Dr. Smither's Chess Software Reviews This is my software reviews page.

PC program review : Power Chess (1996). Sierra Software. This chess playing program is a hidden treasure. I rate this and would much rather use this program to play chess on than any of the many others I own. (Fritz, Chessmaster 6000, Rebel 10 included) The attraction of Power chess is in its design aims - to improve your play through play! In other words it pits you against an opponent called the King who is designed to beat you 3/4 times but play just above your strength. This creates an illusion of winnability that reinforces the players attraction to repeat play. BUT the real attraction is the speech analysis performed in the post-mortem. The second CD hold the speech of some very context sensitive analysis with inflection in the speech. I was sooo impressed when I heard this I felt this was a break through in chess programs. The speech was not robotic but seamless. Additionally the player is given points from their play regardless of if they win or not but on qualitative issues too - promise in their play, a very good idea. Seeing your graph of progress is most pleasing and the history of games is kept on your HD as advice is modified on subsequent play. The giucco piano is used as a model of opening play and is gradually introduced to the novice player. I gave this program to my girlfriend and she was totally hooked and played over 50 games on it. This I could not have expected or encouraged on my own! There are 6 analysed games to be lectured on which are entertaining. The program is not designed to compete with Fritz or Chess Master X, so keep this in mind. So dont expect database handling or avant guard 3D pieces. The original Power chess used to freeze on Win 98 and I think Power Chess 2 (1998) may be less buggy. Included too is a modern version of Nimzowitsch's 'My System' well worth owning. There is a read me section that tells you about the design aims behind the program I recall it has input from IM Tangbourne, who is a psychologist too. Pros: Very well thought out. Designed for ‘real’ players to improve. Ahead of its time. Entertaining. Didactic. Speech is well seamed. Give this to someone your finding difficult to convert to chess. Has ‘My System’ included. Cons: Underrated program. Rare to find [even mark 2]. Extra features such as spread sheet of analysis is clumsy. Crashes on some versions of Win 98.