NOW is not a profit making program. Funds received on this shareware program are used to pay duplication costs, salaries of a business manager and to buy new development hardware. Your contribution will help develop a stronger, more feature-filled program. End of commercial.
NOW did rather well in the 1991 Microcomputer Chess Championship. It finished with the best score for an amateur program running on a PC with only M-CHESS beating it on a PC. Other programs which beat NOW ran on very fast RISC-based processors, much faster than NOW’s 40 MHz 80386 machine.
NOW is not meant to compete with other powerful commercial programs, such as M-CHESS, ZARKOV or Chessmaster 2100. It is simply a shareware option.”
Another thing that really makes NOW – A Computer Chess Program enjoyable for me is how it manages to stay interesting even after playing it multiple times. Many games feel repetitive after a while, but here, the experience still feels fresh because of the small details and different ways you can approach the gameplay. As you continue playing, you naturally start improving and understanding the mechanics better, which makes everything feel more rewarding. I also appreciate the balance the game maintains—it’s not too difficult, but it’s not too easy either. You can play it casually for a short break or spend longer sessions without getting bored. That flexibility is one of the biggest reasons why I keep coming back to NOW – A Computer Chess Program. Overall, it’s the kind of game that doesn’t just entertain you for a moment, but actually gives you a consistently enjoyable experience every time you play.
