Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Games

Sony

PS3 | PSP | PS2 | PS One

Microsoft

Xbox 360 | Xbox

Nintendo

Wii | DS | GBA | Cube | N64

Other Platforms

PC | N-Gage | Dreamcast

Upcoming &
Recent Releases

sort by namesort by score

42 0 Day Attack on Earth
80 0-D Beat Drop!
68 Alien Breed Evolution: Episode 1
xx Aliens vs. Predator
xx Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? Game Time
73 Army of Two: The 40th Day
91 Assassin's Creed II
56 Assassin's Creed II: Battle of Forli
71 Axel & Pixel
61 Backyard Football '10
60 Bakugan Battle Brawlers
76 Band Hero
xx Battlefield: Bad Company 2
90 Bayonetta
70 Ben 10: Alien Force - Vilgax Attacks
89 BioShock 2
62 Blood Bowl
xx Blur
84 Borderlands
63 Borderlands: Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot
81 Borderlands: The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned
82 Brutal Legend
72 Call of Duty Classic
94 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
60 Chaotic: Shadow Warriors
79 Chime
xx Crash Time III
51 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Deadly Intent
74 Dante's Inferno
59 Dark Void
83 Darksiders
xx Darwinia+
xx Deadly Premonition
55 Death by Cube
67 Diner Dash
62 Divinity II: Ego Draconis
84 DJ Hero
86 Dragon Age: Origins
xx Dragon Age: Origins - Return to Ostagar
56 Dragon Ball: Raging Blast
xx Dreamkiller
60 Encleverment Experiment
51 Fairytale Fights
90 FIFA Soccer 10
xx Final Fantasy XIII
92 Forza Motorsport 3
xx Fret Nice
89 Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony
60 Guitar Hero: Van Halen
75 Gyromancer
62 Inferno Pool
61 James Cameron's Avatar: The Game
60 Jurassic: The Hunted
64 Karaoke Revolution
70 KrissX
89 Left 4 Dead 2
71 LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues
71 LEGO Rock Band
70 Lips: Number One Hits
xx Madagascar Kartz
66 Madden NFL Arcade
69 Magnacarta 2
xx Major League Baseball 2K10
96 Mass Effect 2
65 Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond
xx Metro 2033
xx Misadventures of P. B. Winterbottom, The
78 MX vs. ATV Reflex
25 NBA Unrivaled
75 NCAA Basketball 10
75 Panzer General: Allied Assault
89 Peggle Nights
53 Planet 51
74 Polar Panic
77 Pro Evolution Soccer 2010
67 Puzzlegeddon
51 Qix++
62 Rainbow Islands: Towering Adventure!
xx Rock Band Metal Track Pack
28 Rogue Warrior
73 Saboteur, The
75 Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space
56 Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen!
68 Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
60 Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper
xx Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing with Banjo-Kazooie
xx SpongeBob's Truth or Square
81 Stoked: Big Air Edition
xx Supreme Commander 2
80 Tekken 6
xx Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction
46 Tony Hawk: RIDE
60 Tower Bloxx Deluxe
75 Tropico 3
55 Vancouver 2010: The Official Videogame of the Winter Olympic Games
66 Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment
73 Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures Ep 2: The Last Resort
72 Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures Ep 3: Muzzled!
72 Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures Ep 4: The Bogey Man
66 Way of the Samurai 3
53 Where the Wild Things Are
xx Winter Sports 2010: The Great Tournament
81 WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.

Chessmaster Live

EMAILPRINTxbox360

Chessmaster Live
76
7.0 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 11 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 11 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game >

Game Info

Publisher: Ubisoft

Developer: Ubisoft Sofia

Genre(s): Board Game

Players: 2

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Release Date: January 30, 2008

Summary

[Xbox Live Arcade] Enjoy playing as a real strategist with the Xbox Live version of the most-acclaimed chess franchise. Chessmaster Live allows you to challenge friends and players all over the world in thrilling contests and determine who's the real champ. Choose among several 3-D (or 2-D) sets and play against virtual characters or real opponents over Xbox Live. Solve puzzles and discover exciting variations of this classic board game. Beginners can learn the basics of chess, and veteran players can improve their mastery of the game with the advanced scenario. The game is yours ... it's your move! Compete against advanced A.I. characters or challenge other Xbox Live members to a match. New message chess system: Start a game without any time limit, and play the game at your leisure over the course of days or even weeks. Puzzle over a series of classic challenges such as "find the fork" or "mate in one," and experience new ways of playing chess including Dark Chess, Losing Chess, Extinction Chess, and Progressive Chess. Customizable environments: Choose from six 3-D chess sets and three traditional sets, each with their own distinct sound effects, piece and board design. Interact with opponents: Video options allow you to see your challenger during the course of the game. [Ubisoft]

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

85

Official Xbox Magazine

The beating heart of chess is laid bare with such care that aspiring Kasparovs might yet be lured from the PC dungeon.

