Handheld Chess Products - An Overview

by Chris Kantack

Why go with a handheld chess computer?

Have you ever wanted to play a quick game of chess while waiting for your plane at the airport?  Perhaps you are a daily bus or rail commuter who would love to play a game en route to or from work.   Do you ever find yourself torn between playing a game of chess or going outside and enjoying the sunshine and fresh air of a beautiful day?  Handheld chess computers make it easy to start or resume a game of chess almost anywhere at anytime.  Recent developments have made handheld chess computers intelligent, convenient, economical, and a lot of fun.  Best of all, there are no pieces to lose!

Until recently a "handheld chess computer" usually meant a smallish peg sensory board with a flip-top lid for easy storage.  Not bad, but still not all that convenient.  What was really needed was a handheld chess computer with its own electronic screen for piece movement and display.  Indeed, we’ve seen this in other handheld electronic games over the past several years.  How many times have you gone into a large department store and found LCD versions of Othello, Backgammon, Solitaire, and even Checkers ----but no Chess?

ChessMaster for the Nintendo GameBoy

Probably the first widely available handheld LCD chess program was the ChessMaster cartridge for the original Nintendo GameBoy.  It was quite successful and when the Color GameBoy was introduced, a newer version of GameBoy ChessMaster soon followed.  As for program strength, I’d give the color cartridge a rating of around 1700 to 1800 Elo when played at classical tournament time controls (40 moves in 2 hours).  Unfortunately, the GameBoy suffers from a too small and murky display for many people to comfortably use for long periods of time.  Also, it is extremely difficult to save a game for future play.  (Saving and retrieval of a previously saved game requires the entry of a ridiculously long and cryptic password!)  Additionally, the GameBoy suffers from very short battery life.  Long games are best done with an AC adapter attached.  This defeats the portability aspect of the unit.  Finally, because the original GameBoy ChessMaster cartridges are no longer being manufactured, they are becoming extremely hard to find.  Your best bet for locating a cartridge is at an internet auction site such as Ebay.  You can learn a lot more about GameBoy ChessMaster on a web page where I’ve compared it with the Excalibur LCD handheld unit.  Just click on this link: LCD Chess versus GameBoy ChessMaster

 

New Programs for the Nintendo GameBoy Advance

Ubisoft has come out with ChessMaster for the GBA (Game Boy Advance) .   Titus has released Virtual Kasparov for the GBA as well.  Here's a letter I received from Eric Fauman that summarizes the characteristics of these two programs:

I'm not a very strong chess player (completely guessing, I'm around 1200-1300), but I've recently returned to chess study as my 6 year old has taken in interest in the game.  In addition to the above titles, I also have Fritz 7 for my 900 MHz PC.

The biggest difference between VK (Virtual Kasparov) and CM (ChessMaster) is of course their playing strength.  CM is much stronger than VK.  However, I don't think VK was designed to be super strong.  I think it was intended for children and beginning players to get them excited about chess, and this it does very well. 

My 6 year old is a respectable player for his age (he's beaten me twice!) and VK seems perfect for him.  With 31 characters of smoothly varying skills, he's quickly found opponents at his level.  The "story mode" encourages the user to challenge players they have not yet defeated.  As you may know, in story mode there are 5 geographic areas, with 4 regular players, 1 master and 1 grand master.  By defeating the regular players you "unlock" the masters; defeat the masters and you can take on the grandmasters.  Defeat them and you take on Kasparov.  (I can defeat Kasparov, but not on a regular basis).  Because story mode keeps track of
whom you've defeated, my son is thrilled when he can defeat a new opponent. So far he's won against 6 regular players and 1 master.

