Description: Chess, is as you guessed, a Chess game for Android. Like many others out there, Chess aims to deliver the experience of the game that people have been playing for centuries all over the world to the palm of your hand. Perfect for tablets as well as phones, Chess is a simple, easy way to enjoy the game no matter where you are. With simple touchscreen controls and the ability to play online with others using Google Play Games, there’s a lot more to Chess than meets the eye. Chess even allows blind people to play the game they love using accessibility features such as Talkback on Android. Read on to see if it’s the Chess game you’ve been waiting for.
How it Works: As with other titles on Android, you’ll need to download Chess from the Play Store. After that you can go ahead and start a new game.
You can choose to either play against the computer (by hitting the black pieces) or play against your friends from Google+, or even random opponents.
I chose to play against the computer as I’m not that good a Chess player really.
If at any time you want to change the difficulty of the computer you can do so whenever you want.
Obviously, playing online against others is going to be dependent on your opponent’s skill level, so going online is the best way to play Chess as you would in real life. When playing online, you can take a look at your opponents stats and their ELO rating, which will be of particular interest to more advanced players. You can also chat online, and limit such features using the parental controls.
More advanced players can choose to change certain aspects of their games.
Also, those wishing to pickup where they left off with a game can simply save and then load a recently played game.
Opinion: I might not be that good a Chess player, but this game has all of the right boxes ticked on Android and it’s easy for me to play as much as I can and then adjust the computer’s difficulty gradually as I get better and better. For that reason, Chess is a great game to practice strategies and such with and can even be a good game for those just getting started in the game. Of course, playing online against others is the real test of your skill, which you can thankfully do though Google Play Games, which is a nice inclusion for a game like this. Overall, Chess does exactly what it sets out to do; provide a Chess game for Android.
Ratings
- Speed (4/5) – The game itself runs fine, but the computer seems to play a little bit quicker than I might have expected.
- Features (3.5/5) – Chess doesn’t really offer anything else that other titles on the Play Store do, but it’s a an easy to use game that works well.
- Theme (4/5) – Making better use of the extra space of tablets would be nice, but other than that this is a fine looking game.
- Overall (4/5) – It might feel similar to other Chess games, but this simple game for Android does exactly what it says it does and works well.
Pros
- Easy to play and features varying difficulty levels for those starting out, all the way to the pros.
- Google Play Games integration means you can easily play against your Google+ friends.
- Two different skins to choose from when playing.
- Doesn’t use a lot of bandwidth, so can be played pretty much anywhere you have a signal.
Cons
- No way to look at basic rules for complete beginners.
- Title isn’t the most imaginative name for a Chess game.
Conclusion: Chess is certainly not the most exciting Chess game available on Android, but it’s a solid option. It lists the last three moves made by you and your opponent, allows for easy online play and looks good enough for high-resolution displays no matter the size. It would be nice to see a little more effort on the naming and looks side of things, but other than that this is a decent game that is good for those looking to practice and hone their Chess skills as well as those looking for some serious competition online. With great features for advanced players, like the ELO ratings, as well as the ability for blind people to even play the game, Chess has a lot going for it.