This is good for Beginners. I have no rating, I don't play everyday. But I do love Chess.

"It's hard to tell the pieces apart.", It's hard to tell the pieces apart; they invented their own weird symbology instead of using the standard 'newspaper icon' pieces you see in books.
Also, it's not that strong (1750? pschh!). Other than that, though, it's small, convenient, and durable.

"Its not that good", This thing may look like the perfect toy for someone you know but its not... its actually really hard to move the pieces on it battery instalation is tough (requires Screwdrive) Just get your kid a computer and let him play chess on that he'll like it more!

"Not 1750 USCF!!", I just purchased this and King Arthur. I beat them both without
too much difficulty on the strongest settings. I even pitted
them against each other, and they played a rather even, weak
game but King Arthur won eventually. I am rated 1480 and play
regular tournaments. The
claims that these are 1750 USCF is not true. I'd say they are
about 1300-1350. LCD Chess is a lot of fun, though for someone
in the 1200 range or below. No pieces means that they won't shake out when you carry it in your pocket. The module truly
is small and convenient to carry in your coat pocket. However it
accidentally turns on sometimes if you bump it, so many times I've brought it out of my pocket and it's on. It offers a very
bad opening book package (30 openings) which only go a few moves
deep, so that's a worthless feature. Plus, the openings are rather sophisticated (Bogo-Indian? c'mon!) for novices, which is
the only player this thing is fun for. The piece diagrams are a little weird too, and take some getting used to. Also, it "saves" your game, but not your move history, so unless you write your game down, forget it. But ... what do you expect?

Some of the pieces were not easily recognizable eg bishop and rook, which resulted in my making poor moves. They do not look like the conventional diagram pieces one sees in magazines, books etc.

Even setting up positions is extremely fiddly and is hardly worthwhile as the program has such a low rating.

On the plus side, it is fun to use in a non serious manner such as passing the time on a long or medium bus, train or plane journey.

Unfortunately, because of the poor piece design I would not recommend it for learning purposes but if this problem was resolved it would be OK for a beginner.

"I think I need glasses", (...) its hard to see the white figers. Were there like any why into day computer age to make the white figer just a little darker for us kids. Im sorry mom i should have not let you buy me this cheap chess game.

"Chess on the "GO"", Excalibur's LCD Chess computer is a nice little
product. Many levels of play and some classic
games as well. Although not the strongest opponent
(1600 elo) this computer runs on 3AAA batteries for
months .... pick one up and you will be hard pressed
to put it back down.