<><><><><><><><><><><><><>ChessMaster Guide<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Version 1.10 /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\Copyright: Brandon Gousset 2003/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /////INFORMATION ON THIS GUIDE ATTAINED FROM UBISOFT--CHESSMATER. PS2\\\\\\\\ **AND** ////////////www.princeton.edu/~jedwards/cif/chess.html\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Thanks Jon Edwards! and website developers! Jon is a United States Correspondence Chess Champ. This site^^ gave me knowledge in the past that helped me elaborate on the subjects below. This FAQ is intended for private use only. Feel free to print this out. I will take legal action against anyone posting this as their own, or posting without permission. that includes any part of this document posted as ones own Anyone wishing to use this FAQ on their own site, must attain written permission from me. Below are the list of internet sites that can this guide on their sites. 1) www.gamefaqs.com 2) www.cheatcc.com 3) www.cheats.de 4) <><><><><><><><><><><><><>Version History<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> June 10,2003: began Chessmaster FAQ: finished Intro, pieces, and opponents up through Lucy. ( continue with berry) Cover rated game, quick game, set up position, puzzle of the day, championship, school, Famous games, and chess battlefield. June 11,2003: Finished Opponents list(credit to ubisoft), Ran document threw spell check. filled in opponents list through will. Pick up with Aaron tomorrow. -V.75---June 12, 2003: Finished opponents list. Added list of Chess sets. June 13, 2003: Added www.cheatcc.com to list of sites posting this Guide. Did some grammer corrections, and some touching up. New Info in The chessmaster himself section, and online section. -V 1.00-June 16, 2003: Updated some errors pointed out by viewers, and added www.cheats.de (Germany) to sites posting this guide. Also, one new question added to FAQ section. Updated Chessmaster Himself Section. -V 1.10-June 18, 2003: Corrected more errors and touched up. --coming soon: strategies for beating several players in the game-- And hopefully a annotated game when I beat the Chessmaster..lol. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.10 <><><><><><><><><><><><><><>Table of Contents<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 1---------------Introduction 2---------------Getting started 3---------------The Pieces(to knights) 4---------------The opponents(ratings and styles) 5---------------rated game 6---------------Quick Game 7---------------Set up position 8---------------Puzzle of the day 9---------------Championship 10--------------Pandolfini Chess School 11--------------Famous Games 12--------------Online 13--------------Chess Battlefield 14--------------The Chessmaster Himself 15--------------Secret to up your rating..(OFFLINE!!!) 16--------------FAQ 17--------------Closing 18--------------Thanks and recognition ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Introduction: I remember learning to play chess back in High School. I remember how frustrating it was to get completely smoked against all my friends, who had been playing for several years before me. This game will help with your game no matter how good you are. I got to a point were i was real good, but i did not know what En Passant meant. Now I know and can use it effectively. If you do not know what En Passant means then this FAQ is for you. Chessmaster is a fun, inexpensive (most important), addictive, and challenging game. Whether your are new to chess completely, or a seasoned veteran, Chessmaster is sure to challenge your Chess knowledge and skill. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2) Getting started: The first screen you will come across is the create player/add to list screen. First, you have to create a player. It will ask for your name, age, and ask if you are new to chess(800 rating), regaining form(1400 rating), or a club level player( insert rating 0-3000). After you finish this info, back out with the O button and save this name. After it is saved highlight that name and press X to log in. Be sure to back out of the game and save it before you turn it off. IT DOES NOT SAVE AUTOMATICLY!! the next time you play, click add player to list, highlight your name to load it, then press X to login. NOW you are ready to play! We hope..lol ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) The Pieces: Pawns: