convictatlarge
16 ( +1 | -1 ) PC Chess GamesI need a PC based chess game or a stand alone chess computer to practice against can you recommend any to me? And where I could buy one online?
nwadvana
33 ( +1 | -1 ) Downloading Kazaa and then getting the desired program would be ok if you had a fast internet connection.
Depending on what you want to do with the program, Chessmaster would be the best bet, as it has many different skill and styles to choose and practice against. However Fritz is also similar but witha more robust engine
peppe_l
32 ( +1 | -1 ) I have played CM9000And have to say the "human" personalities it has are not even close to human-like playing style. Also I played vs Karpov personality (2700+ says CM9000) and I have to say its positional understanding was less than impressive, even though I lost in tactical complications after having much better position :-)
nwadvana
30 ( +1 | -1 ) Of Coursethe personalities try to emulate the top players. However i think some of the styles are good, for example the personality, that loves bishops, and even goes as far to trade rooks for them - such things help players to exploit weaknesses in opponents play - working through them slowly.
peppe_l
123 ( +1 | -1 ) nwadwana"Of Course the personalities try to emulate the top players. However i think some of the styles are good, for example the personality, that loves bishops, and even goes as far to trade rooks for them - such things help players to exploit weaknesses in opponents play - working through them slowly."
The problem is current computers cant emulate top players well enough...first of all CM9000 is not positionally strong enough to emulate Karpov or Kramnik. Secondly, prog is a prog :-) You have a point when you are talking about exploiting weaknesses, but the problem is computer is always too predictable - it is easier to learn how to play vs certain computer personality than it is to learn how to play vs real human beings. Or computers in general, even a patzer like me has chances to draw CM9000 (supposedly 2700+ ELO program) occasionally by playing "anti-computer" chess, but organize a 100-game match between me and Karpov and the result will be 100-0...
Of course CM9000 is a nice practise opponent if one doesnt have humans to play against, and Im sure other programs like Fritz are too, but IMO human opponent is always better than a prog. If we assume one wants to learn how to play humans, of course.
nwadvana
41 ( +1 | -1 ) MaybeI dont know if Fritz Chapoinship Chess would be the same as Fritz. I'll find out for you.. It certainly looks different, the one I've got is Fritz 6.
Speaking about chess programs, which pc chess program, plays most like a human - thus being the best computer opponent to practice against. I have chessmaster 6000, running on my Pentuim 4 1.5Ghz, and i can beat it using anticomputer strategies.
druleeparsec
51 ( +1 | -1 ) Rather than stealing money from programmers by downloading from Kazaa I'd suggest buying Fritz 8 for US $49.95 or Fritz 7 for about $25 from www.chessbaseusa.com.
I'm a programmer myself and I don't mind writing open source software and giving it away, but it hurts when I write something to make a profit and feed my family and then people steal it by using file sharing software. I think you'll feel that the $50 (or even just $25) is well worth the benefit you'd get from using Fritz.