Read Full Review >
80

Team Xbox

Whether you’re new to the game or a member of the old high-school chess club, you’ll find the Chessmaster series still holds the crown as “King” of the sixty-four-squared board.

Read Full Review >
80

Games Radar (in-house)

Chessmaster Live doesn’t look like much. But it delivers exactly what it promises, and there’s not really much to complain about because of it.

Read Full Review >
80

1UP

While Chessmaster Live isn't going to suddenly fatten up the ranks of wannabe grandmasters, it does offer nearly everything you'd want in a competitive simulator while including all the necessary tools for engrossing offline and online matches. It's also a great chess educator.

Read Full Review >
80

Eurogamer

In addition to the core Chess games there's a huge range of different and enjoyable challenges to play through, as well as timed matches and online play.

Read Full Review >
80

X360 Magazine UK

A practically endless set of challenges has also been included. [Issue#30, p.118]

80

Xbox World 360 Magazine UK

Tough competition will improve your game, but won't convert anyone not already chess crazy. [Mar 2008, p.94]

80

Console Monster

A complete and detailed chess package.

Read Full Review >
70

Totally360

Overall a pleasing little game even for a complete novice such as myself, but there are a couple of jarring annoyances here and there dropping the score a notch.

Read Full Review >
70

Official Xbox Magazine UK

It's a graphically functional, perfectly playable plug-in for those who want a quick game of chess. Nothing more, nothing less. Just chess.

Read Full Review >
64

IGN

Chessmaster Live is a functional board game, but in this day and age we need a bit more to give it the stamp of approval.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 11 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Mat C. gave it a4:
I couldn't agree more with Kevin. Why should I have to wait for the CPU to make a move with a rating of 600? I don't mind having the clock run, but if the CPU runs out of time, let me finish! A "force move" would have been not only appropriate, but it was necessary. The "lobby" for finding players is a joke. The 3-d boards are shockingly unreadable in full HD; I'm playing with just the 2-d boards. And finally, there are no un-timed games. Huh? Wouldn't it be nice to walk away, and come back to it after life interrupts for an hour? Nope. Not here. There are some redeeming points, particularly in the persona/ratings. The puzzles are fun for a warmup, but they really are simplistic. Overall, look at this as a 1-player game. If you want that, go for it. Don't look at this as a Live-competitive area. It's just not properly built.

Ales K. gave it a7:
I miss lessons, more 2D boards and more detailed stats. AI thinks too slowly, even at the beginning or the end of game when there are only a few options what to do.

Steven H. gave it an8:
Not the "perfect" chess game, but certainly sufficient. I'd rate it as an 8.

Joseph K. gave it a10:
If you want a great chess program, look no further. If you want to blow stuff up/read an engrossing storyline/look at cutting edge graphics, then why are you even reading this?

Kevin B. gave it a3:
I was so excited to see ChessMaster in my menu of games that I paid the 800 points for it sight unseen. What a dumb move that was. This game rates a solid "WTF?" I was unable to find a live opponent, and the Message Chess plain didn't work, so I had to just play the AI opponents. Unbelievably the game is essentially *unplayable* in this fashion, because after you make your move, you sit and wait and wait and wait, sometimes for 5 minutes on end, for the $%!@ computer player to make its move! I do not understand this. If I were playing its very top AI I could understand it might take some processing power, but I was playing only 1100-1200 rated AI players. But the impatient waiting was not the worst of it! The worst part was that for every single one of the four games I have started, I ended up winning the game because the AI player's clock ran out!! One time it happened after we had each only made about 5 moves! I thought, what the hell did I just waste the last 12 minutes of my life for? This is complete idiocy. Oh and also, the chess "puzzles" are way, way, way too easy for anyone but an absolute beginner.

Popular on CBS sites: College Signing Day | Olympics | Lost | iPhone | Cell Phones | Video Game Reviews | Free Music

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use