These are the little guys that make up your entire front line. Depending on your style of play, you will either use them effectively or use them as bait. They are effectively used as bait against inexperienced players. They will quickly sling that bishop across to capture that little guy, but often not realizing that the rook is about to capture their bishop. Capturing a pawn by losing a bishop is not going to win you many chess matches. The pawn can move one or two spaces on its first move. After its first move it can only move space forward. The pawn however can capture only at a forward diagonal. This includes if a piece is at that angle, or a pawn trying to sneak by and gets captured En Passant. En Passant will be covered later. Rooks: Rooks are the two pieces located in the back two corners of the board. Rooks are my best and favorite piece on the board. Most people i play disagree with me. Inexperienced players don't pay attention to the rook while he is still in his back corner. That is until he nabs the opponents queen or knight from the other side of the board. Rooks can move in a straight line forward, backward, and to the sides. I can move as many spaces as you wish to capture. Or you can go one space at a time. Knights: Simply put, these are the ones people call "horse heads". Knights move in "L" shapes. I t can be one space forward, 3 to left, 3 to the right. Or 3 spaces forward, back, left, or right. Followed by one space. Remember, the knight is the only piece that can jump over other piece. Bishops: Bishops are a easy piece to get a early check on the opposing king. being able to move at diagonals across the board make it a very dangerous opponent. The bishop can move as many spaces as needed until a piece is blocking it, or it captures a piece. Each bishop is on a different color. An easy way to learn were it can and cannot move, is to remember it cannot leave that color. Queen: The queen is the move versatile piece on the board. The queen can move as many spaces in any direction aloud. It can move forward, back, side, and diagonals. Just be careful not to bring your queen out too early. King: this is the piece your opponent is trying to capture, or force to resign. The King is very limited in his movement. He can only move one space in any direction, capturing or not. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (INFO FROM THE GAME ITSELF, CREDIT TO UBI SOFT) THESE OPPONESTS RATINGS CHANGE AS YOU PLAY THE GAME. IN RATED GAMES OR IN TOURNAMENTS VERSUS EACH OTHER. THESE ARE THERE STARTING RATINGS!!!! 4) The Opponents: Stanley Style: Completely Random Rating: 1 Chimp Cassie Style: Cluttered position Rating: 23 Young child Pete Style: Holds onto Knights Rating: 37 Young child Niko Style: Reckless attacker Rating: 57 Young child Ben Style: Overlooks Pawns Rating: 84 Young Child Petra Style: Beginner, drops pieces Rating: 311 Adult Woman Parker Style: Neglects pawns Rating: 313 Young child Andre Style: Tries to surround opponent Rating: 317 Young child Kamika Style: Values Queens and Knights Rating: 347 Young child Darcy Style: Worries about opponent's Queen Rating: 410 Adult woman Tex Style: Defensive Rating: 427 Adult man Manny Style: Balanced Rating: 500 Adult man Lydia Style: Good opening theory Rating: 532 Adult woman Ross Style: Open game, vulnerable king Rating: 553 Young Child Lisa Style: Defensive Rating: 576 Teenager Jesse Style: Values long range pieces Rating: 589 Teenager Skippy Style: Drops pieces Rating: 643 Adult man Carrie Style: Balanced Rating: 651 Adult woman Simon Style: Good Fundamentals Rating: 664 Teenager Jenna Style: Avoids draws, neglects king Rating: 673 Adult woman Seth Style: Trades pieces Rating: 707 Adult man Kendra Style: Nervous about Queen Rating: 790 Adult woman Sonja Style: Over Values Queens Rating: 824 Adult woman Arglye Style: Defensive Rating: 844 Adult man Jonesie Style: sacrifices queens Rating: 904 Adult man Duke Style: tries to imitate GM Alekhine Rating: 921 Teenager Raj Style: Trades away pieces Rating: 968 Adult man Lucy Style: Promotes pawns Rating: 1006 Adult woman Berry Style: Plays for material Rating: 1068 Adult woman Joey Style: Solid overall player Rating: 1099 Teenager Willow Style: Accepts draws, undervalues knights. Rating: 1099 Adult woman Bogie Style: Controls center Rating: 1107 Adult man Kris Style: Weak openings Rating: 1118 Adult woman Miranda Style: Neglects center Rating: 1119 Adult woman Adam Style: Undervalues pieces Rating: 1132 Teenager Jeff Style: