September 5^th, 2002 (12:00am) - Ubi Soft Entertainment, one of the world’s largest video game publishers, and The Internet Chess Club (Chessclub.com), the world’s premiere online chess destination, today announced that reigning US Chess Champion, Grandmaster Larry Christiansen, will play Chessmaster 9000 in a four game match played over two days via live internet broadcast. These games will be broadcast on Chessclub.com’s website. The games will take place on Saturday and Sunday, September 28-29, 2002, with the first beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time and a second game beginning at 6 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time each day. Mr. Christiansen will take on four different Grandmaster-level personalities from the Chessmaster 9000 retail product, finally facing The Chessmaster on Sunday at 6 p.m.

Celebrated chess players will provide on-going commentary during each of the games, including reigning Women’s US Chess Champion and Grandmaster Jennifer Shahade, and Grandmaster Joel Benjamin. Additionally, Yasser Seirawan, Grandmaster and co-founder of America’s Foundation for Chess will provide post-event written analysis of the four game match.

"Pitting the reigning US Chess Champion against the best-selling computer chess product of all time should make for some very exciting games as chess enthusiasts enjoy a front row seat to witness two great chess competitors in action," said Karen "KC" Conroe, group brand manager for Ubi Soft Entertainment. "Larry Christiansen has proven himself repeatedly through the years as one of the world’s best chess players, but we’re confident he’ll find Chessmaster 9000 to be a most challenging and worthy opponent when they square off on September 28."

"Chessmaster has long been recognized as both a powerful chess engine and the world’s finest interactive chess product," said Larry Christiansen. "I look forward to putting this new edition to the test at the end of this month. Bring it on!"

"Chessclub.com is happy to be hosting this exciting event," said Daniel Sleator, president and founder of the Internet Chess Club. "We have a long tradition of broadcasting major chess events, such as the Kasparov versus Deep Blue."

"As co-founder of America’s Foundation for Chess, I’m delighted to be a part of an event that will expand the profile and reach of the game of chess," said Yasser Seirawan. "US Chess Champion Larry Christiansen will find it challenging to battle against the four personalities of the Chessmaster program. One is hard enough! Chess fans should enjoy my analysis which will capture the hidden thoughts of the players."

The schedule for Christiansen vs. Chessmaster 9000 is as follows:

Saturday, September 28:
Match 1 starts at 10:00 am EDT
Match 2 starts at 6:00 pm EDT

Sunday, September 29:
Match 3 starts at 10:00 am EDT
Match 4 starts at 6:00 pm EDT