Problem Getting Anywhere

[EPICAC]

I'm have a strange problem here that may or may not be obviously caused by what I'm hoping is not the problem. Perhaps key is that I bought Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition because when I went to install my trusty Chessmaster 10th Edition I ran into this exact same problem. I've now dropped $20 and am a little frustrated.

Here's my problem:
I start the Chessmaster software from either the desktop, steam, or taskbar (it makes no difference) and the screen goes black, shows the Ubisoft video, and brings up the Chessmaster menu. I started my character and was ready to play a game of chess. But once I chose my character the menu space (the rectangle on the screen) goes black.

In Chessmaster 10 I could at least click the [X] to close it despite nothing being displayed but the rotating chessboard with the pieces disappearing at strange intervals (which said to me a video drivers issue). I got windows to try and update the drivers but it said I was up to date.

Here's the kicker:
I've had a 64-bit processor for a while. I just upgraded to Windows 7 Pro x64. I'm really happy with it, but I fear it might be problem. Read on...

Here's my other system specs if they'll help:
AMD Phenom 9500 Quad Core 2.20 GHz CPU
Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe Motherboard
4 GB of RAM
2 500GB SATA 3.0GB/s Hard Drives
GeForce 7600 GS 512MB PCI Express x16

To Thicken the Plot
When I check the NVIDIA Control Panel and look at the "System Information" tab to check my graphics card it lists:

Operating System: Windows 7 Professional, 64-bit
DirectX version: 11.0

I was not aware (and have trouble believing) that my card could handle DirectX 10.1 much less 11.0. However, it being a somewhat dated card I know it's my bottleneck. I haven't had any problems with anything else though...


So: Any ideas on what's causing Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition from letting me access the actual game portion? I've tried to run in compatibility mode and got a warning that I shouldn't do that with steam. I was also under the impression that this new Chessmaster was "Vista Ready" which was about 85% of the reason I elected to buy it. I hoped that it would solve my problems being the new version.

[dbag]

EPICAC,

I'm running Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition (11) under Windows 7 with little problems. Maybe it's the fact that you are using the 64-bit version of Vista. I'm using the 32 bit version of 7, and there are only minor issues.

Good luck figuring out what it is!

Sincerely,
John

You have to run the game in compatibility mode if you have 64 bit and the game is for 32 bit