over values rooks Rating: 1133 Adult man Buddy Style: plays fast, takes draws Rating: 1141 Teenager Mark Style: favors bishops Rating: 1144 Adult man Miquel Style: Overvalues pawns Rating: 1161 Adult man Risa Style: Hangs Pawns Rating: 1166 Adult woman Gil Style: Makes random moves Rating: 1179 Adult man Hayden Style: Sometimes makes random moves Rating: 1185 Teenager Josh Style: Goes for the king, brings queen out early, never quits. Rating: 1200 6 year old boy!!! Trudy Style: Knight openings Rating: 1203 Adult woman Krycek Style: Good openings and end games Rating: 1208 Adult man Shaun Style: Charging attacks Rating: 1237 Teenager Griffin Style: Balanced Rating: 1251 Adult man Mariah Style: Protects queen Rating: 1289 Young child Lacey Style: Plays fast, limited depth. Rating: 1308 Adult woman Elijah Style: Undervalues bishops Rating: 1316 Adult man Alicia Style: King Safety Rating: 1321 Adult woman Will Style: Tal-like Rating: 1337 Adult man Aaron Style: Positional player Rating: 1354 Adult man Josh-age 7 Style: Attacks, strong middle and endgame, weak openings Rating: 1365 Young child Liz Style: Accepts draws, undervalues bishops and knights Rating: 1388 Adult woman Sunny Style: Drawish Rating: 1410 Adult woman Sam Style: Refuses draw Rating: 1417 Adult woman Cal Style: King's pawn openings Rating: 1422 Adult man Trent Style: Controls center Rating: 1428 Teenager Annie Style: Plays Cramped positions Rating: 1430 Teenager Charles Style: Gambit openings Rating: 1438 Adult man Ginger Style: Offers trap in opening Rating: 1471 Adult woman Wendy Style: Neglects passed and weak pawns Rating: 1492 Adult woman Tasha Style: Good all around player Rating: 1531 Adult woman Dylan Style: Balanced Rating: 1539 Teenager Cole Style: Vulnerable King Rating: 1554 Adult man Max Style: Plays quickly, limited depth Rating: 1588 Adult man Mateo Style: Neglects center Rating: 1598 Teenager Josh-age 8 Style: tough in the endgame. Vulnerable openings Rating: 1600 Young child Hans Style: Balanced Rating: 1603 Adult man Jon Style: Values bishops over knights Rating: 1612 Adult man George Style: Favors Knights Rating: 1613 Adult man Waldo Style: Trades Bishops for knights Rating: 1637 Adult man Slick Style: Likes Sicillian Rating: 1644 Adult man Dave Style: Favors knights Rating: 1694 Adult Man T.C. Style: emulates bird and Morphy Rating: 1701 Adult man Liam Style: Likes queen's Gambit, Caro-Kann Rating: 1759 Adult man Nikolai Style: Neglects pawns Rating: 1759 Adult man Kenji Style: overvalues knights Rating: 1778 Adult man Josh-age 9 Style: Strong tactics, open game, endgame; weak openings Rating: 1800 Young child Toni Style: Pawn Grabber Rating: 1808 Adult woman Turk Style: Unorthodox openings Rating: 1836 Adult man Vlad Style: Unorthodox openings, very fast Rating: 1846 Adult Man Rusty Style: Ignores positional play Rating: 1852 Adult man Luke Style: Overvalues bishops Rating: 1853 Adult man Jessica Style: Overvalues pawns Rating: 1867 Adult Woman Roxy Style: Unorthodox openings Rating: 1869 Adult woman Rick Style: Gambit openings Rating: 1927 Adult man Rand Style: Balanced Rating: 1995 Adult man Dobie Style: Prefers material Rating: 2000 Adult man Wally Style: Undervalues Queens Rating: 2027 Adult man Doc Style: Balanced Rating: 2074 Adult man Josh-age 12 Style: Attacker, love of endgame, weaker positionaly Rating: 2100 Young child Vanessa Style: Balanced Rating: 2136 Adult woman Natalie Style: Crowed openings Rating: 2195 Adult woman Jade Style: Overly defensive Rating: 2204 Adult woman Muldoon Style: Pawn-centric Rating: 2229 Adult man J.T. Style: Plays for trap opening Rating: 2240 Adult man Buck Style: disregards center Rating: 2264 Adult man Lili Style: Controls center Rating: 2302 Adult woman Jinx Style: Neglects center Rating: 2365 Adult woman Lou Style: Natural player Rating: 2395 Adult woman Sven Style: Aggressive Rating: 2443 Adult man Shakespeare Style: Pawnmaster Rating: 2537 Adult man Logan Style: Drawmaster Rating: 2591 Adult man Queenie Style: Queen out early Rating: 2638 Adult woman Frederic Style: Older book openings Rating: 2659 Adult man There are 49 nine players all rated at 2730. They represent famous Chessmasters and/or their styles. Each has unique styles. The Chessmaster Style: Brains of the finest Chess Program in the world. Rating: 2754 The picture shows a adult man. <<<>>>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Game Modes ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) Rated Game: This is a competitive Chess