Customer Reviews

Saitek Kasparov Alchemist Plus Electronic Chess

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This chess computer is good for anyone who is not enough experienced in the chess game and wants to learn more, if you are an experienced player look for a different computer this one will not challenge you. Overall it has good quality and you will have a good time if you like to play chess.

If you read my previous review you know I was overjoyed with
this product. I still stand by the fact that it got my game and
concentration back,and that is a wonderful thing.However,after
I got my game back it took less than one month to conquer this
game on all playable levels,and found myself already in need of
a more powerful chess computer. It does make many mistakes.For
what I needed at the time it was great,but I have to recant my
recomendation that this is the one for beginners and
intermediate players. Check out Mr.Jones' review of this product.
I believe it is probably much more accurate than my earier
review. I bought a new chess computer made by Excalibur,and
it's easier levels are more challenging than this one's more
advanced levels.
Thank you

To understand this review I'm going to have to give some back-
round.Please bear with me. At one time I was a fairly good
chess player. Then a few years back I had an unfortunate
medical occurence that severely limited my ability to concentrate
and plan ahead. When I tryed playing my chess computer on even
the easiest levels,my game had slipped so far that I couldn't
even figure out what it was up to. Lose,lose,lose,without
learning a thing. After giving up on the game for a number of

years,I decided to try out this little "toy". I started on the
easier levels,and though I lost at first,I could see what it
was doing and I learned and started to get my game back!!
I am moving up the levels now and improving my game with each
step. But maybe more important than that,my concentration is
improving in most aspects of my daily living. All because of
this little "toy". I'm sure that in time I'll need a more
powerful computer,but for any beginner or intermediate player
this is the one to get. It's better than therapy!
Thanks

Here's the story on this chess computer - If you are rated higher than 1400 USCF this computer is a total waste of time. I played it at a comfortable response time (no one wants to wait 20 mins for a move) of 2mins average per move , at this level I was able to completely destroy it in about 10 moves average. I have seen chess computers in the 1980's put up a better fight! How Kasparov allowed his name to be placed on this thing is beyond me... I tell you, if you are rated 1600+ you could beat this thing without looking. Newbies to chess should steer clear too, Why? Because all this computer will do is create very bad chess habits which will only serve to get you crushed versus a decent human player. Strong Chess is Only learned by losing to good players, which teaches you how to play strong moves and win! (picture learning how to play piano from another who can't play chopsticks correctly!) Duffers (weak players) are born by playing other weak players and learning bad habits, winning chess is not learned by stomping a brain-dead chess computer that breaks every opening, middlegame and endgame rule ever taught! The only reason I can think to buy this toy is so you can brag to those who know nothing of chess that you can beat a chess computer. All others STAY CLEAR!
On the positive side, it is a nice looking unit with good pieces and easy to use interface.

I really like Playing on the Alchemist. when I started out, it really helped me to learn the best moves, and bring my skills up.

Now I've increased its playing levels and it is giving me qute a workout. It really tunes me up for matches with friends. I'm sure I'll be playing it a long time before I need a more powerful computer

At $20 a piece, with free shipping from Amazon, this is a an incredible deal, hard to pass on. The board is reliable as I have been using it over a year without any problems at all. It also makes a great gift for all ages! At the casual levels of playing (like if you give the computer limited time to think, say 30 seconds, 45 seconds, etc.) and if you are a medium level player, you may be able to win 80 to 90% of the time. The machine will prove very hard to beat if you give it unlimited time to think, raising its level of playing to that of a national or international chess master. On the other hand, who has the time to do that? I use it normally giving it a limit of 45 seconds for a pleasent and relatively fast chess game.

A. Firstly the toy you get, is NOT Alchemist. You get Alchemist Plus!
B. Alchemist Plus has this nice little guy which shows faces. Rest it seems similar to Alchemist.
C. Check the prices of the product from all other retailers and you will soon find that Amazon's price is much ...less. ...
D. Chess boards cost close to this price. Whereas this is a full fledge chess computer which has so many levels of play as well as teaching.
E. The board has all the squares marked by their location, a very nice feature for children.

My 4 1/2 year old tries to play chess on computer (Chess Master) but she had difficulty playing with the mouse clicks so I got her this one. She is learning chess more quickly now just to get to this board (Though she still is able to move my pieces on this board using the numbered scheme printed)

I had a bad experience with this product. The first one I ordered (for my 8-year-old who loves to play chess but can't always find a partner) arrived without white playing pieces. I emailed Saitek, asking if they could send the parts, but they never responded to my email. I sent it back to Amazon, and they were great about quickly sending out another. Unfortunately, the second one had a defective computer. I won't be buying Saitek again.

Kasparov Alchemist by Saitek - This arrived defective so I am returning it to Amazon. The LCD display does not fuction properly and I tried all means to correct it that were listed in the instruction manual. (Ignore the 'fun' and 'educational value' ratings. Obviously, I cannot comment on those).This is the second computer chess game that I have had to return to Amazon. See my review of the Excalibur Sabre IV.

There is one problem with this toy. The felt pads that are supposed to stick to the bottom of each piece will not stick, I had to glue each one with wood glue. Once I got past that everything else is fine.