CM, on the other hand, has only 2 characters I can defeat easily, and after that they seem to get very difficult very quickly.  The user interface in CM is quite frustrating.  For some reason, the program does not respond in a regular way to the arrow keypad.  Thus, it
sometimes ignores key presses, and other times shoots past the desired piece. Also, in VK the cursor position defaults to the last place you pointed.  This is especially nice in end games when you want to move the same piece several times in a row.  In contrast, in CM the cursor position always resets to the bottom right, which wouldn't be so bad if the keyboard response weren't problematic.  Another small thing: VK lets the cursor "wrap" around the board, so moving from the 1st rank to the 8th is a single key press.  CM doesn't wrap.  Another nice feature of VK is that the board position is constantly saved, so when you turn off the GBA in the middle of a game or if the GBA loses power, you can always pick up where you left off.  Not only that, but VK permits up to three different "logins", so you can actually store 3 on-going games.  In contrast, CM doesn't automatically save, and doesn't have multiple logins.

A nice feature of CM is that moves are recorded in algebraic notation to the side of the board.  In contrast, VK doesn't list the moves.  You can turn on an "indicators" option in VK so you can see what piece the computer moved if you missed it though.  However, this means that at the end of a game in CM you can review all the moves, but you can't in VK.  This is especially an issue when I want to review my son's games to see how he played.

The multiple board graphics in both games I think is a waste.  Only the standard black-and-white board is easily interpreted.  However, I do find this black-and-white board far easier to use than what I saw for the Excalibur LCD screens (I don't have one, but only the white pawns seem to make any sense - all the other pieces require one to exercise one's imagination).

The annotated games feature in VK is pretty useless.  The sparse annotation scrolls by the bottom of the screen too fast to read.  In
contrast, the stored games in CM can be useful.

Two final comments - somewhere I read a complaint that in VK you can't take back moves.  This is true in story mode (where you earn trophies), but not in "quickstart" mode, where you can select any opponent and a variety of time controls.  Also, I read a complaint of CM that it is very slow.  This is true at CM's default time controls.  However, you can set it to use as little as 5 seconds a move and still face a very strong opponent.

In summary, I'd recommend VK for children and other newcomers to chess, and CM for strong players.  For in depth analysis and study, you probably don't want to be using a GBA anyway.

Hope this is useful,
Regards,
-Eric

Chess on the Palm and PocketPC

PocketChess Deluxe

In 1996 PocketChess was released for the PalmPilot handheld units.  PocketChess has since evolved into PocketChess Deluxe.  It is currently one of the most "feature rich" handheld LCD chess programs available for the Palm.  Though PocketChess may not have the playing strength of some of the more recent entries into the Palm market, it continues to be a very popular addition to the world of handheld chess programs.  For more information, check out the PocketChess Deluxe web site.

 

ChessGenius

While PocketChess has provided plenty of challenge for us mere mortal chess players, it wasn’t until Richard Lang's introduction of ChessGenius did the Palm platform see its first "seriously strong" chess program.  Finally, here was a combination of hardware and software that offered some serious play for chess Masters and GrandMasters alike.  ChessGenius has become extremely popular among serious chess hobbyists due to its strong engine.  Recently ChessGenius also became available for the PocketPC platform. ChessGenius takes up very little room and runs on some of the oldest Palm handhelds as well as on the newest units.    Richard Lang has a great site that tells all about ChessGenius.   ChessGenius has recently been improved as well to take advantage of the recent changes in the chip architecture now used in the newest Palm units.   Check out my review by clicking on: ChessGenius on the Palm

 

Chess Tiger

In July of 2001 Christophe Theron brought his exceptionally powerful and feature-rich Chess Tiger program to the Palm platform. Chess Tiger is as strong as ChessGenius and is arguably  the most feature-rich chess program for Palm compatibles.  Its strength rating is roughly 2200 Elo. (Strength will vary depending on the speed of your Palm unit.)  Note that the Palm-based version of Chess Tiger is essentially the same as the PC version!  The only feature missing from the Palm version is support for endgame databases.  (An endgame database is much too large to fit within the memory limitations of a Palm PDA.)   Christophe Theron provides a great web site (www.chesstiger.com), which offers several screen shots and FAQ’s that discuss this product in depth.  You can also read my own review of Chess Tiger by clicking on:  Chess Tiger for the Palm

 

Excalibur’s Low-cost Alternatives

One drawback of Palm or PocketPC chess programs is that they, of course, require you to have the necessary Palm or PocketPC unit.  Though Palm PDAs and PocketPCs are getting more affordable, they are still a pricey item for many people.  Even if you own one, you might think twice before taking it to a lot of places where you risk getting it damaged or stolen.  For those of us who don't need a super strong chess program, there are now several great low cost handheld chess alternatives.  Nearly all the best ones, in my opinion, come from Excalibur.

