Chessmaster For Mac Os X Free Download
Delete wine and winebottler for mac. We have previously covered use of the VirtualBox tool to create virtual machines which run inside your normal operating system, and this is one method for accessing Windows software on an OS X computer (or vice versa), but it is heavy-handed. Image Source: Although there are usually equal (or sometimes better) alternatives to the best software applications on Windows, this is not always the case.
ATPM reviewed in the September 1999 issue. Since that review, Sigma Chess was upgraded, and Vanessa Chess was released. Since Macintosh chess software is my hobby (I own dozens of Macintosh chess programs, and maintain the ), I volunteered to write about them.
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Sigma Chess 5.12 is the strongest Macintosh freeware/shareware chess program reviewed in ATPM. I’ve played 100-game matches between each of five programs using the excellent freeware chess umpire/database program,. Sigma Chess beat all the others—their score against Sigma Chess was: (47%), (39%), (25%), and (10%). These days, chess strength should seldom be your primary decision factor in selecting a chess program. With the power of modern Macs, even Vanessa Chess is a much stronger player than most humans when set to full strength. For an opponent that is challenging, rather than unbeatable, one must usually set the computer to an “easy” level, or limit the number of moves the program looks ahead to one or two moves (“fixed depth 1” or “fixed depth 2” in computer chess argot). Price and convenience of acquisition are important factors, and commercial programs can’t touch the price of freeware/shareware programs (Vanessa Chess is $10 shareware, the other four are freeware) or the convenience of downloading.
For those of you who find chess program strength of supreme importance,, available online at and, is by far the strongest Mac chess program. Two other important factors are ease of use and features, which is why I’m not reviewing Crafty: Most of Crafty’s features can only be accessed through a command line interface. Developer: Ole K. Christensen () Price: free Requirements: PowerPC-based Mac with System 7.5. Recommended: 800x600 display with thousands of colors, 10 MB of application RAM. Sigma Chess is the strongest, prettiest, and most full-featured freeware/shareware GUI Mac chess program. It has many nice things no other Mac freeware/shareware chess program includes, such as a double-clickable chess tutorial (“Rules of Chess”), an illustrated online manual, and a collection of instructive games, endgames, combinations, and chess problems.
The last ATPM review rated Sigma Chess 4.02 higher than all the rest, and Sigma Chess 5.1.2 is much better than 4.0.2, with many major improvements and a host of minor improvements. Starting with Sigma Chess 5, Sigma Chess was optimized for Power Macintosh, making it much stronger. If the “Novice Levels” in Sigma Chess are too easy for you, Sigma Chess 5.0 now has a “Playing Strength” feature, where you can set Sigma Chess’s approximate strength numerically (higher numbers are stronger), as an alternative to setting the time Sigma uses or the number of moves it looks ahead. Sigma is the only free Macintosh program with the option of displaying the board in a 3D view using “true perspective” pieces like those in the commercial chess programs. The 3D display has been polished since the earlier version. The menu bar is now visible in 3D mode, the optional digital clocks are less obtrusive, and the side to move is now indicated by glowing yellow LEDs embedded in the right edge of the wood board.
These changes are representative of the many improvements made throughout the program. The Sigma Chess 2D Display I personally prefer the 2D display, which I think is the nicest looking Macintosh chess interface available at any price. The pieces are gorgeous, and the on-screen control buttons save a lot of time otherwise spent in travelling to the menu bar. The menu selections each have color menu icons. I like these icons, but those who don’t can turn them off in “Preferences.” I also love the digitized sound of the felted pieces landing on the wooden board, and the “clack” of wood on wood when pieces are captured, though I usually have this turned off in “Preferences” so as not to annoy others.
For those who like chess puzzles of the “White to move and mate in 2” variety, Sigma Chess is the only Mac program whose “Mate Finder” mode is not only guaranteed to find such a mate if it exists, but which will find all such mates, if you tell it to. Sigma Chess has scores of other features, including rating your play, annotating your games, and printing them in double-column format with diagrams and comments. If there is something you want Sigma Chess to do, you can probably find out how in the online manual. Developer: Schubert-it () Price: $10 (shareware) Requirements: 200 MHz PowerPC-based Mac, Mac OS 8.6, 12 MB application RAM. Recommended: G4-based Mac with Mac OS 9.