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/ Genres / Strategy / Master Chess

Master Chess

Commodore 64 - 1986
Also available on: Amstrad CPC - Atari 8-bit - MSX - ZX Spectrum

Comments and reviews

Bon Johnny jon 23 Jun. 2026

Yes this is very good, we can absorb every step like a bed of roses and of course we hope that the forest will be fertile again. So there is no golf course in the head, yes of course. Thank you

0
William 18 May. 2026

When I play chess games with this game I feel a deeper and deeper, yes of course because it is deep.and without me realizing itchronic baldness has occurred, and of course it is difficult to find a cure, all of it is very deep, yes of course in a deep thing. Thank you and respectful greetings

0
Paul G 08 May. 2026

i just want to say OH MY GOD.thank you very much and respectful greetings

0
carol 16 Mar. 2026

When I play this game, I feel like I'm playing chess. And that, of course, because it's a game of chess, yes, of course it's a great feeling, it's hard to explain why hair falls out and of course in the end there's a golf course on the head, yes of course. Thank you

0
silyvian 10 Mar. 2026

Now there are so many free chess programs and chess machines, on the one hand I am very happy and on the other side I feel sad, I am afraid that my hair will fall out and cause strange chronic baldness, maybe I just feel jealous of the current generation in my time when I have very few options and have to buy. But thank you so much, because sharing makes your life happier than being a stingy human being.

0
pico 21 Feb. 2026

Me gusta mucho este juego, el ajedrez te hace pensar en cómo lidiar con la caída del pelo, tienes que preguntar al tablero de ajedrez y escuchar la inevitable calvicie crónica. ¡Muchas gracias

0
George 11 Feb. 2026

This game is very good, we have to look at it from a different point of view, we have to talk to the chessboard and permeate the strands of hair that fall out as an undeniable form of chronic baldness accumulation. Therefore I would like to express my gratitude and respectful greetings

0
jose 05 Feb. 2026

Este juego es muy interesante y te hace pensar en cómo prevenir la calvicie por la caída del cabello, porque piensas demasiado, no hay cura efectiva y puede llevar a una calvicie crónica. Parece una broma, pero esta es la etapa final del ajedrez. Tenemos que encontrar un buen remedio, gracias

0
Marky 03 Feb. 2026

I am checking games with Free Program. It's totally crazy! I haven't seen any Program play like this! AWESOME

0
man 15 Jan. 2026

Without change, something sleeps inside us, and rarely wakes up. Those who sleep must wake up, those who pay must be free, that is the change!! FREE RULES!! Thank you.

0
BenRedic 24 Aug. 2024

This is a budget chess game from 1986, available on tape for a number of 8-bit platforms. The design seems to be very consistent across the platforms, with only minor tweaks to color schemes. The only gripe I have with the interface is that white pieces on yellow squares can be somewhat hard to read on the C64 version, which is the one I tested.

The interface is low on features, but it is very easy to use, without requiring to know obscure key combinations to access any of them. Moves are entered in four clicks (two for from-square, two for to-square). The main display shows the board, with a sidebar showing the last moves. Enter brings up a minimal menu, and space displays captured pieces. The manual is not much, only a few lines in the inlay card of the tape. But more is not needed, since the interface is so simple and the game is so low on features.

Level is simply a matter of specifying number of seconds the computer is allowed to think per move. There is a setup function that allows you to set up the board to look at a specific problem. There is no undo function, but if you need to reset the board to an earlier position this is easily accomplished with the setup function. There is also functions for saving and loading games to tape, which I did not test.

So how is the chess? Well, it is weak. There is no opening book, and the moves rarely account for piece mobility or king safety. The computer will frequently lock its own pieces into the starting squares, or even start walking the king into the middle of the board. If you are looking for a strong chess game for the C64, this is not it. Even games like Petchess or Grandmaster, the first chess games available for the C64, are stronger than this, and games like Chessmaster, Sargon, Mychess, Cyrus, Colossus and chess 7.x will rip this one apart without breaking a sweat, while packing way more features in the process.

Low difficulty and ease of use makes this one a worthwhile chess game for beginners, but anyone looking for a challenge and/or more features should look elsewhere.

Sample game:

[Date "2024.08.24"]
[White "BenRedic"]
[Black "Master Chess C64 45sec"]
[Result "1-0"]

{This game was played at 45 seconds per move.}
1.e4 d5
{Scandinavian opening.}
2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qe5+ 4.Be2 Qd6 5.d4 Nh6 $2
{A knight on the rim is dim. The game is already showing a profound lack of basic positional understanding.}
6.Nf3 Ng4 7.h3 Nf6
{This knight has now moved three times in a row, neglecting development in the opening.}
8.O-O Be6
{This bishop blocks the e-pawn, making further development awkward.}
9.Be3 Kd7
{Moving the king into the board. This is now getting ridiculous.}
10.Qd2 Nc6
{All white pieces are developed nicely, and the king is castled. Black has the queen in an awkward position in the middle of the board, with the king tucked behind her.}
11.a3
{Taking away the only escape square the black queen has available, thus threatening to win her with 12.. Nb5 or 12.. Bf4.}
11...Nxd4
{Black seemingly notices the threat, and sacrifices the knight to give her majesty some sorely needed breathing room.}
12.Nxd4 c5 13.Nxe6 fxe6
( 13...Qxd2 {would run into } 14.Nxf8+ Rhxf8 15.Bxd2 {, and white is up two pieces.} )
14.Qc1 Nd5 15.Ne4 Qb8
{Now black has four pieces on the back rank, only two on the board, and one of them is the king! Don't play like this, kids!}
16.Nxc5+ Kd6 17.Rd1 Qc7 18.c4 b6 19.Ne4+ Ke5 20.Rxd5+
{Sacrificing the exchange to remove the defense of the f4 square, in order to play Bf4+}
20...exd5 21.Bf4+ Kxe4
{The only thing saving the black queen in this position is that the black king is more interesting prey.}
22.Qe3+ Kf5 23.Bg4+ Kg6 24.Qe6# 1-0

0

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Downloads

Commodore 64 version
Game file
United Kingdom English
20 KB
MSX version
DSK format
United Kingdom English
8 KB
CAS format
United Kingdom English
7 KB
Alt Version

CAS format

United Kingdom English
7 KB
ZX Spectrum version
Game file
United Kingdom English
40 KB
Game file
United Kingdom English
11 KB
Amstrad CPC version
Game file
United Kingdom English
7 KB
Atari 8-bit version
Game file
United Kingdom English
43 KB

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