Kasparov Chessmate by Hexacto Games, Price: $24.95
Reviewed July 2003

If you are a computer chess fan, you will know that the PC version of the Kasparov Chessmate game has one of the most powerful chess engines, called Ruffian. This engine offers a very realistic challenge to players of all levels, and has an estimated rating of 2600 (Grandmaster rating). Hexacto Games has taken on this huge task and ported Kasparov Chessmate to the Pocket PC. The result is a very deep chess game with a big range of player levels and tons of resources for improving your chess game. For the chess vets, you will find various types of games to improve many aspects of your game, and ratings to track your progress. Beginners will appreciate Kasparov’s in-game hints.

The Pocket PC version of Kasparov Chessmate preserves the framework and all the major features of the PC version. Players should be able to use the rating system in this game to manage their stats and profiles, and grow their game with this chess package. The Profiles feature in Kasparov Chessmate allows you to create multiple profiles as well as Guest profiles with lower rating points. The rating system in Kasparov Chessmate is very similar to the real life chess federations’ system that is used to rate players and assign titles. So you can use the formula in this game to estimate your skill level.

There are various types of games you can play in Kasparov Chessmate. The beginners can start reading rules and learn about some very basic moves and traps in Training. You can play against another human on a single screen or against the computer to learn or sharpen your skills and strategies. There is a slider bar for you to choose one of the 45 computer opponents ranging from Easy, Intermediate to Hard levels, with rating points up to 2300. You can also choose to play in the Kasparov Chess Club, which is a virtual chess club where you can test your skills and improve the level of your game. There is an Exhibition mode where you can play against Bronze, Silver and Gold Leagues. You can also play the Club Championship and go up against Gold Champion Garry Kasparov himself, if you are good enough. The game offers a huge number of historical matches played by Kasparov against other chess geniuses.

Rapid chess fans should be happy to know that Kasparov Chessmate has four basic time controls including Blitz, Rapid, Classical and No Time Limit. In each of the time control games you can choose allegro timing which adds a little time to each move to give you some room at the end of the games. After each game, you will see the time used to complete the game and the change in the ratings. I find Kasparov’s hints very useful. You can actually control how many hints you want and their frequency. If you are playing club matches and getting hints from the Grandmaster, your game will not be used for ratings.

There are three chessboards with 2D or 3D options and various types of notation. The graphics are nice, but not ground breaking as the point of this game isn’t breathtaking graphics. The game is played in landscape mode and controlled by the stylus.

Just as with the graphics, the sound FX is minimal in this game. You will hear a sound every time you interact with the game. You can set the sound volume in the Settings screen. Kasparov Chessmate supports Pocket PC 2002 devices and takes under 4MB of memory.

Powered by a strong engine and graced by this Grandmaster’s historical matches, Kasparov Chessmate should be a great title for the serious computer chess players and learners. The rating system will help players understand their skill levels, and the Kasparov hints will dazzle his followers. Even though the chessboard graphics are not that impressive, the title screens and other not in-game screens are polished and show Hexacto’s graphical touch.

Playing Hint and Tips

You can play games under multiple profiles. You will get more points beating players who have higher ratings than you. The more games you play, the more accurate your ratings are.