Learn to Play Chess with Fritz and Chesster

Combination of Arcade-type games & well designed steps introducing chess work real well with children. I have tried this program with several students and it was great in generating their interest and keeping their attention. Of course, for parents who either have no skills, or time, or both, using this program is a must first step in teaching their kids to play chess.

Graphics are great, games are fun and teaching approach is good.

The program can be improved somewhat:
Pacman-type game doesn't seem to relate very well to the Rook intro,
Pinball-type toilet crushing with the ball moving diagonally, is a strange way to introduce the Bishop,
Emphasizing so much an issue of Opposition, isn't a best for teaching kids about the importance and value of the King,
Also, there are many conversation, some with humor, but you can't skip them if you wish. Some jokes might be a little offensive.
Focus on checkmates when introducing pieces as oppose to more common approach - such as visiting squares, attacking and taking pieces.

On the positive side:
All arcade games are very captivating and will keep your child interested in exploring the game, thus indirectly learning chess,
Arcade games introducing Queen &, especially, Pawn are very chess related,
Ability to play a complete games with limited number of pieces is very helpful,
This is the ONLY tool on the market employing such a unique methodology that will definitely appeal to children.

Bottom line - this is a must buy for families with young kids who DO NOT know the rules. For others, consider this game as well as the latest ChessMaster on the market.

Good luck!
Copyrighted by me


Wonderful!   July 22, 2003
Eric P. Medlock (Charlotte, NC United States)
59 out of 69 found this review helpful

My daughter is 8 and I recently bought this for her. She's never played chess before and her attention span can be somewhat limited at times. I played this game for a little while before letting her play (she had chores to finish and so I could see if it was something she'd be able to do). At first I was a little worried, some of the arcade games seemed to me to be too hard and not have enough instructions. At any rate I loaded it up and let her play, and she spent over 6 hours in one weekend totally absorbed and loving every minute of it. Some of the arcade games were too hard so she just skipped those, I don't know if it will have any negative effect on her later game play, but so far so good! Anything that is educational and can keep a child absorbed for so long is well worth the money. I hope she finishes the game so she and I can play chess together!


Excellent game for young players   July 27, 2003
Sean E. Sides (Frisco, TX)
37 out of 39 found this review helpful

We have had this game for less than a week, and like a previous review, my 8 year-old daughter absolutely loves it. The school my daughter is attending this fall requires all of the children to play chess for 30 minutes or so prior to instruction. I was a little nervous of how to possibly teach her, since I have only played sparingly throughout my life. I know the basic moves, and not much more. Not ever touching a chess piece before, she learned all of the basics of the game in less than 2 days. She played for several hours at a time, and it was hard to get her off the computer.

I think the key to games success is that it instructs the player on the pieces, moves and object of the game without seeming like it is teaching. There are multiple mini-games within the actual game that slowly build to a point where the player knows all the moves of an actual game of chess. I will have to update my review after I play through the game myself, because on the first game I played with my daughter, she constantly corrected me.


Wonderful teaching tool   November 26, 2003
27 out of 29 found this review helpful

My daughter is 8 and she's wanted to learn to play chess for a while. So, I got out the board and attempted to teach her. But it is just one of those things -- I can play better than I can teach. Needless to say, we didn't get far that way.

Several weeks ago I was looking at something online and noticed a review on another site for this game. I investigated more and couldn't find a single negative review of it on any site. Think how rare that is! So I purchased it for my daughter.

After she installed it, she played it almost non-stop for hours. This went on for a few days. Since I didn't spend a lot of time looking over her shoulder I asked her how she felt about the game. She thinks this game is a winner. The way they break down the game so you become intimate with the characteristics of each piece is wonderful. They also spend time getting a child to be able to understand certain strategies and I think they do it well. Their mini-games are just right, in my opinion.

She's now playing chess against the game and winning some and losing some, depending on the level she plays. But she feels good having learned the game and I think it actually helped her confidence a bit, too. I guess it feels good to be 8 and able to say, "Why yes, I play chess."


Very nice!   July 7, 2003
24 out of 25 found this review helpful

My daughter is going to be 5 next month and she loves chess a lot. We started with Chessmaster's training but it frequently required a lot of assistance from us to sit with her as Chessmaster's UI (9000) is buggy in a lot of respects (So adults can figure around some of them but kids may have difficulty). A week or so back, I got this one (when it was released) and since then, my daughter has already done a number of the puzzles in it and really enjoys it. If you want your child to do chess, I would definitely recommend it.