The Chessmaster

For the Sega Mega Drive version, see The Chessmaster (Mega Drive). For the Sega Mega Drive game released as "Chess" in Russia, see Chess (Mega Drive).

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The Chessmaster
System(s): Sega Game Gear
Publisher: Sega
Developer: The Software Toolworks, NovaLogic
Distributor: Tec Toy (BR)
Genre: Puzzle
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code US 1991-12 $34.9534.95 2317 EU 1992-03 2317 UK 1992-03 £24.9924.99 2317 BR 199x 013520
Non-Sega versions Game Boy Nintendo Entertainment System Super NES

The Chessmaster, called Sega Chess in Brazil, is a simple chess game for the Sega Game Gear.

The Chessmaster is part of the Chessmaster series. Given its age, it is likely an adaption of the 1989 game, The Fidelity Chessmaster 2100, the second major entry in the series.

A different Sega Mega Drive version of The Chessmaster was released exclusively through the Sega Channel service in 1996.

Gameplay

Chessboard and options

The Chessmaster is a chess engine that can be played by a single player against a computer opponent or by two players against each other. The player can choose from 16 difficulty levels for the computer "Chessmaster." The object of the game is to position one's pieces such that the opponent's king has no legal moves (called a "checkmate"). The chessboard squares are arranged into rows (called "ranks" and ordered from 1 to 8) and columns (called "files" and ordered from A to H). The white player moves first.

The game is controlled through a hand cursor, which can be moved around the board using the D-Pad. Pieces are picked up or placed down by pressing . Placing a piece back in its original location allows the player to choose a different piece. Moves (by either player) can be taken back by pressing . Once taken back, a move can be replayed by pressing , or the player can return to normal play by pressing  START .

Options

Set Up Board

Teaching Mode

During normal play, pressing  START  brings up an "Advice" screen, which shows the last nine moves that have been played so far by each player along with a "hint" that shows a possible move. This is shown in a notation that gives the rank and file for the piece and where it should be moved.

Pressing  START  a second time brings up an "Actions" screen with the following choices:

• Human Players: Decides the number of players. The default is 1, which is a single-player game against the computer, but it can be changed to 2 for a two-player game (with both players alternating control of the same Game Gear) or 0 to watch the computer play against itself.
• Change Sides: Switches control of white and black. By default, the player is white and the computer is black.
• Force Move: Forces the computer player to move immediately rather than waiting for it to decide a move. This can also be done by pressing + during gameplay.
• Takeback/Replay: Takes back the last turn. This can also be done by pressing during gameplay.
• Set Up Board: Enters an editing mode where the player can add or remove any pieces from the game. Pieces are picked up or placed down by pressing and can be moved anywhere on the board (or removed by placing them off the board). Additional pieces can be added in excess of the number of pieces normally given in a game if they pawns are substituted for them (as if the pawn has been promoted); otherwise, the game gives an error when completing setup. Each player can only have one king, and pawns cannot be placed on the top or bottom ranks. Pressing  START  brings up a menu that allows the player to clear the board (except for the kings), reset the pieces to their initial positions, toggle which player gets the first move after returning to the game, complete setup and return to the game, or abandon the changes and return to the game.
• Solve for Mate: Asks the computer to find a checkmate solution for a given number of moves (if possible).
• Offer Draw: Offers the computer player a draw, which it may or may not accept (depending on whether it thinks it has an advantage in the way the game has progressed).
• Load Game: Loads a password to continue a previously started game.
• Save Game: Saves the state of the game as a password so it can be continued later.
• Begin New Game: Restarts the Game Gear so that a new game can be started.

Pressing  START  a third time brings up a "Settings" screen with the following choices:

