Delta Force: Black Hawk Down"
• July 22: "Battlestations: Midway"
• July 26: "Outlaw Tennis"

Gamecube

• June 27: "Fantastic Four"
• July 5: "Animaniacs: The Great Edgar Hunt"
• July 6: "Killer 7"
• July 19: "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"; "187 Ride or Die"
• July 26: "Harvest Moon: Another Wonderful Life"

Gameboy Advance

• June 27: "Fantastic Four"
• June 28: "Riviera"
• July 11: "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"
• July 18: "Animaniacs: Lights, Camera, Action "
• July 25: "Kim Possible 3"; "That's So Raven 2"
• July 26: "Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town"

List provided by Toys n' Joys, with shops in Kaimuki (735-4546) and Westridge Shopping Center (487-8697) in Pearlridge. See www.toysnjoys.com.