Why do all other programs that Im running slow way down when I run Chessmaster?
Most of the computer personalities in Chessmaster 8000, as well as any XBoard engines that you import that can use “Pondering” (called “Deep Thinking” in previous versions of Chessmaster), will attempt to take as much of your computer’s CPU time as possible, so they can play as strong as possible. This will cause just about any other programs that are also running at the same time to slow down significantly. If you want to be able to play against a computer personality while you do other work, you should play against (or create) personalities that do not have “Pondering” enabled. It should also be noted that, in the patch, pausing a game will stop the engines from thinking. This will allow you to do other work while a game is being played. However, simply minimizing Chessmaster, or bringing another application “to the foreground” will NOT pause the current game. So, if you want to use another application while Chessmaster is running, it is a good idea to pause the current game first.
