MasterChess 9000 Status

First, a little history.

MasterChess 98 and later MasterChess 2000 started it all. If you can remember Windows 98 and Windows 2000 then you will have some understanding of why we picked the names we did. And you might be old enough to schedule your colonoscopy. 🙂

Paul Azzurro of Chess For Less commissioned the creation of MasterChess on DVD. True to the name of his company, Paul wanted an app that could manage millions of games and also play chess while not costing hundreds of dollars. Mike Leahy already had the most sophisticated opening preparation app (Bookup 2000) so it wasn’t difficult to take the existing Bookup code and create a no-frills game database and playing opponent.

Each new version (MasterChess 98, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000, 7000, 8000) had more games, faster engines, and just a couple more functions. The game collections grew so large over time that later versions had to be published on dual-layer DVDs.

Now in 2025 comes MasterChess 9000 which is geared towards the latest version of Windows and, for the first time, Macintosh. It will take advantage of the Chess Openings Wizard code base. It will be downloadable.

Program Status

As of January 27, 2025 there is not yet a beta test version. One will be available shortly.

Those who owned older versions were invited to help beta test the upcoming MasterChess 9000. They will get email updates on the testing.

I love making chess apps! I hope you enjoy using them at least as much as I enjoy crafting them.