Hi,

I'm new to chessmaster.. and quite rusty at chess. I haven't played "rated" games yet, just followed the academy (which was really useful) and now I am playing in training mode. but there's something I don't get.

Whatever opponent I pick (say those rated around 8-900 that the system picked for me), with the default game setup (infinite time) they really take too much time to move (up to 10 minutes or so for the first move!! well, it may be more, but I get bored). Before you ask: yes I have a fast enough computer, so that's not the problem.

What's even more strange is that if I set up the game with limited time, my opponents seem to stop thinking at all! The waiting time becomes almost null!! Why don't they use the time at their disposal?

Furthermore, if I tweak the game settings giving more time available for every move, it doesn't seem to make any difference! Shouldn't they get better if they have more time to think? I keep winning, but they don't seem to use the time available to change the course of the events: they end up defeated with lots of minutes spare!!!

So my question is: what is supposed to be the "real" opponent in training mode? The one with infinite time who takes so many minutes for just the first move or the one who doesn't think for more than one second even if it has many minutes on the clock? I must admit I don't like very much either of them...!!

So what am I getting or doing wrong? Should I just try stronger opponents? (but then again, isn't a stronger opponent a player rated 900 who gets more (although not infinite) minutes for every move?)

I know, it sounds confusing... I hope someone of you masters out there can help me clarify this.

Thanks!!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: macheneso,

ebutaljib, thanks a lot for your explanation! I am challenging the 1000+ ratings and it's much more fun now.

"infinite time" is actually one of the entries in the dropdown menu of the time controls (menu "game" > "set up game"/"new game" > "time controls" tab).

I just assumed "infinite time" meant that time wasn't considered during the play, which seems pretty logic for a training situation, where you want to have all the time you need to listen to the tutor or to just think at the moves: Not that the opponent went on calculating forever!!
Can you, or anyone, tell me exactly what's then the use of the "infinite time" option?