• Mate in 1 moves: Sets the number of maximum moves, between 1 and 5, for the "Solve for Mate" feature in the previous menu.
• Level: Sets the difficulty level of the computer player, which determines the amount of time that the computer is allowed to think about each move. The first two levels are considered "newcomer" levels. Then there are 13 levels that are denoted by the amount of moves that the computer will make for a given number of minutes (for example, 60/10 means that the computer will make 60 moves for every 10 minutes of game time). Finally, the highest difficulty level is "Infinite," which means that the computer will think until the player forces it to move.
• Deep Thinking: Toggles whether the computer player is allowed to think about its next move during the player's turn (which allows it to find better moves but may lead to a more difficult game than intended).
• Opening Book: Toggles whether the computer player can consult its "opening book" of 150,000 chess moves to choose its opening strategy.
• Teaching Mode: Toggles whether the game shows all of the possible moves for a piece when it is selected (by marking squares on the board with an "O" for a possible place to move or an "X" for a possible piece to capture).
• Coordinates: Toggles whether to display the letters and numbers along the sides of the board for determining the coordinates of squares and pieces.
• Chess Clock: Toggles whether to show clocks on the side of the screen. There are two clocks, which show the cumulative amount of time each player has spent on turns (black on top, and white on the bottom).
• Touching Rule: Toggles the "touching rule," which means that the player must move a piece after picking it up and cannot cancel and pick up a different piece.
• White Visible: Toggles whether the white pieces are visible on the board.
• Black Visible: Toggles whether the black pieces are visible on the board.
• White on Bottom: Reorients the chessboard. White is on the bottom by default but can be moved to the left, top, or right, which rotates the entire board and all of the pieces.

Pieces

Piece	Description
Pawns	Pawns can move one square forward. On its first move, a pawn can move two squares forward (unless obstructed by another piece). They capture pieces diagonally (the square to the left or to the right in front of the pawn). Each player starts with a rank of eight pawns in front of the rest of their pieces, making them the most numerous piece on the board. If a pawn opens by moving two squares forward and lands adjacent to an enemy pawn, the enemy pawn can capture by moving diagonally to the square that the other pawn passed over (called "en passant"). This move can only be done immediately after the first pawn moves. If a pawn makes it all the way to the end of the board, it can be promoted to any other piece besides a king (by pressing to cycle through each piece and  START  to confirm). Moves prior to promoting the pawn cannot be taken back after the promotion.
Rooks	Rooks can move any number of squares vertically or horizontally (but cannot jump over pieces or continue moving after capturing a piece). Each player has two rooks, one on each corner of the board. If a rook and the king have not been moved yet in the game and there are no pieces in between them, they can participate in a defensive strategy called "castling." The player is permitted to move the rook next to the king (on the closer side), then move the king to the other side of the rook. Castling cannot be done if the king is in check or moves through check during the move.
Knights	Knights move in an L shape: two squares vertically and one square horizontally, or two squares horizontally and one square vertically. Knights are the only piece that can jump over other pieces, making them the only pieces besides pawns that can be moved at the start of the game. They can only capture pieces on the final square on which they land. Each player has two knights, placed between the rooks and the bishops.
Bishops	Bishops can move any number of squares in any direction diagonally (but cannot jump over pieces or continue moving after capturing a piece). Each player has two bishops, one on each side of the king and queen.
Queen	The queen can move any number of squares in any direction vertically, horizontally, or diagonally (but cannot jump over pieces or continue moving after capturing a piece). This makes it the most powerful piece in the game, since it combines the movement of the rook and the bishop. Each player has only one queen.
King	The king can move one square in any direction vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Each player only has one king. If a player's king is threatened with capture, it is in "check," and the player must remove the threat of capture in the next turn (either by moving the king or capturing the piece that is threatening it). If this cannot be done, the king is in "checkmate," resulting in the defeat of that player. The player is not permitted to make a move that places their own king in check.

Versions

Localised names

Also known as

Language	Localised Name	English Translation
English	The Chessmaster	The Chessmaster
English (US)	The Chessmaster	The Chessmaster
Portuguese (Brazil)	Sega Chess	Sega Chess

Magazine articles

Main article: The Chessmaster/Magazine articles.

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score Ação Games (BR) 100 Consoles + (FR) 97 Console XS (UK) PAL 90 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) 80 FX (UK) 87 Game Mania (UK) 82 Game Zone (UK) PAL 91 Hobby Consolas (ES) 82 Joypad (FR) 75 Joystick (FR) 90 Micromanía (segunda época) (ES) 66 Player One (FR) 88 Play Time (DE) 75 Sega Power (UK) PAL 95 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 83 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 83 Sega Force (SE) 90 Sega Force (UK) PAL 90 Supersonic (FR) 92 VideoGames & Computer Entertainment (US) NTSC-U 70 Video Games (DE) 81

	85
Based on 21 reviews

The Chessmaster

Game Gear, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear, BR
Cover
Cart

Technical information

Main article: The Chessmaster/Technical information.

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
?	CRC32 da811ba6 MD5 b24d5c5548acb3b35aaf02802b3bb7d5 SHA-1 daea9a76dedc080b9965cfa32e2ddb1eaaaab0b4	128kB		Cartridge (US/EU)