--- chess-orig/chess-common.el	2007-12-14 21:54:58.000000000 +0100
+++ chess/chess-common.el	2008-03-14 21:11:56.000000000 +0100
@@ -41,10 +41,11 @@
       (chess-message 'starting-engine name)
       (unless (boundp path)
 	(chess-error 'could-not-find-engine name path))
-      (setq proc (start-process (concat "chess-" name)
-				(current-buffer) (symbol-value path)))
-      (chess-message 'starting-engine-done name)
-      proc))
+      (when (symbol-value path)
+	(setq proc (start-process (concat "chess-" name)
+				  (current-buffer) (symbol-value path)))
+	(chess-message 'starting-engine-done name)
+	proc)))
 
    ((eq event 'ready)
     (chess-game-set-data game 'active t)