Fritz & Chesster's Chess for Winners (Windows)

FRITZ & CHESSTER'S CHESS FOR WINNERS is the third title in the award-winning Learn to Play Chess with Fritz & Chesster series. The stars of the first two games, Fritz and Bianca, are back. Kids join them at the Pleasantville Village Fair, a carnival full of booths and games that teach chess knowledge, including opening, middle game, and endgame tactics. Fritz and Bianca discover that the evil King Black has cheated 16 other kings out of their carnival winnings; kids help Fritz and Bianca visit 16 booths and rides to win new prizes for the kings.

For example, to practice the Spanish Opening (also known as the Ruy Lopez), kids memorize the sequence of moves by placing a gem on the board during a practice session and then re-creating the moves to collect the gem and earn points. The game gives kids opportunities to play against the computer using the Fritz chess software engine, or they can play against a friend. A nice feature is that kids can ask for suggested moves.

Chess for Winners is a great way for kids to expand their chess knowledge. It contains an excellent series of Mini games that explore advanced chess theory. By presenting meaty concepts within a whimsical game format, kids can learn complicated tactics in a less stressful way. Cleverly, the Mini games break down the components of strategy into different levels, and make good use of animations to help kids visualize what is happening.

Compared with the first in the series, this software has less of a storyline. Even so, it's well worth exploring if you have a child who already plays chess, and especially if the child enjoyed the first two titles in the series. The teaching of chess strategy is done in such a way that kids will find it fun, not overwhelming.