hi everyone i recently bought this game today and i only played with one person that was in the lobby... i only see 1 lobby which supports 500 players and im the only player ready there.. is that it? no one else plays online? did i waste my 20$ for nothing? because i could get it for free if i didnt want to play online.. is there a way i can get into a different lobby with more players or anything? or does no one play chessmaster 11.. plz reply, thanks

I've also experienced trying to play online when there's no one else around... it doesn't happen often, but it does happen from time to time.

I know there can be more extra lobbies if there are 500+ players online, but frankly, I've never seen more than 1 lobby. I do know that there are more players using Chessmaster 10th Edition online. Unfortunately, because of different protocols, you can only play against other who have Chessmaster Grandmaster Edition.

As Chessmaster series has better training materials (tutorials, training mode, etc.) than most of its competitors and (in my opinion) a better user interface, I wouldn't say you wasted your money. $20 is a good price, considering it cost twice that when it was first released.

Unfortunately, online play doesn't seem to be a priority of UBI judging from their buggy implementation of it in version 11. I've given up on online play with version 11, however I still play one line with version 10, at times there are between 15-20 players online and the bugs seem to have been worked out.

If you want an online experience with many opponents (thousands) you may need to visit one of the numerous chess servers, some free, some subscription, which is a shame as Chessmaster's interface, in my opinion, is superior to the others and one of its best selling points. (UBI, if you're listening, why not make the next version of Chessmaster compatible with other servers?)

Maybe you could buy version 10, it may still be available and it isn't that much different from the Grandmaster Edtion (version 11.)

quote:

nce with many opponents (thousands) you may need to visit one of the numerous chess servers, some free, some subscription, which is a shame as Chessmaster's interface, in my opinion, is superior to the others and one of its best selling points. (UBI, if you're listening, why not make the next version of Chessmaster compatible with other servers?)

is there anyway i can switch the version 11's cd key for a version 10 one??

quote:

Originally posted by lionsunsword:
is there anyway i can switch the version 11's cd key for a version 10 one??

No... you'll have to make a separate purchase of Chessmaster 10th Edition.

Sorry.

quote:

As Chessmaster series has better training materials (tutorials, training mode, etc.) than most of its competitors and (in my opinion) a better user interface, I wouldn't say you wasted your money. $20 is a good price, considering it cost twice that when it was first released.

I agree. IMO, Fritz and/or Chessbase are a waste of quite a bit of money unless you are ranked player. Even then, the Fritz interface is boring and its audio chatter is beyond annoying. With Chessmaster 11, which only cost me $20 online, I got a GM level chess program (The King 350 on a quadcore computer) the ability to analyze games and several very extensive chess tutorial academies.

I'm very pleased with my purchase.

FYI: I own Fritz 11 and Chessbase 9 (over $100), and I don't use them. If I miraculously become a ranked player, then I'll reconsider.

I have to agree. I own both CM 11 and Fritz 11 and play CM 11 almost exclusively. IMO, Fritz is boring. CM with all those personalities makes it fun to play. I also think all this talk about "Fritz is a stronger engine" is silly since most people play no way near the level where it would matter. Keep in mind though that Fritz uses 1 core only while CM can use multiple cpu cores and chances are CM is actually the stronger engine depending on your computer!