Fritz and his cousin Bianca are back in the third Fritz & Chesster chess tutorial, an award-winning series of children’s edutainment software. This time, the evil Black King has taken away the Chess Chubbies (they’re like mascots, in case you’re wondering like I was until I found one) from sixteen other Kings, who are now extremelly depressed.
Fritz & Chesster’s Chess for Winners takes place at the Village Fair, a carnival with a bunch of attractions and colorful characters. It’s by visiting the booths and playing the mini-games and puzzles that Fritz and Bianca are able to restore the Chess Chubbies back to their rightful owners.
The games teach about chess strategy in a charming way, without making it sound like a boring chore or too technical. So playing a game at the Tin Can Alley, taking a ride on the Ferris Wheel or the Bumper Cars or visiting the Fortune Teller will all give you a new chess lesson and a series problems to solve.
Move by move, young players are encouraged to learn more advanced techniques, from openings to middle game strategies and professional end game moves. Deliver checkmates, learn to use the clock, force pieces into corners, use diversion tactics, practice the Spanish Opening, memorize moves and replay them, always with a handy help feature and plenty of animations and visual clues to help chldren follow and understand what’s being said (for example, certain pieces or squares are highlighted).
Although this title doesn’t start from the beginning teaching you how each individual piece moves, Bianca’s organizer teaches you the basics, in case you need to refresh your memory. Because we all know how to move chess pieces, but there are certain little things that have specific names and special moves that we may not be aware of.
The only two exceptions are two arcade games. One plays like Arkanoid, where you bounce a bullett off your paddle to break the balloons. The other has you running a little bird around preparing the nests for the eggs, while dodging the eggs as they run on the board in all sorts of directions. They’re both quite fun and a good change of pace from all the chess puzzle solving.
After you’ve learned all you there is to learn, you can face the Black King in a chess battle. If you win, you can still access the carnival booths and mini-games, and you can now play against King Kaleidoscope, Chesster and the Chess Chubbies. You can also choose to play against a friend.
The presentation of the game reminds me of Playing Music. The 2D backgrounds and sprites are colorful, while the characters and some objects are slightly animated. There’s an option to turn on the cartoony chess pieces off and replace them by the standard piece symbols, which is a nice feature for those already familiar with the classic representations.
The game runs only on 800×600, forcing a black frame around the game area if your desktop is set to a higher resolution.
Everything is spoken and done with very good voice acting, so you don’t have to go through a ton of reading tutorials, but unfortunately, you can’t skip any of the voice work if you’ve heard the explanation before and are coming back to a game.
Fritz & Chesster’s Chess for Winners is an entertaining and educational tool for young children who already know the basics of chess, and it’s especially worth getting if you already have the two previous titles. In small doses, the lessons aren’t overwhelming and they make the process of learning fun. It’s a great way for kids to expand on their knowledge of chess, and the ability to think logically and plan ahead.
Special thanks to John DeFeo and Viva Media for providing a copy of this title.