game against any of the above mentioned people. This simulates a Chess club or online play where ratings are changed and kept up with. You can edit the rules of the game. For instance, the time. You can set it to moves/minutes( default 40 moves in 2 hours), Minutes to a game (default 10 minutes), fisher style(5minutes, 3 bonus secs) and hourglass (certain amount of time to make each move. Also, you can pick if want to be white or black pieces. There are also 20 chess sets to pick from, and can be changed in the middle of a game. The chess sets include: Anna Classic Figurine(resembles internet chess boards) dogs dessert Express Facet Stone Facet Wood Fancy Gnomes Halloween Irish stone Irish wood Kids Clay Mechanic Modern Mongol Nutz and bolts Staunton Lewis Different settings can be activated as well. Like making the pieces slide across the board, or highlight your possible moves for each piece. You can Also save your preferences and settings. The move notations can be changed to several different forms also. The sound FX and music volumes are also adjustable. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) Quick Game This is a simple, casual game of chess. It has all the options as a rated game, except here you can use your mentor. The mentor provides quick hints. move advice, Solve for mate, and game analysis. You also can toggle teaching mode and blunder alert on or off. This mode is great for the beginners!! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) Set up Position: This mode is fun to play around with. You start with just your kings on the board. You can pick and chose where each piece, or which pieces are on the board. This is a fun way to set up a friend who is better than you, or have them set up one for you. I let my wife set it up for me, because she is to chess and never beat me. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8)Puzzle of the day: This mode sets up a puzzle to be solved with just one move. It may ask for white to find one move check mate, find the pin, find the fork, and avoid checkmate. This is a fun way to test your real skills. If you are new to chess, you will not understand some of the things it asks you to do. I recommend you start with the pandolfini chess school. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9)Championship: This mode simulates a real chess tournament (offline). It has different skill levels and brackets. In each difficulty, there are several different tournaments to chose from. For example, on the apprentice level, you can chose from Schoolyard, Old tree, subway, green park, or chess burgers. Each tournament has a different format to follow. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) Pandolfini Chess school ALL THIS INFORMATION PLUS TONS MORE IS ON THE CHESSMASTER GAME ITSELF. CREDIT TO CHESSMASTER--UBISOFT. ALL OF THE UNDER LISTED ARE EXPLAINED IN GREAT DETAIL ON THE GAME. FOR EXAMPLE, SOME OF THE TUTORIALS ARE UP TO 120 PAGES LONG. SO YOU CAN SEE WHY I DID NOPT POST IT ALL. THIS IS MAINLY A LIST. HOPE IT HELPS. UTILIZING THIS CHESS SCHOOL DOES NOT GUARANTEE SUCCESS!!!! The Chess school can be described as..............Very Thorough! You can come in knowing nothing about chess, and finish knowing it all, it is just the matter of using. Well, they show that two. First there are 5 areas in the chess school: beginning intermediate advanced josh practice openings In the beginning section includes tutorials and drills. The Tutorials cover: 1st chess lesson -----the board -----the rook -----the knight -----the bishop -----the queen -----the king -----the pawn -----pieces summary -----check and checkmate -----Quizzes on each the above sections. basic concepts -----castling -----En Passant ( way of capturing a pawn who tries to sneak by another) -----Promotion -----Piece value -----Defense -----pins -----forks ( with all pieces) -----discoveries -----stalemate -----openings -----Algebraic notation -----tournament play -----quizes on each above section beginning strategy -----Planning concepts -----Opening principles -----Pawn Structure -----Rook Development -----Knight development -----Bishop development -----Queen development -----Strong play by pawn structure -----Quizzes on each above section --then there are tons of drills to test what you just learned about all the above. The intermediate tutorials cover -----opening moves -----basic themes -----Tactics and positions -----Kings and pawns -----Queens and rooks -----minor piece endings -----mating