good free typing and chess software?

[Wheatmaster]

i remember the good old days where i practiced typing on mavis beacon. what are some good free typing software to boost my typing skills?
also are there any free chess software as good as chessmaster 9000?

 

[oog]

what makes the chess software "as good as chessmaster 9000"? the strength of play or the interface? i think gnuchess is decently strong for most players, and you can find an interface for it, but while playing chess is smooth, i think you don't have all the extra bells and whistles that you might find in commercial interfaces.

 

[exp]

Oog is right...it depends on what you're looking for in a chess program. For just playing chess you'll need an engine and an interface. Winboard is probably the "best" interface, but for engines I have no idea. Crafty is popular, but honestly it probably doesn't matter much since for most players any engine is strong enough.

Chess Engine/Interface FAQ

Chess Engine Details

Winboard/Xboard Homepage

Also, some commercial programs like Chessbase and Chess Assistant have "Light" versions available for free. They might be useful if you need some limited database capabilities.

Chessbase

Chess Assistant

But honestly, unless you object to paying for chess on principle it's probably easiest just to buy a used copy of CM. There's very little difference between the versions...I got CM 8000 for under $10 shortly after 9000 came out, and you can probably find 6/7000 for $5ish.

 

[theAnimal]

Arena is a nice free chess interface. There are many different engines available at the site as well.

Here is a list of engines by rating; it would seem that Ruffian is the strongest.

Edit: And Typing of the dead is the most fun you can have learning to type.

 

[Argo]

Chessmaster sucks. The best chess software is Fritz 8. It's not free, though, so sorry.

 

[rainypickles]

http://www.fonlow.com/zijianhuang/kp/ kp typing tutor. simple, and i think it is decent.

if you really want to beef up your typing skills, learn dvorak.

 

[onelin]

While not a serious typing program, Typer Shark at popcap.com is a fun typing speed game!