''Chess Titans'' is a
chess video game
Computer chess includes both hardware (dedicated computers) and software capable of playing chess. Computer chess provides opportunities for players to practice even in the absence of human opponents, and also provides opportunities for analysi ...
with 3D graphics developed by
Oberon Games
Oberon Media was a multi-platform casual games company, delivering casual games across online, social, mobile/Smartphone, interactive TV and retail categories. Oberon games were adopted by global digital and media companies, such as Acer, Micro ...
and included in
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released five years before, at the time being the longest time span between successive releases of ...
and
Windows 7
Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, 2009. It is the successor to Windows Vista, released nearly ...
Home Premium, Business/Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate. It is a fully animated,
photorealistic
Photorealism is a genre of art that encompasses painting, drawing and other graphic media, in which an artist studies a photograph and then attempts to reproduce the image as realistically as possible in another medium. Although the term can be ...
interactive
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
game with ten difficulty levels. It can be played by two participants, or one player against the computer.
History
The game was publicly introduced in Windows Vista build 5219.
Another chess program known simply as ''Chess'' was bundled in
Microsoft Entertainment Pack 4. It was developed by David Norris, a former Microsoft employee and author of the chess engine "Ziggurat".
Graphics
The game is fully animated and designed for
Windows Aero
Windows Aero (a backronym for ''Authentic, Energetic, Reflective, and Open'') is a design language introduced in the Windows Vista operating system. The changes made in the Aero interface affected many elements of the Windows interface, includin ...
with its glass-like view. The game features a
photorealistic
Photorealism is a genre of art that encompasses painting, drawing and other graphic media, in which an artist studies a photograph and then attempts to reproduce the image as realistically as possible in another medium. Although the term can be ...
board which can be rotated in
3D, and themes are available for the chess pieces and board. It showcases the 3D capabilities of Vista.
Gameplay
The game can be played with either a
mouse
A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...
and a keyboard or any
gamepad
A gamepad is a type of video game controller held in two hands, where the fingers (especially thumbs) are used to provide input. They are typically the main input device for video game consoles.
Features
Gamepads generally feature a set of ...
controller for
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
. It can also be played through
Windows Media Center
Windows Media Center (WMC) is a defunct digital video recorder and media player created by Microsoft. Media Center was first introduced to Windows in 2002 on Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE). It was included in Home Premium and Ultimate e ...
, using the remote control provided with
TV Tuner Cards, and certain laptops as well.
On each player's turn, ''Chess Titans'' displays the last move made by the opponent. The player can also click on a chess piece to highlight all valid moves for that piece. These features can be turned off in the Options dialog box.
Player vs. computer
''Chess Titans'' has ten difficulty levels, which can be selected from the Options dialog box. The player can also choose whether to play as black or white. When playing against the computer for the first time, the player is prompted to choose an initial difficulty level of Beginner (level 2), Intermediate (level 5), or Advanced (level 8).
''Chess Titans'' keeps a record of how many games the player has won, drawn, and lost against the computer at each difficulty level.
Player vs. player
In a two-player game, the chess board automatically turns 180 degrees for the opposite player after each move. This option can be turned off. ''Chess Titans'' saves all two-player game scores.
See also
*
List of games included with Windows
Video games have been included in versions of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting from Windows 1.0x, all published by Microsoft. Some games that have appeared in ''Microsoft Entertainment Pack'' and Microsoft Plus! have be ...
References
{{Windows Components
2006 video games
Chess software
Windows games
Windows-only games
Microsoft games
Video games developed in the United States
Windows Vista
Windows 7
Oberon Media games