a lot of folks here are asking: how do we hit 2000? this is an excellent program. released back in 1986! for those of you rated 2300+, it’s probably not of interest. in local rating terms, it’s roughly 2100 strength. it can beat sf level 6 and loses to level 7.
the gist: it knows openings, doesn’t hang pieces, doesn’t complicate the position like modern engines do, and is happy to exchange pieces. it’s somewhat weaker in the endgame — it might blow a drawn ending, but it won’t let go of a win. in short, it plays like a human.
i don’t know about intellectual property issues, but honestly, you could still charge money for this thing today. it’s more enjoyable to play against than stockfish. if you want a solid offline training partner — i highly recommend it.
It is no longer sold or supported but just because it's old doesn't mean it's free to distribute and Chessmaster 2000 is old enough that it can be tricky to emulate though— speed is one of the biggest issues, especially for something meant to feel like a ~2000-strength human opponent. However...if anyone wants to give it a try here it is:
https://archive.org/details/Chessmaster_2000_The_1990_Ubi_Soft
https://archive.org/details/moofaday_The_Chessmaster_2000
https://archive.org/details/zx_Chessmaster_2000_The_1990_Dro_Soft_es
https://archive.org/details/Chessmaster_2000_The_v1.0_1986_Electronic_Arts_cr_h_ft
https://archive.org/details/Chessmaster_2000_The_1986_Software_Toolworks_Side_A
DOSBox supports Chessmaster 2000, so that shouldn't be a problem.
I used to sometimes play Chessmaster 2100. I've kind of gotten away from the Chessmaster series since I switched to Linux. (I'm avoiding the installation of WINE for now.)
EDIT - I can still play the Chessmaster programs, but it requires booting into my Windows hard drive, which is a bit of a pain in the ...
I was able to dig up a couple of links.
The first link is an archived download from Ed Schroder's old site. It's a D-Fend Reloaded setup (i.e. DOSBox frontend) with 33 DOS chess programs, including Chessmasters 2000 and 2100.
The second link is "Franz Huber's Program Projects" page. If you click on the "DOS-Chess" link, it will take you to his cloud folder where you can download two Zip files. The first Zip file is a QEMU setup containing a huge number of old DOS chess programs, including Chessmasters 2000, 2100, and 3000. The second Zip file is a setup for 10 old DOS chess programs; Although there aren't any Chessmasters in this Top-10 setup, you might find the programs interesting.
In case you're reluctant to try these setups, rest assured that Ed and Franz are both well known in the computer chess community; I trust both of them.
I tested these three setups in Windows 7. Hopefully they'll also work in Windows 10 and 11?
Ed Schroder's old site
https://web.archive.org/web/20230622210014/https://rebel13.nl/noomen/more-dos-oldies.html
Franz Huber's Program Projects
https://fhub.jimdofree.com/
I remember I tried Chessmaster 2000. I was too young and clueless about chess to do much other than lose quickly, but I really liked how you can customize the colors to sweet looking magenta and turquoise colors. The customization is amazing. You can have any colors and style you can imagine.
Sorry, I love Chessmaster series, but it does not play like a human. Not a chance. I mean all series, until the last one, 11.
Sometimes it blunder pieces and even the queen, in lower settings, and afterwards it plays like Kasparov.
But don't get me wrong, I love the series. The 3d board is second to none even today, amazing training features too. I wish Ubisoft continues it with a 12th version.
As you mentioned the amazing Franz DOS collection, I recommend Zarkov very much.
I think I still have a Chessmaster 3000 installation CD somewhere... might give it a try in a VM.