Vanessa Chess

Vanessa Chess is a 1999 chess program for the classic Mac OS from Manfred Schubert (Schubert-it), notable for being the first multi-document, multithreaded chess application on the Macintosh. It pairs a strong native chess engine with an interface built around standard Mac document conventions, PGN interchange, and HTML export for the early web.

Multi-Document, Multithreaded Engine

Unlike most Mac chess programs of the era, Vanessa Chess lets the user open and analyze multiple games at once in separate windows, with the engine analyzing in the background while the player edits another game. Difficulty scales from beginner through Blitz and tournament time controls, with a position editor and full annotation support including diagrams.

Customizable 2D Board

The board is fully customizable: three included piece sets, several board styles, and arbitrary resizing to fit any display. Variations, move annotations, and styled text inside the annotation editor make it usable as a study tool, not just a play partner.

PGN, ExaChess, and HTML Export

Vanessa Chess speaks PGN for game import and export and is ExaChess-compatible, slotting into the broader Mac chess analysis ecosystem of the late 1990s. Its HTML export, including embedded diagrams, was aimed at users publishing annotated games to personal web pages.

Mac OS Polish

The program ships with extensive HTML help including the rules of chess, full undo/redo, and Mac OS speech support so the computer can announce moves. It targets Mac OS 8 and 9 and is freely available from Schubert-it.