configurations -----Basic combinations -----Roots of combinations -----Double attacks -----Sacrifices -----Strategy --also a section of drills covering what you just learned, along with the Larry Evans endgame quiz. The quiz is 50 questions that tests your end game knowledge. And finally, a ratings quiz. The advanced section covers: -----match the masters: here you get to partner up with a famous chess master to take on another master. There ten games to join by various masters. -----And of course there is a drills section. -----Nunn's puzzle: similar to puzzle of the day. 50 challenging puzzles created by chess masters. The Josh Section includes: -----Annotated(move for move summary) of his first 12 competition matches. -----A list of more annotated games. -----His physiology of competition. -----A challenging endgame course. The practice opening section does just that. It list 97 openings used by masters, and lets you practice them. this helped me personally. The best part about the chess school, is it saves which test you took tutorial taken etc.. it saves your test scores. This gives the game a real chess feel. Knowing you can get your questions answered on the game. Great job ubi soft. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) Famous Games: Here they list 825 Annotated Chess games between Masters. I would list them for you, but like i said 825!!!! This shows some interesting strategy, and you can see the chess school training in action. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) Online: The Online experiance for Chess master can be complicated at first. It is not as easy as lets say your basic internet chess games. You do not pick or create a table to play on. Instead You can chose from the list of players, and see if they are watching, playing, or just on idle. You can sit and wait for a invitation to play, or try to find people to by sending global or private(just to your"friends") invitations. You can edit the game settings in the same way you would offline. The few times i have been on it has been hard to find alot of people to play. The Chessmaster servers(2) allow up to 500 players each. the most i Have seen is 10. Also there is no Chatting of any kind. I agree with no chatting during games, but it makes it harder to get games with no chat feature in the server lobby. One other feature is the History feature. This keeps up with every game you have played or watched. I finally played my first online game today (June 11,2003) VS a player i will not name. He started out killing me, but my save the queen until late style finished him. My record is 1-0-0, rating 1800.!! look out Chessmaster!.lol I tried several times to play online today(6/13/03), only to find no one to play. Kinda depressing, but at least i am still undefeated...!!lol ***Do not try to connect to the Chess master server using AOL. Aol is not excepted for some reasons. I know this from experience. I also know that MSN works just fine for you dial up people.*** ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) Chess Battlefield: Get ready for possible the coolest chess game of your life. Chose between knights and the Orcs. When the computer side is the Orcs, you play against horrible looking animal people(Orcs). All with their own unique style. When the computer is the knights, you play against human characters. All of which appear to be pulled right out of medieval history. In the mode, when there is a capture, that piece is killed by a sword or other weapon. **warning, you are not playing low rated people in this mode** ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) The Chessmaster himself: Style: The brains behind the Finest Chess Program in the world. Rating: 2755 I have played the ChessMaster twice. The first time, he got checkmate in 8 moves. The next time 12 moves. So I am going to figure it out. I have read of people on message boards losing in 3 moves. I have played the Chess master 5 more time. The best result was when he mated me after 45 moves. Yeah I hung in there. One game i even tried to cheat him. I set it to 1 minute game , because he usually takes his time , well he moved 5 times in the first 2 seconds of his timer. He eventually got check mate with 45 seconds left on his timer. My best game yet with him, we played 40 moves in 120 minutes. His 40th move extended the clock because it came before the 120 minutes. He got checkmate on move 68, while i was up in material. