''Power Chess'' is a chess-playing

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

originally released in September 1996 by

Sierra On-Line Sierra Entertainment, Inc. (formerly On-Line Systems and Sierra On-Line, Inc.) was an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1979 by Ken and Roberta Williams. The company is known for pioneering the graphic adventure game ge ...

for the

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft and the first of its Windows 9x family of operating systems, released to manufacturing on July 14, 1995, and generally to retail on August 24, 1995. Windows 95 merged ...

operating system. Later revisions of the software were released as ''Power Chess 98'' (1997) and ''Power Chess 2.0'' (1998). ''Power Chess'' was also the "intermediate" game included in ''Sierra's Complete Chess'' (1998) along with '' Maurice Ashley Teaches Chess'' (1995) and '' Extreme Chess'' (1996).

Engine

Its

chess engine In computer chess, a chess engine is a computer program that analyzes chess or List of chess variants, chess variant positions, and generates a move or list of moves that it regards as strongest. A chess software engine, engine is usually a Front ...

is "Wchess" by David Kittinger, which played against Deep Blue in the 1995 World Computer Championship in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. The game is included as a watchable "Great Game" in ''Power Chess''.

Gameplay

''Power Chess'' had two major innovations: the program would adjust its level during the game trying to match that of the player (presaging

Chessbase ChessBase is a German company that develops and sells chess software, maintains a chess news site, and operates an internet chess server for online chess. Founded in 1986, it maintains and sells large-scale databases containing the moves of recor ...

Fritz Fritz is a common German language, German male name. The name originated as a German diminutive of Friedrich (given name), Friedrich or Frederick (given name), Frederick (''Der Alte Fritz'', and ''Stary Fryc'' were common nicknames for King Fred ...

's Friend Mode). In addition, after each game, a female voice, the Queen, walks the player through the game, pointing out and explaining where the player could have played better. The program keeps track of the player's rating. Players can also create their own characters with differing gameplay styles and difficulty.

Narration

The voice of the Power Chess Queen was voiced in English and French by voiceover artist Natacha LaFerriere.

"Great Games"

A collection of famous games is included for review and study, each one narrated turn-by-turn by the Queen. The games include: * The

Evergreen Game The Evergreen Game is a famous chess game won by Adolf Anderssen against Jean Dufresne in 1852. This was probably an . At the time, there was no formal title of "World Champion", but the German mathematics professor Anderssen was widely consider ...

Adolf Anderssen Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen (6 July 1818 – 13 March 1879)"Anderssen, Adolf" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 385. was a German chess master. ...

vs.

Jean Dufresne Jean Dufresne (14 February 1829 – 13 April 1893) was a German chess player and chess composer. He was a student of Adolf Anderssen, to whom he lost the "Evergreen game" in 1852. Life Dufresne was born and died in Berlin. The son of a wealthy J ...

(1852) * The Opera Game,

Paul Morphy Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837July 10, 1884) was an American chess player. During his brief career in the late 1850s, Morphy was acknowledged as the world's greatest chess master. A prodigy, Morphy emerged onto the chess scene in 1857 ...

vs. Duke Karl of Brunswick and Count Isouard (1858) *

Wilhelm Steinitz William Steinitz (born Wilhelm Steinitz; May 14, 1836 – August 12, 1900) was a Bohemian-Austrian, and later American, chess player. From 1886 to 1894, he was the first World Chess Champion. He was also a highly influential writer and c ...

vs. Curt von Bardeleben (1895) * Ruger vs. Gebhard (1915) *

Vasily Smyslov Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov (; 24 March 1921 – 27 March 2010) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who was the seventh World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidates Tournament, Candidate for the World Chess Championship on ...

vs.

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Chess Champi ...

(1970) * Wchess vs. Deep Blue (1995) * Deep Blue vs. Garry Kasparov, Game 1 (1996)

Reception

''Power Chess'' won ''

Computer Games Strategy Plus ''Computer Games Magazine'' was a monthly computer and console gaming print magazine, founded in October 1988 as the United Kingdom publication ''Games International''. During its history, it was known variously as ''Strategy Plus'' (October 1 ...

''s award for the 1996 "traditional" game of the year. In a comparison between four chess programs, '' PC Joker'' rated ''Power Chess'' the highest.

References

External links

* {{moby game, id=/power-chess, name=''Power Chess'' 1996 video games Chess software Sierra Entertainment games Single-player video games Video games developed in the United States Windows games Windows-only games