A Chess Game With Many Features – but even more issues to sort out

Enjoy nothing more than a nice, relaxing game of chess? Then why not indulge yourself with a chess board on your iPad screen?

This is a functional representation of the game in 2D. We say ‘functional: as there are some interesting spelling mistakes and bugs within the game. Black is labeled ‘blakc’ and the A.I. has a tendency to cheat. Clearly, the game doesn’t extend you the same courtesy, making the whole experience horribly one-sided, and taking any and all fun out of playing against the computer. As a result, you’ll want to play against a friend (or yourself) to truly enjoy this App.

As with many other board/puzzle games in the App Store there are no instructions included – this is strictly an app for those already familiar with the rules of chess. Unusually, there’s no hold­-and-drag feature, either – a shame considering the iPad`s Multi-Touch screen. Instead, to move a piece you simply tap on your selection, and then the space where you like to move it.

Although there are quirks that need ironing out, when it decides to behave itself, playing against the A.l. is still a fun and challenging experience. There are five difficulty levels to choose from, the higher seeing your opponent use some clever tactics to win. Meanwhile, the two-player game sees the black pieces flipped upside down, which is ideal for anyone sitting across the table from you. As expected, players take turn to move their pieces. Additionally, f you close the app mid-session, it will resume from the same place when re-opened.

The graphics are bold and colourful, while the board is an attractive red and yellow colour, which pops out of the iPad screen. Unfortunately, it’s hard to see the black pieces on the red tiles, and the white pieces on the yellow tiles, unless the Screen brightness is turned up – an obvious problem that really should have been spotted somewhere along the line (along with the spelling mistakes and numerous bugs, we might add).

As you may have worked out from the review above, this is a chess game with issues. We reviewed version 1.0.0, so it might be worth checking for updates that were not available at the time of writing, especially since as there are only two chess games in the iPad App Store.