I was given this computer as a Chrsitmas present in Dec 11. As with other reviews of this product I found that the computer would frequently freeze up half way through a game, or wouldnt recognize certain squares. All in all very frustrating. Wouldnt recommend this product to anyone. Too unreliable.Ewan
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ewanI've seen this complaint about Excalibur's chess products online, after I experienced it myself. In my case, the H8 square was not working. So everytime a King side castling move needed to be done, the computer would not let me proceed. For those of you who are looking to buy this, the chess computer requires you to press (either the piece or your finger) on the starting square and the destination square, when a move is made. So when I say that a square does not work, I mean that the computer does not recognize a press on that square.I returned mine. DB Roth was kind enough to give me a refund even though I had passed the return date. Amazon paid for half of the cost to ship it back to them. So, I can't say I was very unhappy with the return process.Advice to future buyers of this product. Don't buy it. I was lucky that I found this problem on a square that is frequently moved from. It is quite possible that other sets would have problems on squares where moves are not made that often. You would not want to catch that after 3-4 months of owning the board, especially, if you are buying this to play casually once in a while.In my case, I bought this for my son to learn. After this experience, I decided to buy a more expensive chess computer - the Novag Aquamarine through Amazon. I will write a review of it once I receive it. I found one user having a similar complaint about one of the inexpensive chess computers from Saitech as well, and so I got cautious, and stayed away from them as well. The Novag Aquamarine does not have a single user review. I hope I am luckier this time. I say that because I have even seen a good review of one these chess computers say that they loved it even though the presses on the squares stopped working after the first two weeks. I'm sure I wouldn't love that. In the end, it looks like getting any of these chess computers is a bit of a gamble.I also considered buying an autosensory board, but decided against it. There is only one I could find, called the Novag Citrine that is $150 and is not available on Amazon. Although I have not seen any major complaints about it, I decided against buying it. These autosensory boards do not require presses, because the pieces have magnets and I suppose the square are able to pick up the magnets. This means there is more than one thing that can go wrong with these boards. In addition to a square going bad, it is possible that a magnet could fall off a piece or could lose it's magnetization.My main reasons for buying a chess computer :-1. Keep my son away from using a computer for chess - keep him from straining his eyes. He already watches too much TV IMHO.2. I'm not good at chess, I would like him to learn and grow up playing a worthy opponent from the get go.3. He doesn't have to depend on me or my wife to be able to play chess. When he's with his friends, they don't really want to play chess.
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ArvindBought it for my sons (10 and 7). They love playing it and so do I. It has many levels - perfect for beginners and more experienced players also.
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Mike TVOur 10 year old pulls it out when she wants to practice and although she was initially able to beat it, by upping the levels she can hit a level that is challenging. Good item for the price, especially for the beginner to lower intermediate level player.
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nekko1 "nekko1"I recently purchased this product for my nephew. I was initially interested in the game because of its magnetic pieces that store inside the game. On Christmas day my nephew tried to play the game and it lasted about 5 minutes before freezing up and then the screen was completely scrambled. I returned the game and got a second one. Again it lasted about 5 minutes before it started advising me of illegal moves that were legal and then froze up. All of this occurred on the lowest level. I tried to go to the website for Excaliber Electronics and it appears that their website cannot be accessed because it has exceed its bandwith limit. I would not recommend this game to anyone!!! Save yourself the aggravation and look elsewhere for an electronic chess game.Electronic Chess Wizard
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RCMMy 11 year old son played this after he opened it for Christmas. He lost against the computer which is a good thing due to the fact that he can beat his teachers in chess without a problem. I believe this game will help advance his skill level. He states that "you have to press down kinda hard on each square for the pieces to register". I would def buy this again.
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A. TurnerIt is nice and durable. The size is just right, and actually bigger than how it looked in the picture, which was a pleasant surprise. Easy to carry around and nothing to easily damage. I wish the magnetics was stronger so the pieces stay in place properly. Message sound quality is very poor. The unit is not very user friendly. And you can not use rechargable batteries, it seems. Because each battery is 1.2V instead of 1.5 in alkaline, the total of 4-batteries make enough difference in voltage for the unit to not work at all, even for a short time. So I suspect even with alkaline batteries they need to be very fresh before they stop working. All said, and with the low price, it is worth it. Just have to get used to its idiosyncracies.
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Avinash K. ThakrarThis one is a replacement of the identical one I wore out recently. So far it functions as expected. Love It!!
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Michael ClineThis is the second one of these that I have purchased and they both freeze up. Very poor QC. I don't like the way the sound works on it either. I understand the company has been acquired by someone else. They need to fix these problems or stop selling the product.
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oly5701I got this for my nephew's birthday. Its light and portable so he can take it in the car or use it at home. He loved it!
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J. C. Nelson
Electronic Chess Wizard With the Einstein Chess Wizard you have the option to choose from 73 power levels up to a strength rating of 1750. The Opening Trainer teaches the most popular openings, such as the Ruy Lopez and Sicilian Defense; the Checkmate-Trainer tutors you to solve checkmate problems and the rating feature tracks your improvement so you can become the best you can. Includes storage compartment for pieces at the bottom of the unit.Product Dimensions 11.2 x 8.5 x 1.1NOTE: Requires 2 AA batteries (not included).
