Chessmaster: The Art of Learning

Josh Waitzkin is a chess prodigy hailing from New York. His 'life' story was told in the movie Searching For Bobby Fisher and he recently turned to the martial art of Tai Chi Chuan to "improve his focus". In the world of chess this is about as close to celebrity as you're going to get.

But while we understand Ubisoft's decision to put a face to the game, it adds very little to the package. Bobby Fisher aside, chess has never had a 'popstar' figure capable of marketing the game to younger folk put off by the game's stuffy image and aura of autism. Unfortunately, Josh Waitzkin is no Bobby Fisher.

But post Brain Training it's nearly impossible to find a quiz, board or IQ game without this kind of endorsement. Unfortunately for us, Josh's digitised face pops up to deliver platitudes at every turn. At best it's gimmicky, at worst it's the equivalent of the indefatigable but socially inept Widows Office paperclip.

Chessmaster's rasion d'être is that it will school you through the subtle rules and skills of this ancient game using a number of play modes designed to teach and then hone your chess abilities. But it's a lie. While some of the game is given over to learning chess, it all feels a bit facile. You can't help feeling that the 'teaching' bits are modelled on Nintendo's Kawashima titles, but were just thrown in at the last minute to keep up with the fashion.

Waitzkin even gives you points for Focus, Analytical Reasoning and Memory after completing each training exercise but they seem to be dished out completely arbitrarily and beg the question: why would getting a point for 'Memory' actually improve my chess skills anyway?

Sorry to be so grumpy but it all just feels like a trendy gimmick.

It's not that these mini-games and training exercises are bad in themselves, just that they are over very quickly and will only help complete amateurs. Of course, this is no bad thing if you want to learn the basics of the game but if you're looking to kick on from being an average club player then there's nothing here to help you. A good book on opening strategy would be a far greater investment.

So what are these mini-games? Fork the Fruit is a good example. It's a game designed to illustrate the power of each individual piece. Fruit appears across the chessboard and you must move your piece into a position which attacks (or skewers with forks) the most fruit of the same type. In Masterpiece you must reveal tiles to complete a famous image and in Pawn Charge the task is to get your pieces to the other side – British Bulldog-style – while avoiding opposition capture.

There's no denying these games can be fun in short bursts but once you've played each for ten minutes or so the novelty will have worn off. Of more use are the chess puzzles which are based on classic chess positions. These range from pining and forking pieces to finding check in a single move. Again, these are adequate if you're new to the game but weak learning tools if you're already cognisant with basic chess strategy.

On a more positive note, the main competitive play mode in Chessmaster is excellent and as it is based on Elo ratings (competitive analysis used by The World Chess Federation) there's a real sense of progression and motivation to move up the ranks. Computer AI ranges from Easy, Medium or Hard and as each competitor has a thumbnail personality (some may be aggressive, others protective of their rooks or some even profligate with their queen) it's easy to find a game or competitor to suit your style, or directly challenge it.

In terms of AI, it's good to see the CPU players making glaring errors rather than just weak moves though we would have liked the pressure of a timer to increase such errors (in fact, they just play the same moves regardless). Generally the CPU intelligence is very robust and we applaud the game's ability to deliver AI that varies in style so much from game to game.

Ultimately Chessmaster is an excellent starter kit for those looking to explore the intricacies of one of the world's oldest games. When it comes to the fundamentals of offering a well presented chess game with varied AI it's a winner. Just be warned that there's also a lot of pointless window dressing.

When something is advertised as a learning tool, we would have expected much more emphasis on accumulating and then honing chess strategy at a deeper level: on openings, mid games and end games, there's absolutely nothing.

So while Josh's effort is excellent for the beginner, it won't stop us from searching for a chess tuition tool on a par with the late, great Bobby Fisher.