One of the most popular licenses in the chess realm today,
Chessmaster, finally shows its face on the portable gaming market. For years, both beginners and reknowned chess addicts have used
Chessmaster. In fact,
Chessmaster is something of a household name when referred to by chess aficionados.
Chessmaster's priority has always been to emphasize the instruction and learning of proper chess concepts and strategies. Because of this, Chessmaster for the Game Boy Advance comes packed with useful information for newcomers and spirited veterans looking to improve on some game. Tutorials range in medium from basic introductions to high-level strategy. These tutorials are presented via dialog screens that switch to a board view to demonstrate moves discussed.
In case reading about strategy does not help your game, Chessmaster includes a database of historical matches recreated play by play so you can see those strategies in context. One hundred fifty-one complete games should be a sufficient amount of research to help you understand the concepts that Chessmaster presents, further improving your game.
Naturally, Chessmaster includes a decent chess engine to combat against. As opposed to Virtual Kasparov's in-depth story mode, Chessmaster only allows for quick play against one of 18 different characters. Each character has his/her own system of strategy and ability level. Furthermore, Chessmaster lets you switch players mid-game if you feel the need. This is the end of the line for player/opponent configuration in Chessmaster. Explanations of opponents' styles are also shady, generally resorting to one or two world phrases that hardly tell much about an opponent's background, education or individual strategy.
Although it fails to appear elsewhere in the game, Chessmaster includes a testing setup to determine your chess ability rating. In real life competitions, these ratings are used to determine your opponents, and progress or digress as you complete games. With this setup, Chessmaster poses a series of suggested moves. Your speed and ability to properly locate the solutions add up to determine your rating.