Learn to Play Chess with Fritz and Chesster 2: Chess in the Black Castle | 
| From: Viva Media
List Price: $29.99
Buy New: $19.99
as of 11/22/2009 13:25 CST details
You Save: $10.00 (33%)
New (4) Used (3) from $19.99
Rating:  27 reviews
Sales Rank: 430
Format: CD-ROM
Platforms: Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows 95
Genre: Childrens Board Games Software Games
ESRB: Everyone
Media: Video Game
Number Of Items: 1
Batteries Included: No
Operating System: Windows 2000
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 1.3
MPN: 838639001682
Model: 00168
UPC: 838639001682
EAN: 0838639001682
ASIN: B00068M52W
Release Date: November 5, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | A new chess adventure with Fritz, Bianca, and Chesster | | • | Covers openings, middle game tactics, endgames, pinning, and more | | • | Over 20 mini games within the game for practice | | • | Powered by "Fritz", the world's leading chess software | | • | For kids ages 8 and up |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Learn To Play Chess 2 brings back Fritz, Bianca and Chesster for an all-new chess adventure! Rescue Chesster from deep within the Black Castle, as you learn sophisticated chess tactics and strategies. Multiple pawn endgames like the Square rule, key squares and much more Powered by FRITZ, the world's #1 ranked chess software
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 27
Great game - audio glitches June 27, 2009
asw
Learn to play chess with Fritz and Chester 1 and 2 are both great games to learn chess. It captures the kids attention with little games and teaches them how to use the pieces (in #1) and some strategy (in #2). My 8 year old loves the games and even my 5 year old started playing some of the games in # 1. The only problem - both of my games have audio glitches (they are made in Germany and it seems that something has gone wrong with the sound in our english versions) - however my kids don't seems to mind.
 Can't Believe What My Son Learned! May 19, 2009
S. Pascetta (Glastonbury, CT)
My son loved Fritz & Chesster 1, so Santa brought him this second installment for Christmas. One afternoon I challenged him to a chess duel, and out of nowhere, he beat me. I was totally unprepared for his learning curve with this program. It seemed like the exercises were silly, but, as a teacher, I can appreciate how brilliantly crafted they are.
One exercise, Spooky Chess, trains them to "see" the board in their minds. They can choose to play with "ghost pieces," where all the pieces look like the same ghost and kids have to remember what piece they are. Once they master that, they can play with invisible pieces. There is a blank board and kids have to remember not only what the pieces are but where they are as well. They get points for each possible move they make and can get into a high score roster.
The exercises also build on and complement each other. For example, in one exercise, kids have to remember moves in a Simon-like game. This not only trains them to think out multiple moves, but can help them with Spooky Chess and remembering where invisible pieces are.
Throughout the game there are short rhymes that keep chess strategies in kids' minds. My son loves playing this game and even though he has "finished" it, continues to play. Yesterday he asked me if there was a Fritz and Chesster 3, and asked me to order it.
Yes, for an adult the program is a bit clunky. The stories drag on and you cannot jump ahead. But my 7-year-old loves it. And in praise of its clunkiness, it's nice to see something geared toward kids that isn't warp speed.
 Crashed and burned February 18, 2009
Wade Stuart Willett (NYC)
Never able to get this to work. It would run through the story line and then crash. We use Chessmaster instead. They have a nice game area for little kids.
my eight year old is now a chess master July 21, 2008
Diana E. Carroll (Acton, MA USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I taught my son the basics of chess at 5 and he totally took to it, but I'm not a particularly good player, so I couldn't help him improve his game. So we bought him this software and it did just what we wanted: took him from a beginner with a solid grasp of the mechanics (moves and rules) to an intermediate with an understanding of strategy.
He now understands opening moves, developing the pieces, controlling the center of the board, protecting his king, when to sacrifice pieces and when not to, and end game basics.
Sure, some of the storylines are goofy and some of the modules are really just video games that make a minor point, but those things kept him interested in a way a dry, straight-forward walk through would not have.
We found this software to be a great benefit to our chess loving son (now 8 and can beat all his classmates) so we bought the first game (F&C #1) for his younger brother to learn the mechanics.
 Great program, however March 31, 2008
Katherine Batalov (Seattle, WA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
this is a great product, my kids (5 and 7) love it. They have learned a lot from it. All the positives and negatives about F and C from other reviews are spot on.
The only thing I did not see anyone mention was the dialogue itself. I try to be careful with what my kids watch and I was a bit disappointed that this product uses "stupid" "shut-up" "idiot" all words I try to avoid. It is unnecessary and just frankly rude. Comments like these happen pretty frequently between the characters and I cringe every time I hear it. My kids have been told if they repeat what they hear, they cannot play the game anymore so it hasn't been a problem, but I thought I would at least warn parents of younger kids.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 27
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