Others say...

"Great Program that could use an update"
I purchased this program about three months ago because my children had expressed an interest in learning how to play chess. Since then my two older children (9 and 7) have completed the program from start to finish. (Although I already knew how to play chess, I also played the game from beginning to end as I do with all software that enters our home.)

The program introduces chess in a stepwise fashion within the framework of a story involving protagonists (Fritz, Chesster, and Bianca) and their rival the King Black. At each stage, learning is reinforced with a series of rewards and intermediate goals. These rewards keep children enthusiastic and motivated through what can be a very lengthy learning process.

The game starts by using a series of games to introduce the movement of the pieces. The heart of the game, however, is a series of training activities that reinforce different tactics and ideas in chess. The activities are challenging for beginners without being frustratingly difficult. My children were, for the most part, able to use the program independently, although in one or two places I had to sit and coach my 7-year-old. The 9-year-old completed the entire program in about 2 days, and my younger child took about a week. Even when completed, the program is not useless. The game serves as a chess program with levels of play ranging from very easy, to extremely hard. At the highest level, I suspect Chesster would beat the pants off even some of the most experienced players. If your child has more than a rudimentary understanding of chess, however, you probably would be best purchasing the second in this series instead.

Referring to previous reviews, I am uncertain why other users found the program confusing and difficult to use. Yes, it is true that there is no manual included with the program, but I did not need one. I found the program to be intuitive, and even my three-year-old can load and play the program without assistance.

As mentioned in other reviews, the graphics ARE simple. But, my children found the story engaging, and were amused by the characters. I found the interface to be clean, attractive, and appropriate for the purpose. The animation is storybook in style, and is simple enough so that the program is not a CPU-eating monster like some other graphics-heavy versions of chess.

A few users mentioned that they disliked the chess pieces being represented as cartoon characters. I believe they are unaware that you can toggle between "regular" pieces and the character pieces at any point during the game. My son prefers to use the game with the standard pieces, and my daughter likes the cartoons. This has not stopped either of them from understanding what the "regular" pieces look like.

There are a few drawbacks. The game starts by introducing the movement of the pieces with a series of strange arcade games. My children didn't really seem to connect these games to the movement of the pieces. (What does smashing toilets have to do with moving a bishop anyway??) I also found some of the dialog between the characters to be bordering on offensive, and some of the jokes to be inappropriate for the age level (for example, referring to a group of Queens as a harem). Bianca asks far too many idiotic questions, and giggles way too much for my taste. She also says things like "This is so overwhelimg" in a tone of voice that reminds me of the brainless barbie dolls of years past. (Although some may not see this as sexist, I wonder why the male character doesn't do much giggling??) Still, these are minor annoyances.

Overall, I think this is a superb way to introduce children to the game of chess. Both my older children learned in a week or less, and are anxious to learn more. What else could you ask for in an educational program?

"Not as good as "Dinosaur Chess"!!!"
This is an excellent piece of chess software for kids. However, it is not as good as Dinosaur Chess, particularly for younger kids. Many of the mini-games and activities are not really chess related,there is a cool, but long narrative to navigate through.

Overall, the software does not teach chess in a pedagogical fashion suitable for younger children. For instance, the first chess concept taught in Fritz and Chesster part I is "Opposition". This is a somewhat advanced end-game concept that is taught with a sumo-wrestlers mini-game. I've played ~100 games of casual chess over 20 years without any knowledge of the concept of the "Opposition". My five year old could not relate the somo-wrestler mini-game with the battle of kings during the end-game. One would think that learning how to move the simpler pieces (like rooks and bishops) would the first thing taught by beginner software.

Fritz and Chesster targets children ages 8-13, while Dinosaur Chess targets children ages 4-7. Get Dinosaur Chess for younger children.

"System Requirements"
Never got to use this game ... Amazon Product description said game was compatible with Windows 2000, but when I received the game; the box does not list "2000" among the compatable operating Systems. On the plus side, Amazon accepted responsibility and provided prepaid return shipping.

"Not as good as "Dinosaur Chess"!!!"
This is an excellent piece of chess software for kids. However, it is not as good as Dinosaur Chess, particularly for younger kids. Many of the mini-games and activities are not really chess related,there is a cool, but long narrative to navigate through.

Overall, the software does not teach chess in a pedagogical fashion suitable for younger children. For instance, the first chess concept learned is "Opposition". I played ~50 games of casual chess over 20 years without any knowledge of the "Opposition". This is a somewhat advanced end-game concept that is taught with a sumo-wrestlers mini-game. My five year old could not relate the somo-wrestler mini-game with the battle of kings during the end-game. One would think that learning how to move the simpler pieces (like rooks and bishops) would the first thing by beginner software.

Fritz and Chesster targets children ages 8-13, while Dinosaur Chess targets children ages 4-7. Get Dinosaur Chess for younger childre.

"My 6-Year-Old Loves It"
I got this for my son (6) for Christmas. So far, he loves it. He has played it probably about 2-3 hours a day for three days straight. I have watched him a few times, and "helped" him when he needed it. It seems like a really great product for beginners. Instead of just telling how a peice moves, this program creates whole games involving the peice and how it moves. Then you get to put your new knowledge to the test by using that peice to put the king in checkmate, through different scenarios the game will devise. I haven't looked at every little detail about this software, but I know it keeps my son's attention, and he is actually learning how to play the game. From what I've seen, this is a quality game that actually is teaching my son how to play chess in a manner that keeps him learning in front of the computer for hours.
I understand that they have a second version of this software that takes up where this one leaves off. Sounds like a must have for us.Learn to Play Chess with Fritz and Chesster 2: Chess in the Black Castle
I also got my son No Stress Chess. Haven't got a chance to play that yet, but I thought it would be a good companion to this software.