Customer Reviews

Excalibur Platinum Series LCD Chess

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I found the playing strength of the program to be quite poor - a bit like the old small peg in products of 5 or so years ago.

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 was VERY disappointed with this hand held game.
You can't see the characters, the game play is really poor, the whole thing has a whole 'tacky' cheap feel to it and it beeps constantly (even when I _eventually_ found out how to turn the sound off I discovered that it does not actually turn the sound off but limits the sounds to whenever you move a piece - which you obviously do often in a game of chess!). It also has the worst user interface I have ever seen, moving pieces and using the buttons/menus is not intuitive at all.
I stopped playing pretty quickly and I have since returned it. Unfortunately I can't find a better hand held alternative. So if like me you definitely are after an electronic travel chess there may not be much choice - but I'm warning you - it's naff!
:o(

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?

i was very dissapointed with this...thing. its definatly not as cool as what it looks like. first of all the screen scratches up way to easily, you cant see the pieces and the controls are kinda hard to figure out. so hard that you have to carry around the instructions for the first week until you get it memorized. if you are looking for a decent handheld chess computer i'd go with the lcd touch chess. its about as powerful as this thing, and its the same size of a PDA, and you use it the same way as a PDA, just grab your stylus and start playing.

This is a good travel Chess game. The pieces, despite most reviews, were distinguishable, at least to me. Once I recognized that the Queen has deer antlers, the Rooks have benchpress bars, the King has an embroidered triangle, and the Bishops have crosses, it was easy. I do, however, agree that the white pieces were kinda hard to see. I would often have to tilt the game to see them better. There is a way to turn off the sound in the options mode. The manual is inside the package's folded cardboard and is (hidden) between the two halves. Having no pieces is great, this is why I spent days looking for a computerized version. I only wish it were illuminated for nite-playing.

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

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.

(...) 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.

There aren't many handheld chess games around so I gave this a chance. I enjoy playing it although I don't get into the menu for much of anything. Difficulty level feature is well designed, the competition does get tougher as the level goes up. The white pieces are hard to see and the move sequences take some getting used to, particularly when playing the black. There are beeps but I live with them. I've gotten so I don't really hear them. I've played it a lot and the durability is not a problem. For the price, it's a good game. Hopefully Excaliber, the distributor, will offer up an improved version. I'll buy it.

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!

A very nice friend of my mom's bought this for me for my birthday. There are several problems with this. 1. The pieces are hard to make out. However you figure out in a few minutes and get used to it. 2. It keeps making an annoying beeping sound everytime i touched and moved a piece. After a couple hours, i figured out how to turn it off. 3. it moves fast and doesn;t simulate real tournament play.4. The lcd screen and the lay out isnt very appealing. However, this isn't all that bad. ITs pretty good for the money.