Chessmaster 9000 - FAQ

Welcome to Chessmaster 9000

These FAQs accompany version 1.0.2

Chessmaster 9000
Developed by: UbiSoft
Ported to the Macintosh by: Zonic
Published for the Macintosh by: Feral

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

This document is intended to help you answer any questions that you may have about Chessmaster 9000

  1. When I start playing Chessmaster 9000 iTunes pauses my music, why?
  2. Where are my saved games stored?
  3. I would like to play Chessmaster 9000 on OS 9. Can I do this?
  4. I have 2 monitors attached to my computer - how do I change which screen the game runs on?
  5. Can I play against PC opponents online?
  6. Chessmaster 9000 runs slowly on my computer. Is there anything I can do to increase the speed?
  7. How do I get technical support for Chessmaster 9000?
  8. How do I uninstall Chessmaster 9000?
  9. If I offer a draw to an opponent, I can still carry on playing after they accept the draw. Why?
  10. How can I find out more information on the history of Chess?
  11. Why do Spoken Move Announcements for Piece Movement occasionally run into each other?
  12. Why is the Profile tab of my Player Profile blank?
  13. The Remarks field in the Game Information window is not large enough, is there another way I can read the remarks?
  14. How do I save Opening Comments and Variations in Opening Books?
  15. Some of the questions on forks in the Classroom appear to have incorrect answers, are they?
  16. How do I get back into Chessmaster 9000 after moving to another application?
  17. How do I change how much CPU time Chessmaster uses when in the background?

1
Q : When I start playing Chessmaster 9000 iTunes pauses my music, why?

A : You have the "Pause iTunes while playing Chessmaster 9000." option selected in the Chessmaster 9000 Options Panel. To turn this feature off follow the steps below.
  • Double Click on the Chessmaster 9000 Application whilst holding the command key down.
  • A window called "Chessmaster 9000 Options" will appear.
  • Select the tab called "Extras"
  • Deselect the tick box next to "Pause iTunes while playing Chessmaster 9000."
  • Click Play to start playing Chessmaster 9000.
To turn this feature back on at a later date just re-select the tick box and then press Play.
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2
Q : Where are my saved games stored?

A : The saved games are stored:
  • In ~/Library/Preferences/Ubisoft/Chessmaster 9000
(Where "~" is your Home folder)
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3
Q : I would like to play Chessmaster 9000 on OS 9. Can I do this?

A : No. Chessmaster 9000 is OS X compatible only.
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4
Q : I have 2 monitors attached to my computer - how do I change which screen the game runs on?

A : If you have more than one monitor connected to your Mac that is capable of supporting Chessmaster 9000, a dialog will be displayed when Chessmaster 9000 is launched that will allow you to choose which monitor is used for the game.

Holding down the '⌘' key while starting the game will display the dialog screen if you have previously disabled it.

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5
Q : Can I play against PC opponents online?

A : Network games between Macs and PCs are not possible due to some hardware dependent features of PC and Mac computers.
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6
Q : Chessmaster 9000 runs slowly on my computer. Is there anything I can do to increase the speed?

A : There are several factors which have an impact on the speed at which Chessmaster 9000 runs. Please see the sections titled "General Performance issues" and "Chessmaster 9000 Performance Tips" in the Chessmaster 9000 ReadMe for a guide to increasing the speed at which the game runs on your computer.
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7
Q : How do I get technical support for Chessmaster 9000?

A : First, check that the machine that you are trying to run the game on meets the minimum system requirements, and that your question is not answered in this FAQ document. Check out the Feral website www.feralinteractive.com for a solution.

If all of the above does not solve your problem, please read the technical support information in the ReadMe, this tells you how to contact us and what information will help us with your issue. The support e-mail is: chessmaster9ksupport@feralinteractive.com

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8
Q : How do I uninstall Chessmaster 9000?

A : To uninstall Chessmaster 9000, simply drag the folder called Chessmaster 9000 from your hard drive and drop it in the Trash, then empty the Trash. Remember also to remove the Chessmaster 9000 preferences, which are stored in a folder called 'Ubisoft' in your computer's 'Preferences' folder.

IMPORTANT: If you have more than one game from UbiSoft installed, remember to check inside the folder so that you do not delete other UbiSoft game preferences.
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9
Q : If I offer a draw to an opponent, I can still carry on playing after they accept the draw. Why?