LCD Computer Chess

In June of 2000, Excalibur Electronics made a big splash with the introduction of their "LCD Computer Chess" handheld unit.  This 6 ounce handheld originally came out with a suggested retail price of only $29.95. Today, it can often be found at Toy 'R Us and other major retailers for as little as $19.95!  (Though $24.95 is a more typical current price.)  This unit offers plenty of features, fairly strong play (around 1350 to 1450  Elo), a large and bright screen, and exceptional battery life.  I had my unit for 18 months before I had to replace its first set of batteries.  If you're on a budget and don’t require a super strong chess computer opponent, LCD Chess may be the one to purchase!   Click here to read my LCD Computer Chess vs. Gameboy ChessMaster comparison.

 

Touch Chess

If there is a downside to Excalibur’s LCD Computer Chess device, it is that it can get a bit "keystroke intensive" at times.  As if to answer the ease of use challenge that the Palm PDA platform offers, Excalibur Electronics came out with their own PDA chess unit in July of 2001.  Touch Chess, as it’s called, sells for around $40 and uses a stylus and touch sensitive screen for piece movement and function selection.  This unit is only 1/2 inch deep and includes a refined version of the same program used in Excalibur’s original LCD chess handheld.  (I estimate Touch Chess’s strength at around 1550 to 1650 Elo.)  Touch Chess is exceptionally easy to use.  Its only drawback, is a darker screen due to the addition of the touch sensitive layer required for the screen face.  Outdoors and in brightly lit rooms is where Touch Chess really shines.  For a detailed review of Touch Chess visit:  My Touch Chess Review

 

Chess Station

Chess Station is a new and quite unique product from Excalibur.  It offers both the ability of tabletop chess computing and portable handheld use!  It does this thru a sleek new handheld unit that can plug into a "dockable" chessboard.  You can learn a lot more about Chess Station by clicking on:  Excalibur's Chess Station

 

Talking LCD Chess

The best handheld bargain, in my opinion, is Talking LCD Chess.   With a listed retail price of only $5 dollars more than the original LCD Chess unit, it's a real bargain.   Talking LCD Chess  of course, talks and is considerably stronger than the original LCD Chess unit.  The strength levels use more traditional (chess like) time controls too.  Right now, you can get Talking LCD Chess for $21.95 from www.thechesspiece.com.    My current strength estimate for this new unit is around 1750 Elo.  Read all about one of my favorite handhelds by visiting my Talking LCD Chess review.

 

Other Handheld Alternatives

e-Chess and Talking e-Chess

Radio Shack is now selling e-Chess and Talking e-Chess.  Though these units are also made by Excalibur Electronics, I have some reservations about them.  The interface is, much more awkward than what is found on any of the Excalibur handhelds.  .  My beef with e-Chess is that it requires you to "cycle thru" the various possible moves for your selected piece, until you find the move you desire.   (This can get very keystroke-intensive in an endgame situation where rooks or a queen are still present.)  On a more positive note, the e-Chess units do feature a slightly larger screen as they are indeed larger units.  The screens should also be as bright as those found on LCD and Talking LCD Chess.  Note, however, that Radio Shack runs their processors a tad slower than Excalibur.   So e-Chess and Talking e-Chess will probably be around 50 Elo points weaker than their Excalibur counterparts. 

Chess handhelds are here to stay!

Though it took longer than a lot of us would have liked, there are now multiple handheld chess devices and programs in the marketplace.  As hardware continues to improve and prices continue to fall, the future of handheld chess computers looks very bright indeed!

If, after reading thru these pages, you have further questions or comments relating to any of the material I've presented, drop me a note!  My email address is: chessinfo@kantack.com or click on the envelope icon below.

 

 email chessinfo@kantack.com if you have any questions