On a semi-serious note, I'm trying to find a computer chess game that would be helpful for my daughter. She's about to turn 9, and has shown an interest in chess. So I'm looking for a computerized game that would be helpful for someone just learning.

Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks.

Chessmaster series.

There seem to be a few free online. Don't know which is a good one as you'll need one with different (or at least easy) difficulty levels. I remember I had a lot of fun like 10 years ago with a dos game I think it was. Can't remember the name though. Don't know if anyone recognises it but it was blue against red and when you pieces died there was an animation of the other piece hitting or slashing at the piece. It was a lot of fun but I can't really find any info on the name.

If she has a Gameboy Advanced I highly recommend the Chessmaster game for it from a few years back. Its OOP now but it's probably on Ebay or a used game site.

For a GBA game it is impressive. It includes tutorials, chess history, and you can watch replays of famous games and important moves.

And for PC chess, Chessmaster is the best and I think also the longest running series.

[ 03-04-2006, 04:57 PM: Message edited by: Chewbacca ]

Philip's talking about Battlechess, which I also played as a (Geez...I think I was actually 9...). If the Monty-Python Black-Knight-esque cartoon violence doesn't bother your fatherly sensibilities (understandably, if so), that can be set up quite nicely via DosBox and D-Fend so that no knowledge of DOS is necessary.

Im not sure but I think the best chess game and
trainer is chess Master 2000. I have played against
all its levels and its logically beatable and the
lower setting are great for the beginner with
training moves and settings with the ability to
retrace your steps to see where you went astray
when you loose and when you win it has a auto game
replay.

she can go here to learn to play chess online and play for free 24/7

http://www.sportsline.com/games/play/slcs/google

[ 03-04-2006, 09:56 PM: Message edited by: TheCrimsomBlade ]

It was the best chess game ever and every chess games I've seen since then has been compared to it and failed.

Found it: http://www.download-game.com/Battle_Chess.htm

The second step is buying the computerised chess board. There's a computer inside the board, so you dont need a pc to play by yourself. Even cheap ones have over 20 difficulty levels...