A : Accepting a game as a draw updates both you and your opponent's rankings accordingly. You may then choose to carry on playing without resetting the board, however the result of the game will not affect your ranking, as the game will have already been officially marked as a draw.
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10
Q : How can I find out more information on the history of Chess?

A : Select the About Chessmaster 9000 option found in the Chessmaster 9000 menu. Click the History button and you will be presented with a scrolling timeline, chronicling the history of Chess.
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11
Q : Why do Spoken Move Announcements for Piece Movement occasionally run into each other?

A : When playing a game where Piece Movement is set to Spoken Move Announcements in the Chessmaster Sounds Options window, the voice-overs that accompany piece movement occasionally run into each other. This occurs only when two moves are made in quick succession, as there is not time to complete the first voice-over before the second voice-over begins.

For example, if you play a move and your opponent makes one directly afterwards, Chessmaster will not have enough time to play both voice-overs and so will cut out the voice-over for your move; otherwise the Spoken Move Announcements would not be synchronised with the moves being made on screen.

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12
Q : Why is the Profile tab of my Player Profile blank?

A : The Profile tab of the Player Profile window is left blank intentionally, so that you may enter your own details. Use this window panel to store any information about yourself you wish to display. This information will be available to other players when playing online.

This window functions in a similar way as the Info tab in the Select Personality window.

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13
Q : The Remarks field in the Game Information window is not large enough, is there another way I can read the remarks?

A : The same remarks in the Game Information window can be found in the Player Annotation tab of the Annotation Window, accessible by pressing ⌘3.
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14
Q : How do I save Opening Comments and Variations in Opening Books?

A : Although some of the built-in Opening Books have Opening Comments and Variations, you cannot change the information in these text fields when editing Opening Books. You can only edit the ECO, Moves and Weight fields.
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15
Q : Some of the questions on forks in the Classroom appear to have incorrect answers, are they?

A : There are two types of fork in Chess, one type involves attacking two pieces simultaneously (as explained on page 1 of the forks tutorial), the other is where a fork is used to both attack a piece and gain a winning position (as explained on page 5 of the forks tutorial). In questions where the piece moved does not attack two opponent pieces at the same time, then the move belongs to the second and more complex type of fork.

Below are the page numbers and explanations for the moves that at first appear to be incorrect definitions of a fork.


Classroom -> Beginning -> Basic Chess Concepts -> forks

Page 90
The fork by the Queen is between the rook at b2 and the empty square on g7. It is a fork because black can only protect one of those two squares. Since moving the white Queen to g7 is checkmate, black must lose a rook.

Page 118
You mean Queen to h2 not king to g2. This move attacks the rook on g1 and the square h8 which is checkmate.

Page 142-143
Bishop to d1 attacks rook at a5 and square c3 which is checkmate. This one is slightly weaker as the black rook can be moved to a3 to make the checkmate attempt in to a piece swap.

Page 147-148
Rook to d4 attacks the knight on d6 and the square d1 which is checkmate

Page 149-150
Pawn to c7 attacks knight on b8 and square c8 which promotes to a queen to give checkmate.

Page 165-166
Rook to e3 attacks bishop at b3 and square a3 which is checkmate. Note that in this example they play out the other side of the fork where white loses the bishop rather than the game.

Page 167-168
Hmm - This move looks like a pawn sacrifice rather than a fork. The fork would be between the knight on g8 and the square h8 but the latter would not be checkmate. A good position for White as they will gain a piece but it is debatable to call it a fork. However, this is the same behaviour as the original PC version.

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16
Q : How do I get back into Chessmaster 9000 after moving to another application?

A : Either tab back into Chessmaster 9000 using Apple+Tab or click on the Chessmaster 9000 icon in the dock.

Chessmaster 9000 will suspend all related processes except for the chess engine itself when moved to the background. This reduces the processor load but still allows computer opponents to consider their move while the user performs other tasks.

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17
Q : How do I change how much CPU time Chessmaster uses when in the background?

A : A tick box was added in Chessmaster 9000 version 1.0.2 which allows Chessmaster to suspend operation when in the background. It is found under the Advanced tab and is labelled "Use less CPU when in background", by default it is turned on. This disables all threads apart from the chess engine, thus saving CPU time.

To increase the amount of processor time used when in the background disable the tick-box. This will allow Chessmaster to continue processing in full when it is in the background.

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