- iCore Electronic Chess Set, Talking Computer Chess Board, 100 Preset Exercises, 5 Levels, 40 Famous Electronic Chess Games for Kids & Adults

My grandson who is seven loves this .

Love this game. Not sure it's 2300+ rated. But it is fun.

Hey friends! I was looking for something I could use to practice chess on as I’m just learning how to play. I came across this and thought it would be really cool since it had other games as well. I really love it! When it first arrived, I thought that it looked and felt really old school. Like Oregon Trail old. And in some ways it is. But once I read through the instruction manual and set up/ played checkers, I was sold. I haven’t played chess yet bc I’ve been having a blast playing checkers. It is easy to play: set up the board with the magnetic pieces like you would a regular board. Then start a new game. Before moving a piece you press down on it first, move it to the space you want it to go to and then press down again. When it’s the machine’s turn, the screen tells you which piece to move and where to move it to. I love that the board is clearly marked so it makes it easy to find that letters and numbers so that you can find the correct piece. I also love that the screen shows you what the board should look like at any given time. This came in handy when I was trying to strategize. I have yet to win a game against the machine but I’ve have a blast playing. The machine looks and sounds like it is from the 80s and 90s but it has a good amount of games on it. I really wish the power button was a switch on the side or that it came with a case bc throwing this into a backpack means that the power button will always get pressed—wasting the battery. I also wish there was a way to either connect the travel bag to the machine or store the pieces within the machine. Right now they are two separate things and I’ve lost the bag a couple of times. Finally, I wished I could mute the sound. I’ve skimmed the instructions and just haven’t found a way to do it. Without turning the sound off, there is no way to play this on an airplane, for example. I would love to see what this machine would look like with a more modernized look. However, for now, I’m having a blast playing the games and I don’t need anyone else to be there to do it. I recommend this blast from the past.

This thing is smaller than some tablets but even if you think that could be a plus because it'd make it more portable it really isn't because you're going to have such a hard time reading the laughingly poor LCD display. I don't even know why they try to show the board in the lcd display if the quality is so bad that you can't make out the pieces, everything looks like tiny dots. And I tested its playing strength and I found it to be much weaker than the "2300" claim in the product's description. Because of how poor the LCD display is I had to pick up the board and bring it closer to my eyes to see what moves it made. If the LCD display is going to be so poor at least put some LEDs on the side or on the squares so I can determine what moves it is making without having to use the LCD display. The Tutor mode is so bad I feel like the developer is trolling us. In a game where it was clearly losing it still kept asking me if I was sure I wanted to make the move I made, and you have to hit the escape button so that your move will register. Just one move away from being mated and it still asked if I was sure. Sometimes it'll say "Be Careful" even when I was completely winning. Thankfully you can turn off the Tutor mode which I highly recommend everyone does first thing they set this thing up. Lastly the playing strength I highly doubt the "2300" claim and I think it might be even weaker than 1500 at the 30 seconds per move setting. Here's one game where with the white pieces the iCore got outplayed by a 1500 player: 1. Nf3 g6 2. d4 d6 3. Nc3 h5 4. Bg5 Nf6 5. e4 Bg7 6. Bb5+ Kf8 7. O-O a6 8. Bxf6 Bxf6 9. Bc4 Bg7 10. e5 dxe5 11. Nxe5 Bxe5 12. dxe5 Qxd1 13. Raxd1 Bd7 14. Nd5 Bb5 15. Nxc7 Bxc4 16. Nxa8 Bxf1 17. Kxf1 Nc6 18. f4 g5 19. Nc7 gxf4 20. Rd5 e6 21. Rd7 Nxe5 22. Rd8+ Kg7 23. Rd4 Rc8 24. Re4 Ng4 25. Nxe6+ fxe6 26. Rxe6 Rxc2 27. Ke1 Rxb2 28. Re4 Rxa2 29. h3 Ne3 30. g4 hxg4 31. hxg4 b5 32. g5 Kg6 33. Re5 Nf5 34. Re6+ Kxg5 35. Re5 f3 36. Re6 f2+ 37. Kf1 Ng3+ 38. Kg2 f1=Q+ 39. Kxg3 Qf2+ 40. Kh3 Ra3+ 41. Re3 Rxe3# *

Easy to learn how to use

This is a great console to teach someone Chess as well other chess related games. I do not know how to play at all. But the manual and the game has taught me the basics, and have different levels of challenges. I need easy of the easiest, my son on the other hand who is really good at chess is challenged as well. You can also play against another person. It is really easy to play. You simply press the square your piece is sitting on and press the piece you want it to go to, if it is a legal move, it will let you make it. If it’s not, it won’t let you complete your turn. Very fun and interesting game.

Too small and malfunctioning software.

This was a lot smaller than anticipated.