''Power Chess'' is a chess-playing

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

originally released in September 1996 by

Sierra On-Line Sierra Entertainment, Inc. (formerly On-Line Systems and Sierra On-Line, Inc.) was an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1979 by Ken and Roberta Williams. The company is known for pioneering the graphic adventure game genre, ...

for the

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of operating systems. The first operating system in the 9x family, it is the successor to Windows 3.1x, and was released to manufacturin ...

operating system. Later revisions of the software were released as "Power Chess '98" and "Power Chess 2.0".

Engine

Its

chess engine In computer chess, a chess engine is a computer program that analyzes chess or chess variant positions, and generates a move or list of moves that it regards as strongest. A chess engine is usually a back end with a command-line interface wit ...

is "Wchess" by David Kittinger, which played against

Deep Blue Deep Blue may refer to: Film * ''Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads'', a 1992 documentary film about Mississippi Delta blues music * Deep Blue (2001 film), ''Deep Blue'' (2001 film), a film by Dwight H. Little * Deep Blue (2003 ...

in the 1995 World Computer Championship in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. The game is included as a watchable "Great Game" in ''Power Chess''.

Gameplay

''Power Chess'' had two major innovations: the program would adjust its level during the game trying to match that of the player (presaging Chessbase

Fritz Fritz originated as a German nickname for Friedrich, or Frederick (''Der Alte Fritz'', and ''Stary Fryc'' were common nicknames for King Frederick II of Prussia and Frederick III, German Emperor) as well as for similar names including Fridolin an ...

's Friend Mode). In addition, after each game, a female voice, the Queen, walks the player through the game, pointing out and explaining where the player could have played better. The program keeps track of the player's rating. Players can also create their own characters with differing gameplay styles and difficulty.

Narration

The voice of the Power Chess Queen was voiced in English and French by voiceover artist Natacha LaFerriere.

"Great Games"

A collection of famous games is included for review and study, each one narrated turn-by-turn by the Queen. The games include: * The

Evergreen Game The Evergreen Game is a famous chess game won by Adolf Anderssen against Jean Dufresne in 1852. This was probably an . At the time, there was no formal title of "World Champion", but the German mathematics professor Anderssen was widely conside ...

Adolf Anderssen Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen (July 6, 1818 – March 13, 1879)"Anderssen, Adolf" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 385. was a German chess master. He won the great interna ...

vs.

Jean Dufresne Jean Dufresne (14 February 1829 – 13 April 1893) was a German chess player and chess composer. He was a student of Adolf Anderssen, to whom he lost the "Evergreen game" in 1852. Life Dufresne was born and died in Berlin. The son of a wealthy J ...

(1852) * The

Opera Game The Opera Game was an 1858 chess game, played at an opera house in Paris. The American master Paul Morphy played against two strong amateurs: the German noble Karl II, Duke of Brunswick, and the French aristocrat Comte Isouard de Vauvenargues. I ...

Paul Morphy Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 – July 10, 1884) was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and is often considered the unofficial World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he was ca ...

vs.

Duke Karl of Brunswick Charles II, Duke of Brunswick (German: ''Karl II.''; 30 October 1804 – 18 August 1873), ruled the Duchy of Brunswick from 1815 until 1830. Biography Charles was born in Brunswick, the eldest son of Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg ...

and Count Isouard (1858) *

Wilhelm Steinitz William Steinitz (born Wilhelm Steinitz; May 14, 1836 – August 12, 1900) was an Austrian and, later, American chess player. From 1886 to 1894, he was the first official World Chess Champion. He was also a highly influential writer and che ...

vs.

Curt von Bardeleben Curt Carl Alfred von Bardeleben (4 March 1861 – 31 January 1924) was a German chess master, journalist, and member of the German nobility. Biography Curt von Bardeleben started playing chess when he was ten years old and quickly developed into ...

(1895) * Ruger vs. Gebhard (1915) *

Vasily Smyslov Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov ( rus, Васи́лий Васи́льевич Смысло́в, Vasíliy Vasíl'yevich Smyslóv; 24 March 1921 – 27 March 2010) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, who was World Chess Champion from 1957 to ...

vs.

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11� ...

(1970) * Wchess vs.

(1995) * Deep Blue vs. Garry Kasparov, Game 1 (1996)

Reception

''Power Chess'' won ''

Computer Games Strategy Plus ''Computer Games Magazine'' was a monthly computer and console gaming print magazine, founded in October 1988 as the United Kingdom publication ''Games International''. During its history, it was known variously as ''Strategy Plus'' (October 1 ...

''s award for the 1996 "traditional" game of the year.

References

External links

* {{moby game, id=/power-chess, name=''Power Chess'' 1996 video games Windows games Windows-only games Sierra Entertainment games Chess software Video games developed in the United States