The Chessmaster 2000

Chessmaster 2000 is a chess engine made for chess players ranging from novice to professional skill levels. In the game, players can play against a computer opponent with 12 different skill levels available to choose from. They can also elect to receive assistance from aides in the game, such as hints offered by the CPU. Players could also turn the board 90 degrees in 3D.

The game has documentation on famous chess matches from past tournaments, and allows players to recreate the positions from those events. S. Chess Federation, and included a discount on membership to the USCF.

Compute! stated that Chessmaster 2000 "is now the yardstick for which other similar programs will be measured", and favorably cited Software Toolworks' decision to give all versions of the game the same sophisticated engine. In 1986, Computer Gaming World wrote of the IBM PC version, "I wish I could find something negative to include in this review but I can't ... It gets my absolute highest recommendation".

It was noted that the game had a sophisticated defense, but would resign in hopeless situations without forcing the human to finish an inevitable win. The magazine also favorably reviewed the Amiga version, calling the graphics "exceptional" and concluding "highly recommended". Info gave the Amiga version five stars out of five, describing it as "the definitive chess program for the AMIGA", praising the graphics, user interface, and options. The magazine gave the Commodore 64 version three stars out of five, stating that it had almost all of the Amiga version's features but criticizing the requirement of using algebraic notation to move.