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When it comes to chess, I'm no slouch. No, sir. I'm an absolute loser. I know this because Power Chess (in a kind way) told me so.
Over the past several weeks, I have cultivated a base hatred for the way this computer game dangles victory in front of me and then snatches it away in four, final, cataclysmic moves. The game's designer tells me he made it that way on purpose. What a jerk.
Yet, this game is great. It is one of the best things to happen to onscreen chess since there was such a thing. At once a game, a tutorial, and a power player's exercise program, it is based on the WChess Artificial Intelligence Engine, which emerged victorious in the Fifth Harvard Cup Human versus Computer Intel Chess Challenge and fought the infamous Deep Blue to a draw.
Whether you're a beginner or a chess enthusiast (or a garden-variety loser; see above), Power Chess has something for you. The hostess, the Chess Queen, is a clear-voiced presence that tutors and offers real-time commentary on both live matches and reenactments of some of the great games of all time, including the Kasparov-versus-Deep Blue confrontation. The chessboards and pieces are texture-mapped 3-D models, viewable from any angle. A number of striking sets can be selected, including a classic set, an abstract ethnic design, and even an industrial group composed of polished nuts and bolts.
The program studies players' habits and never falls for the same trick twice. If an advanced player is wildly outclassing Power Chess, it will get smarter and meaner, cattle-prodding the player along; if the player is getting stomped, it will ease off (but only the weensiest bit). It continually adjusts and tests, observes and corrects, keeping the player just at the rim of his or her ability.
Seriously psychotic chess enthusiasts can use the automatic move notation system to save and print game charts of opening gambits, variations, and the like for their notebook, a play log that every real chess freak keeps. Players seeking human opponents on the Net need only jump to the Sierra Web site to enter the Power Chess Tournament Hall.
Power Chess for Windows: US$39.95. Sierra On-Line Inc.: +1 (206) 649 9800, fax +1 (206) 641 7617
