Electronic Chess Set, Board Game, Computer Chess Game, Chess Set Board Game, Electronic Chess Set Game, Chess Sets Games Lovers, for Beginners Great Partner for Play and Practice

As someone who doesn't have anyone to play chess with, I found that this chess set was the next best thing to playing chess on a physical chess board, using actual chess pieces, instead of a on a computer screen. You can either pay against the built-in computer or just use it as a normal chess board and play against an actual opponent. The chess games comes with the all of the items in the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th pictures. It does NOT come with the 4 AA batteries required to play against the computer. (I used 4 AA rechargeable batteries). Each piece has a small magnet underneath it which is solely used to keep the piece from sliding off the board should the board be accidentally bumped. Each square on the board has a unique letter and number to identify it (A1 to H11). The board also features a screen that shows all of the spaces and where each piece is currently located. When playing against the computer, you simply pick up the desired chess piece you wish to move, lightly use it to tap the space it is currently on (a confirmation sound will be heard), then use the same piece to lightly touch the place you wish to move it (another confirmation sound will be heard). Instantly, the onboard screen will reflect the position of the new chess piece. When playing against the computer, the computer will tell you the piece to move and the place to move it to. For example, one picture shows a Black Knight B8C8. This indicates to move the black night, currently in position B8, to position C8. Once the move is done, don't forget to tap the start and end positions!), the screen updates the positions and it is ready for white to move (i.e., you, the player).While this chess board is a good way to hone your skills, I would not let small children play with it (the chess pieces are small and can be swallowed), or any kid who tends to throw their toys across the room (the chess pieces can be easily lost under a couch or table).

Despite the fact that the Voice Master II is extremely versatile and is designed as a teaching tool for children or beginners, don't be fooled that the artificial intelligence in this game is anything less than expert. The materials say that the game is rated about ELO 1700 which as far as I am concerned is pretty darn good, or at least better than me. I knew pretty quickly into the first game that I was going to get beaten. Nevertheless, the Voice Master II is a patient teacher, asking you if tutor mode is on "Are you sure?" or "be careful" after a poor move. It also provides basic information for absolute beginners such as how to set up the board and card pieces that explain the legal moves each piece can make, as well as some special moves such as "castling," "promotion," and "en passant," a move I didn't even know about. Other nice features of the game, from a teaching perspective, are the "why" button which explains why a move may be bad, a help button, and a legal button that tells you where a specific piece can move to. The game is forgiving allowing you to retract a move if it is bad. Finally, there are also special modes for more advanced players, for example setting up a specific field of play from a chess magazine or famous game. It does take a bit of practice to get used to the human-computer interface, but after a game or two you most likely will get a handle on this. All in all, this is a very versatile game (I hesitate to call it a toy) for absolute beginners through very good chess players who wish to further challenge themselves and improve their games.

It's a great concept, but why did they have to make it so small? The board and pieces are the size of those travel games that people carry on buses and planes. The photos on Amazon are misleading. And that LCD screen: way too small. Many people will have difficulty with it. By the way, the product description describes it as large. Only a Lilliputian would consider it large. Even the instruction manual indicates that you have to view the LCD screen at a specific angle to see it clearly.The instruction manual is another big problem. The manual was not written by a person who is proficient in English. And since operating the "computer" is not intuitive, a well-written manual would be nice.If the maker of this item had made it twice as big and if he had hired a competent tech writer to pen the manual, then it would be a great purchase.

My grandson likes it but doesn’t use it like I thought he would

Returned it it was too complicated for us unfortunately