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Chessmaster
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==Chess engine== The ''Chessmaster'' [[chess engine]] is called The King, written by Johan de Köning of the [[Netherlands]]. It was introduced in ''Chessmaster 4000''; the first edition featured a chess engine written by David Kittinger, who went on to develop the engines for [[Interplay Entertainment|Interplay]]'s ''USCF Chess'', ''WChess'' for the German company Millennium 2000, and [[Sierra Entertainment]]'s ''[[Power Chess]]'', ''Majestic Chess'' and ''Disney's Aladdin Chess Adventures''. The second edition had an engine designed by Kate and Dan Spracklen of ''[[Sargon (chess)|Sargon]]'' fame. According to the September 2009 [[Swedish Chess Computer Association]] (SSDF) rating list, ''Chessmaster 9000'' had an estimated [[Elo rating system|Elo rating]] of 2718 on an [[Athlon]]-1200 PC.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://ssdf.bosjo.net/list.htm | title=The SSDF Rating List | access-date=30 April 2008}}</ref> If multiple versions of other engines are stripped out of this list, ''Chessmaster 9000'' ranked 14th among all engines tested. {{As of|2008|5}}, ''Chessmaster 9000'' remained the most recent version rated by the SSDF. The latest version, Chessmaster 11th Edition, was released in 2007, and has lagged behind more current chess engines. [[CCRL]] placed it 121st on its August 2020 list (15th among engines only available via purchase).<ref>{{cite web| url=https://ccrl.chessdom.com/ccrl/4040/| title=CCRL 40/40| access-date=6 August 2020| archive-date=11 November 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111213627/http://ccrl.chessdom.com/ccrl/4040/| url-status=dead}}</ref> The King engine allows users to create new playing styles, called "personalities", by manipulating several dozen different settings, such as King Safety, Pawn Weakness, Randomness, Mobility and others. Individual piece values can also be adjusted. ''Chessmaster 9000'', for example, features over 150 different personalities ranging from International Grandmaster strength down to Stanley, a [[Common chimpanzee|chimpanzee]] who, in most situations, plays completely random moves. The Stanley chimpanzee personality inspired the Stanley Random Chess Variant.<ref>Verdra H. Ciretop (12 March 2004) [http://www.geocities.ws/verdrahciretop/src.html "Stanley Random Chess Introduced & Explained for Beginners"]. Retrieved 31 January 2020.</ref> ===Branding=== The ''[[Chessmaster 2000]]'' developers aimed to anthropomorphize the game's chess engine with a mascot character to give players the feeling of a human opponent. The "Chessmaster" character on the game's packaging and title screens was a photo of actor [[Will Hare]] costumed to look like "a person, a wizard, a chessmaster!" rather than a "black box"<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/whats-mavis-beacon-up-to-these-days-nothing-shes-fake-926/ | title=What's Mavis Beacon up to These Days? Nothing. She's Fake | date=24 August 2015 }}</ref> The image became iconic, and the original photo remained part of the series' branding for 17 years.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://kotaku.com/the-life-and-death-of-pc-gamings-most-famous-cover-st-5939503 | title=The Life, and Death, of PC Gaming's Most Famous Cover Star | date=31 August 2012 }}</ref> ===Notable games=== * [[Larry Christiansen]] vs. ''Chessmaster 9000'' (September 2002), annotated at GameKnot: [http://gameknot.com/annotation.pl/gm-larry-christiansen-chessmaster-9000-game-one-1.pl?gm=2236 Game 1], [http://gameknot.com/annotation.pl/larry-christiansen-chessmaster-9000-game-two-2.pl?gm=2238 Game 2], [http://gameknot.com/annotation.pl/larry-christiansen-chessmaster-9000-game-three-3.pl?gm=2239 Game 3], [http://gameknot.com/annotation.pl/larry-christiansen-chessmaster-9000-game-four-4.pl?gm=2240 Game 4] ''Chessmaster'' won the four-game match against Christiansen held in September 2002, by a score of 2½–1½.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2002_Oct_1/ai_92289535 | work=Business Wire | title=Chessmaster 9000 Defeats Reigning US Chess Champion Larry Christiansen; Chessmaster Wins Four Game Match 2.5 to 1.5 Via Live Internet Broadcast on ChessClub.com | date=1 October 2002}}</ref> The ''Chessmaster'' program was operated by John Merlino, the Project Manager of ''Chessmaster'' at the time of the match. Four different personalities were used in the match, the first three of which were based on famous human [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmasters]]: [[Alexander Alekhine]], [[Bobby Fischer]], and [[Mikhail Botvinnik]]. The final game of the match used the default "Chessmaster" personality. Christiansen won the first game, lost the second and third games, and the fourth game resulted in a [[draw (chess)|draw]].
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