Advertising Blurbs
Press Release:
CHESSMASTER® 7000 SHIPS TO RETAILERS
Kids Room Tops List of New Features for Computer Chess Standard
NOVATO, CA (September 27, 1999) - Mindscape announced today that Chessmaster® 7000 for the PC shipped to retail stores today at an estimated street price of $39.99. This newest Chessmaster product builds on a 12-year history as the leading interactive chess product worldwide, with sales of over 4 million units since 1986. "With Chessmaster 7000, our goal is to make chess accessible to everyone, from children to adults, regardless of their skill level," says Don Laabs, Vice President of Product Development. "The changes we've made make the game more inviting to kids and casual gamers, while still providing a first-class challenge to the more experienced player."
So, what's new?
Chessmaster 7000 has an all new look and feel, featuring a more intuitive and graphical interface. The various activities of the game have now been arranged into a series of "rooms."
Designed specifically for kids ages 6 - 12, the Kids Room is the ideal place for youngsters to learn chess and develop their skills, through a series of kid-oriented drills and tutorials. Chessmasters in training can also give their game its own unique look with a selection of kid-themed chess sets and boards. Kids can even compete against computer personalities their own age and skill level and learn from International Master and Scholastic chess coach Josh Watizkin, subject of the film "Searching for Bobby Fischer." When they've made the grade, kids can even create and print a Certificate of Achievement, issued by Josh himself!
In the Classroom, players of all skill levels can learn the art of chess. Josh Waitzkin will be on hand to reveal his best strategies and secrets through audio walk-throughs and visual game analyses. World-renowned chess coach and author Bruce Pandolfini provides diagnostic gameplay analysis, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of your game. The classroom even provides "homework" in the form of easy-to-follow tutorials and skill enhancing quizzes for beginning through advanced players.
In the Game Room, you can practice what you've learned, competing against a wide range of computer personalities, in addition to your own computer opponent that you can create and customize. While playing, you can also consult the Database Coach to see how grandmasters from the past and present played from your board position. Chessmaster 7000 will even analyze your game, using its Illustrated Voice Analysis (IVA). You can also try your hand at "Blitz" Chess, playing an entire game in just a few minutes!
In the Library, players learn the terms of chess and study the movements of the game, with classic games annotated by Grandmasters Larry Evans and Yasser Seirawan. Use the Opening Book Editor to create your own opening sequence of moves against a variety of opponents. You can also browse through more than 2200 named opening variations. The Library also includes reference materials including a comprehensive chess glossary. Review and analyze the strategies of grandmaster games using the powerful database, which includes over 500,000 games, updated for 1999. You can add your games to it, or even create your own separate database.
Have You Got Game?
Chessmaster just wouldn't be Chessmaster without the chance to prove yourself in the heat of competition, and Chessmaster 7000 is no exception. In the Tournament Room, compete against more than 80 human-like adversaries, each with their own distinctive playing style. If you think you've got the skills, challenge one of over 35 grandmaster personalities that are the cream of the crop in chess: Garry Kasparov, Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky, among others. You can even set up your own tournaments and establish your own chess rating by playing rated opponents. In addition to playing via LAN and modem, your skills can be tested on the Internet through Mplayer.com. You can play rated games, chat with fellow chess aficionados and even host your own tournament, 24 hours a day.
For more information on Chessmaster 7000 and the complete line of Chessmaster products, visit the website at http://www.chessmaster.com/
Contributed by skl (1163) on Feb 28, 2004.