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15) Secret to up your rating: (OFFLINE) Create another player as a club level player, with a 3000 rating. Set up a game between your main player and the new one. Make a few moves and have the high rated player resign. Do this a few time (especially if your rating is below 1000) to jump your rating up. Its cheating, but the computer does not get made at you. Also, if you save after every game won, when you do lose just don't save it. Using this method and the other will not improve your game overall, just the rating. **I DO NOT KNOW CHEAT METHODS FOR ONLINE PLAY, DO NOT ASK!** ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16) F A Q Q---I am having trouble telling the pieces apart. Can I zoom in? A---No, The Camera can be moved with the Right Analog stick to almost any angle. If that does not work for you, try a different Chess set. Q--There is not many choices of people to play against offline. What do i do? A--Press R1 bottom to bring up the filters page. Click on all the ratings and all the ages to open up all the people to play. Then press L1 twice to be able to choose who you want to play. Q--How come my rating reset to 1400 after i turned the game off? A--You might have forgot to save it. Q--What in the world is the puzzle of the day asking? A-- go through the chess school and look it up. I am sure you can find it easily. Q--I cannot get my connection settings to load. It is just a gray screen. How do i fix this? A--If you have AOL, it will not load it. I know from experience. MSN and Earth link will work fine for dial up. Q--Can I have other members of my family signed up to play this game under their own name? A--yes just pick create new player from the start screen before login. Q--(by email) "When i play opponents in a 10 minute game, i usually run out of time. But i am up in Material and it sucks to lose this way. If I extend the time, these same opponents seem to play at a higher level, and are tougher to beat. What do you suggest?" A--Longer games do not up the players level. Giving them more time to think, just like us, usually leads to a better result for them. I would suggest playing the same format of game, but raise the time only a few minutes. This should give you that extra 5-8 moves or so to get that checkmate. If you have any other questions contact me at bgousset22@aol.com or flightmaster22@excite.com... Please include Chessmaster in the subject. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17) Closing I would Highly recommend this game to anyone with a slight interest in chess. There is just a great feeling associated with playing chess while laid back in the couch or chair. But be ready for the challenge that awaits you. Don’t take any player for granted, online or off. Do not forget to plan out your attack. Watch his pieces, plot their possible moves also. if you need help, first check the chess school. Check The Chessmster message board at www.gamefaqs.com. Then Email me. This is a very early version of this FAQ/guide. I plan to add supplemental material in the following weeks. Since i am a teacher/coach, I only have the summer to do these. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18) Thanks and recognition: First off, thanks to Ubi soft for making a great game. Second, Thanks to Gamefaqs.com for giving people the chance to write these guides. This being my first, i can't wait to see it posted online. Third, I would like to thank www.princeton.edu/~jedwards/cif/chess.html in providing me with background of Chess knowledge that I still use a lot today. I still go there for help with my Chess game/abilities. You can never know too much about the game of Chess. Forth, thank you to www.cheatcc.com for showing interest in my guide. Finally, I would like once again give credit to Ubisoft--Chessmaster PS2 for material that helped in the creation of this guide. Also i would to thank you the viewer of this document, knowing that people need might need it, makes me feel good. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***send suggestions to bgousset22@aol.com or flightmaster22@excite.com*** ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- #####################see ya online>>>username=gousset######################## ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^COPYRIGHT: BRANDON GOUSSET^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<2003>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ===========================FOR PRIVATE USE ONLY==============================