''Chessmaster Live'' is a 2008 chess video game developed and published by

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...

for the

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, on the

Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game Digital distribution in video games, digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox (console), Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publisher ...

service. It is the final game in the ''

Chessmaster ''Chessmaster'' (originally ''The Chessmaster'') is a chess video game series, currently owned and developed by Ubisoft. It is the best-selling chess video game series, with more than five million units sold . The same cover art image featuring ...

'' series, released just three months after '' The Art of Learning''. The game was announced on November 28, 2007. ''Chessmaster Live'' was historically the name used for the multiplayer mode in the series starting with '' Chessmaster 5500''.

Gameplay

''Chessmaster Live'' is based on the 2003 ''Chessmaster'' game for the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

. The game replaces

Josh Waitzkin Joshua Waitzkin (born December 4, 1976) is an American former chess player, martial arts world champion, and author. As a child, he was recognized as a prodigy, and won the U.S. Junior Chess championship in 1993 and 1994. The film ''Searching ...

's tutorials with a generic scaled down practice mode. Also the library of historic games and classic opening moves have been cut compared to the PC games. The single player features over 100 AI "personalities." New to the game is the message chess system where players swap moves via the in-game message service, similar to a

play-by-mail game A play-by-mail game (also known as a PBM game, PBEM game, turn-based game, turn based distance game, or an interactive strategy game.) is a game played through postal mail, email, or other digital media. Correspondence chess and Go (game), Go wer ...

. The game features puzzle modes like "find the fork" or "mate in one." Four multiplayer modes return from '' The Art of Learning'': "dark chess", "losing chess", "progressive chess", and "extinction chess". Multiplayer can be played either locally or on

Xbox Live The Xbox network, formerly known and commonly referred to as Xbox Live, is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Gaming for the Xbox brand. It was first made available to the origina ...

. The board view can be either in 2D or in true 3D. The game supports the Xbox Live Vision webcam and allows to save replays of matches. In April 2008, a chess set based on '' Rayman Raving Rabbids'' was released as

downloadable content content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...

. Chessmaster Live has since been removed from

Reception

''Chessmaster Live'' received generally positive reviews from critics.

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said: "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." ''

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...

'' concluded: " ..this is about as solid a Chess package as one could hope for on the service." ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

'' said " ..the feature set doesn’t quite live up to the rest of the series". '' 1UP.com'' said the game has " ..nearly everything you'd want in a competitive simulator while including all the necessary tools for engrossing offline and online matches". ''

TeamXbox ''TeamXbox'' was a gaming media web site dedicated to Microsoft's Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox One platforms. While the majority of content was Xbox and Xbox 360 related, the site occasionally covered general technology and other video game news. ...

'' called it "a solid enough game to impress most players, even if the Xbox Live Arcade market was flooded with chess titles." '' Official Xbox Magazine UK'' said the game is "a graphically functional, perfectly playable plug-in for those who want a quick game of chess." '' Official Xbox Magazine US'' gave a positive review but criticized the coach system or the fact that AI can't play any of the chess variants.

References

External links

* (archived)
''Chessmaster Live''
at ubi.com (archived) * {{Chessmaster 2008 video games Chess software Chessmaster Multiplayer and single-player video games Multiplayer online games Ubisoft games Video game sequels Video games developed in Bulgaria Xbox 360 games Xbox 360-only games Xbox 360 Live Arcade games