Game Review: ChessGenius

Posted by Jens-Peter Olsson on 23 September, 2009

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ChessGenius 04 ChessGenius is a commercial chess computer for the N97 and other S60 devices, developed by Richard Lang.

Features

ChessGenius have all the features you would expect to find in a chess computer. You can play against the phone or against a friend (or if you’re up for it you can of course also play against yourself…). There’s hint support included (hints on what might be a good next move that is) and you can also takeback (undo) moves. Game position can be saved and restored, and a customized starting position can also be created freely. There is also a large number of different difficulty settings available.

Will it leave me checkmate?

If – like me – you’re not a professional player and you don’t play the game on a really easy level, then yes! But that’s a good thing since it means the game AI is doing its job well. After all, the program has supposedly beaten the chess world champion at one time, so no shame in being defeated by the program on a high difficulty level!

The user interface is not by any means flashy, but it looks good enough and works equally ok. The program is available for a wide range of platforms, so it’s nice to see that touch support for S60v5 devices is included.

The only real negative I can found is actually something I can’t find – a manual! The game features a rich set of options, and most of them are straight forward and intuitive, but some settings would need an explanation. And since ChessGenius features so many options, there’s of course also a risk users might miss some of them without a manual provided.

Summary

This is a killer game if you’re a fan of chess. It’s available for $19.95 from Handango, and considering it’s a game that will last a lifetime (ah well, at least your phone’s lifetime…) it’s hard to argue about the price. There’s also a free trial available without any crippling limitations.

Pros