Stick to the PC for Chess
Chessmaster Live is not a good game, especially when you compare it to freeware available on the PC. It's frustrating, since chess is such an excellent and enduring game.
CL has a few redeemable features. Primary among these is the message chess multiplayer mode. This mode allows you to make a move and send it to the other player, who then has at least a day to send you back his move. This is traditionally known as correspondence chess, and it works very well in the X360 setting. Most accessible PC chess games focus on fast "blitz" games over the internet, and I've enjoyed this change of pace with CL.
Single player is unimpressive. At the hardest settings, the computer will anniliate you, as expected. At lower settings, the computer will make a series of strong moves, then make a obvious mistake. Playing against the computer got old fast. For a brand-new or rusty player, Practice mode is useful. When you select a piece, all the squares that it can move to are highlighted by green (safe from the enemy) or red (can be taken). Red arrows are drawn to indicate possible captures on both sides.
The traditional multiplayer suffers from a lack of competition. As a result, most people will find that getting the achievement for scoring an ELO of 1200 impossible to get. In addition, time scrambles at the end of the game are very frustrating. The mouse and keyboard is far superior for making fast moves than the console controller.
After a game is done, you are given a chance to save the game and review it later. However, without the ability for the Chessmaster engine to analyze the game, this is rather pointless. The fact that you can't turn off this prompt raises another pet peeve I have with this game. The navigation, and multiple pop-up windows at the end of the game, are both poorly designed.
Even as a hardcore chess playerand someone addicted to the Message Chess mode, I'm disappointed with Chessmaster Live. Overall execution, even in the Message Chess mode is very disappointing. It's hard to even recommend it for Gamerscore points, as you'll only be able to get 185/200 if you are a normal chess player. If you are interested in chess, best to stick to freeware available on the PC.