Welcome to Chessmaster 9000

Minimum System Requirements (Macintosh)

• Mac OS 10.2
• PowerPC G3/G4 700 MHz
• 256 MB RAM
• Hardware accelerated 3D Graphics Card with 16 MB VRAM
• DVD Drive
• 1.3 GB free hard disk space.
• Mouse and Keyboard
• QuickTime 6

Recommended System Requirements (Macintosh)

• Mac OS 10.3 or later
• PowerPC G4 1 GHz
• 512 MB RAM
• Hardware accelerated 3D Graphics Card with 16 MB VRAM
• 1.3 GB free hard disk space.
• Mouse and Keyboard

Chessmaster 9000 version 1.0.2 includes an extra option in the pre-game window which allows the program to save processing power when in the background. The option is a tick box found in the Advanced tab and is labelled "Use less CPU when in background". By default this is turned on which means moving out of Chessmaster into another application will freeze all running Chessmaster processes except for the chess engine. This means that game will continue to process the next move, but the windows and all other features will be disabled.

Once in the background the only way to make Chessmaster 9000 the front most application is to either click on it's icon in the dock or tab back in. Clicking on the window will not bring Chessmaster back to the front.

Disabling this option will make Chessmaster 9000 use full processing power even when in the background. In this mode clicking the window will bring Chessmaster back to the front.

When Chessmaster is started for the first time, a Log In screen will appear that allows the player to choose a name and the initial level of play.

After logging in, the Lobby screen will appear. From here, the different game rooms can be accessed by pressing the associated button. These rooms are:-

• The Library - View 800+ classic historical games, study opening moves and countermoves and create an Opening book from scratch.
• The Classroom - Find tutorials on everything from basic moves to intricate structures and attacks.
• The Tournament Room - Set up competitions and play Rated games that affect your overall chess rating.
• The Game Room - Play Unrated games for fun, to hone your skills and to improve the different aspects of your game.
• The Database Room - Search and analyze over 500,000 historical chess games; create your own database to view and store detailed game information.
• The Kids' Room - One-stop area where kids of all ages can play chess and sample a variety of Chessmaster's features, without needing to enter any other room.
• The CM Live Room - Play chess and chat with other Chessmaster users over the Internet or LAN.

To gain a deeper knowledge of chess theory, go to either the Library or the Classroom. To dive straight in, select the Game Room and click the Quickstart button in the Shortcuts window. To discover the history of chess, select About Chessmaster from the Chessmaster 9000 menu and click the History button.

When playing Chessmaster 9000, the game is controlled through a windowed interface. Most of Chessmaster's interactive elements are menus and buttons, which can be selected by using a mouse.

Like the Finder, keyboard shortcuts can be used to access many menu commands. The shortcuts for Chessmaster 9000 include :

Window Shortcuts
Shortcuts	⌘1
Game Status	⌘2
Annotation	⌘3
Captured Pieces	⌘4
Visual Thinking	⌘5
Thinking Lines	⌘6
Player Profile	⌘7
Toggle Windows	⌥ ⇥

Gameplay Shortcuts
New Game	⌘N
Takeback Move	⌘T
Replay Move	⌘R
Playback Move	⌘Y
Switch Sides	⌘D
Force Move	⌘F
Flip Board	⌘B
Viewing Angles	F2 to F7

Symbol Guide
Command	⌘
Option	⌥
Tab	⇥

NOTE: - A quick guide to the control keys can also be found on the back of the manual

If, for whatever reason, you should wish 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 ~/Library/Preferences folder (where the "~" symbol refers to your home directory).

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.

When you launch the game, a dialog will appear asking you to insert the original Chessmaster 9000 DVD then click the "OK" button. When you insert the DVD, the operating system may take a few seconds to notice! If you click "OK" before it has noticed, the dialog will not go away. Simply wait a few seconds and then click the "OK" button again.

The most important factors in determining how smoothly Chessmaster 9000 plays are your CPU speed, the amount of built-in RAM your computer has and the in-game settings you select.

Chessmaster 9000 is playable with the minimum specifications listed above, but it is memory hungry and plays more smoothly on faster computers with more RAM. However, if you are dissatisfied with the performance of the game on your computer, there are a couple of things you can do that are likely to improve performance:

1. Close all other applications: You are strongly encouraged to quit all other applications before launching Chessmaster 9000 - other applications drain resources and slow the overall system performance.
2. Clear disk space: Ensure that your main hard disk has a lot of spare disk space.

In addition to the general Mac actions listed above, there are some specific in-game settings you can select to speed up the game. These are listed below in order of performance improvement (greatest improvement first). Work through the list, implementing the recommended changes until you find settings that give you both good performance and acceptable graphics.

• Bump Mapping - Gives chess pieces a textured appearance
  • On - Slower
  • Off - Fastest
• Shadows - Gives chess pieces complex 3D shadows
  • On - Slower
  • Off - Fastest
• Reflections - Gives reflections for the pieces on the chessboard
  • On - Slower
  • Off - Fastest
• Visual Quality - Number of colours in which the game plays
  • Millions (32bit) - Slower
  • Thousands (16bit) - Fastest