Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2318 in Software
• Brand: Focus Multimedia Ltd
• Model: 5031366012425
• Released on: 2002-12-27
• Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows 3.1, Windows XP, Windows 95

Amazon.co.uk Review
Quick to set up, easy to navigate and beautifully rendered, Corel Chess aims to give chess lovers and novices alike a real chess experience--without a physical chess set. In its place, Corel Chess provides 2-D and 3-D virtual chessboards. Players can choose between different styles (e.g., wood or glass pieces), each of which comes with its own backdrop and sometimes irritating (but easily turned off) soundtrack. Players can keep a number of windows open at the same time, showing the chess board at different angles and sizes, in 2-D and 3-D. There is a moves list, a record of captured pieces, and/or games clocks. Players can play through the animated history of a finished game or switch sides easily.

There are several ways to play a game. Single players can play against the computer. The computer's skill level can be set at various levels--novice, weak, moderate, intermediate, expert, and there's a custom option, which allows players to set search depth (the number of moves ahead the computer is allowed to plan a move and calculate every possible move you could make in response) from 1 to 48, and capture aggressiveness (which measures how aggressively the engine chooses a capturing move over an equally effective non-capturing move) from 2 to 12. Two players can play against each other on one computer. Alternatively, players on different computers can play via a telephone network, LAN or the Internet (via Winsock). The setup documentation is good.

For beginners, the help files include chess rules, and there are in-play hints available. More advanced players wishing to improve their skills may wish to import a PGN (Portable Game Notation) game. Portable Game Notation is a standard way of describing chess games in a computer-readable format. A number of files with PGN notation are included in Corel Chess, and others are available on the Internet and can be imported. The included PGN games range from the mid-1800s to the 1990s. While the program doesn't allow users to play against the masters, it does allow users to scrutinize the games in live-motion, pause and fast-forward through thousands of championship chess games. In a world where PCs are more common than chess-boards, Corel Chess renders the history and experience of this complex game vividly. Kasparov wannabes take note. --Kathleen Keefe

Manufacturer's Description
Great interactive play, dynamic views and sizzling graphics combined with exquisite 3D modelled and rotatable boards produce a truly awe-inspiring multimedia chess game. Play the computer, have the computer play against itself or alternatively stage your own championship with opponents over the Internet, via a modem or over a network.

In true 24-bit colour with multiple chess sets and elaborately rendered game settings, the customisable user interface enables you to display any number of open windows or views of the chessboard, at the same time, at any angle and scaled to any size.

Gain an interesting insight into the minds of the Grand Masters as you view and study over 4,000 championship chess games or import other classic games (PGN format only). With a variety of user options, levels of difficulty and amazing visual and sound effects, there's never a dull moment.

Customer Reviews

Review of Corel Chess program
Corel Chess is a program that enables users to play the classic game of chess against others or the computer itself. The program allows the computer to play at six different levels of difficulty with the lower levels being suitable for those with just a basic knowledge of strategy whilst the higher levels provide a more challenging game play.

Various attractive designs of both pieces and boards can be chosen and viewed as both 2-D and 3-D projections. Since this program is quite old (1996) the graphics aren't as good as some newly released computer games. This is especially noticeable when the poor graphics make vertically aligned pieces on the 3-D board difficult to distinguish, however, the 2-D board with easy-to-see symbolically shaped pieces which can be viewed simultaneously limits this problem.

The program was quick and straightforward to install but during the initial game play the program constantly needs to read the CD and this consequently delays the program for a few seconds each time. Despite these criticisms the Corel Chess program performs the task of playing chess satisfactorily and the game and user-face options allow easy customisation to suit your particular tastes.

Minimalistic, excellent value chess engine/PGN viewer.
I currently have three chess engines, and Corel Chess is certainly the most minimalistic in terms of the number of settings and features, but I find this minimalism actually very appealing, (there is no handicap mode for example). The difficulty level of the computer can be set in terms of two parameters: search depth and attack aggressiveness. This is very useful in my opinion because if you can beat a computer at a given search depth then you know that you can catch evey possible tactic or combination to that depth, and to beat most humans, being able to see to a depth of three moves consistently would mean winning most of the time. This program would suit a club player wishing to solidify their tactical ability without having to play a computer at full strenght or one with a contrived handicap of blundering; you can play the computer at it's full strength and accuracy but to a chosen tactical depth in units of moves. The music is quite nice, (yes, there is music), though it can be turned off. I'm not a fan of 3-d computer boards but there are a number of different designs for those who do like them, though I just use the standard 2-d board with the usual symbolic pieces. There is an excellent games database with about 4000 PGN games including events such as the Short-Kasparov match, and these can be enjoyably watched in playback, and it is this feature that isn't present in the other engines I have, (unless it's hidden somewhere in the hundred of menus), and the speed of playback is variable also which is excellent. I believe that it is possible to open any PGN files in this program and to watch games in the excellent playback mode for example. I used this playback feature quite a lot about a year and a half ago and absorbed GM chess games whilst eating my breakfast in the morning. Corel Chess is excellent value for money.