We recently handed down a 'new' old computer to the kids. Our chess software is so old that it is not compatible with the OS on their computer, and we need to update.

We want a chess engine for analyzing games. I suspect that at their levels (up to USCF 1200) that almost any engine would do, but I am curious if there are differences.

I'd like a better playing game, if it exists. Our old version of chessmaster made its moves immediately, functionally cutting the game length in half. I'd like to be able to set it for an hour game, and have the computer take approximately as much time as the player. Also, my kids mentioned that it made stupid mistakes. I think they would appreciate more subtle, consistent increase in game difficulty. (My 1200 player is currently enjoying the challenge of level 10 of Chess Titans that comes with current Windows computers, if that helps. They play while I shop at Costco.)

I see on amazon there are $20 versions of Chessmaster and Fritz, and chess suppliers offer $50 versions of these same names. Can someone compare them for me? What do the $50 versions offer that the $20 do not? Are the expensive versions worth their increased cost?

TIA!

Recent Chessmaster versions have many options to set for longer games, where it will use its time for better moves, except when its using its opening book and endgame database. Fritz is stronger, Chessmaster has the nicer interface, I've used both in the past. Fine software, though I'd pick CM for kids.

Unless I'm very much mistaken, little changes have been made to CM since CM9000, which is bound to be cheap. Don't know about Fritz's changes, but I think its changes were more extensive since Fritz8. Crafty is nice and free, but doesn't come with the interface niceties.

A. Which computer system are you using.
B. 64 bit software will normally not work on 32 bit.
C. and 32 bit will probably not work with 64.

EBAY:
Old versions of software are just that, old software and probably used.
Chessmaster- You have to be carful with the Windows version Chessmaster.
Some versions may not work on your computer. But if the computer is relatively new, Chessmaster does have patches on its software.
Although Chessmaster indicated in the manual that it has a feature to accept pgn import, it does not.
Shredder is also available at the same or lower price.
When checking Amazon the same store may offer the same software on two different pages. I use a Macintosh, with Windows XP installed. I purchased
Fritz (the latest version) from wholesalechess.com, saving 15 to 25 dollars.
I used a best price from Amazon.com. Wholesalechess will match or beat the price.
See Fritz 11 Chess Software for PC - Wholesale Chess

This is the Fritz page on amcom:
Amazon.com: Used and New: Fritz 11 for Windows (DVD)

My Chessmaster 9000 will accept Pgn import. In Game Room, press <ctrl> L and the file type default by Chessmaster is "Chessmaster games or PGN games".

My try with CM was that yes it accepted PGN imports. But only one game from a file, rather than the whole collection. The manual says yes. But many players I asked said no. CM almost has no tech support. I got better information from those who post at Chessville.
But Finfangfoom may be correct. Patches for CM 10 indicate pgn imports.
Reference patch 1.03 for version 9.
My Mac version which is made by Feral, and the older version made by UBI
(who manufacturer the CM for Windows) kicked in one game from a PGN file.
From my knowledge I am not the only to have indicated CM pgn and downloads. Will have to try again, and let you all know.
Unlike most of you I was using CM since version I, which came on one
handwritten single sided floppy disk. Any game over 90 moves crashed.
(I tried to enter a game from Tal-Botvinnik match that went over 90 moves).
In those days you had to enter one game at a time into a database.
Shredder by the way now has in the manual that downloads are possible.
With HIARCS I probably have 2 million games.
Shredder a few thousand.
CHessbase (Without Fritz) is growing.

Wow guys, thanks for your responses.

If by better interface you mean that CM is easier to use and has worthwhile options (game difficulty, time control and analyzing engine), that's probably enough for us. I don't think our old version had an opening and endgame database. Could you elaborate on its usefulness?

The kids' computer is a PC running on XP. For safety/security reasons, it is not connected to the internet. Not sure if that's what you need to know, but if not just ask again.

I admit I have no idea about some of what you guys are talking about. We don't use the computer much yet, but I expect to use the computer more in the future as they improve. I would appreciate if you would bear with me while I ask some questions you've probably answered many times before.

What is a pgn file? Why and how are they useful? By import, do you mean downloading from the net, or could the files be downloaded to a jump drive on a connected PC and imported from there?

I've heard of ChessBase but know little about it. My understanding is that it's a program for organizing, storage and retrieval of chess games. At what point does it become worthwhile to have? I think there is a free version, is there not?

HIARCS? Gesundheit.

TIA!

Checked CM10 at my neighbours' place. If you've placed it on your clipboard, Edit->Paste->PGN. Useful for looking through movelists posting on forums and such.
CTRL+L as mentioned earlier works too, as does File->Load which is the same thing.

Well, hmm, I think I would call recent CM versions more userfriendly than most CB products I know (including Fritz). You can set the timers however you want, I don't think Fritz has as many options as CM has in that respect. With CM10 (and above I think) you can set time by 'Moves per minute', 'Seconds per move', 'Minutes per game', 'Hourglass', 'Fischer style' (minutes + seconds increment) and 'Infinite'.
CM will use its time when it needs to, it has an opening book and endgame database, which means it'll blurt out the moves instantly in the beginning and the end (Fritz does so too).
As usual in CM, there are a bunch of personalities to choose from, who will play differently. Plenty of options to change board and pieces, wallpaper and overall look.

To be fair, I've never used Fritz much. A lot of core features are also in Fritz, though in a more professional way, less optically pleasing. In my experience the interface is a little less intuitive. It's focused more towards professional players than us amateurs if you ask me.



On PGN files, straight from wiki:
"Portable Game Notation (PGN) is computer-processible format for recording chess games (both the moves and related data); many chess programs recognize this extremely popular format due to its accessibility by ordinary ASCII editors, including word processors capable of importing and exporting plain ASCII."
It's the standard way to save chess games these days. All chess software can use it really.

Really though, you can't go wrong with CM, Waitzkin's tutorials alone are worth it.

Just wanted to pop back in and update you.

Looking at CM, I realized that it was a DVD, and the kids’ computer did not have a DVD drive. Too late, because dh obtained the latest version of CM for a good price on ebay. My inlaws just updated their computer, handing down their previous one to our kids, so the kids have yet another “new” hand-me-down computer to replace their previous one, this one with a DVD.

So CM is finally installed. DS is reasonably satisfied with its play. His only complaint so far is that computer play does not inspire him to play at his creative capacity.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my newb questions.

Such is the limitation of computers. They're metallic in their thinking, robotic in their ways, though they'll surprise you with disturbingly human moves at times, they are in general not a good substitute for human opponents. This is because as I've said often, humans don't think or play like computers; level scaling the computer to a rating level doesn't help matters.
It can be a decent tool to improve and I'd advice people to take on a (stronger) computer every once in a while for experience, but it can't be relied on exclusively, for anything!

Then again, for random fun and the not-so-interested-in-chess-crowd it's perfectly fine.