MAC-Fritz and Chesster 1

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of a Lifetime with Fritz & Chesster?

Once upon a time there was a small country, a very, very small country. And this very small country was ruled by a very wise king. In fact he was the wisest king there had ever been. And he was called "King White".

This is the beginning of a brilliant new product by ChessBase, the world's leading chess software publishers. Fritz & Chesster, Learn to play chess software program may be the most important piece of software ever created by this company, for a very simple reason: tens of thousands of children will take up chess because of this chess software program, and benefit from studying and playing of chess, which will:

• Raise intelligence quotient (IQ) scores
• Strengthen problem solving skills
• Teach how to make difficult and abstract decisions independently
• Enhance reading, memory, language, and mathematical abilities
• Foster critical, creative, and original thinking

From: The Case for Chess as a Tool to Develop Our Children’s Minds by Dr. Peter Dauvergne

Fritz and Chesster, Learn to play chess does not teach chess in the usual way. It does not set up a board and explain how each of the pieces move. Instead it targets children who have never played chess before in their lives and teaches them the basic rules in an environment similar to Sesame Street. There are cartoons and stories for the children to follow, and then there are tasks for them to solve interactively.

Each piece and each rule is explained as an interactive challenge, which is played against the computer. Many of them are far away from the actual game of chess, but at the same time they give children full insight into the sometimes daunting rules of the game.

Take for instance the first sequence. Young Prince Fritz has to stand in for his father, King White. Together with his cousin Bianca, Fritz embarks on a journey through the kingdom. On their journey they are joined by Kaleidoscope, a jolly instructor, who tells them all about the kingdom.

In each scene your child can click different elements and make fun things happen. This activity encourages the young users to explore the scenery.

On their trip around the kingdom the three encounter the daunting King Black, who challenges them to a game of chess. But Fritz doesn't know how to play. Thankfully he is able to learn the game on the rest of his trip.
 

The first lesson comes when they see two sumo wrestlers fighting in a ring. The wrestlers are too fat to approach each other directly, so they always stay at least one square apart. They move around the board blocking each other off. If they do it properly Fritz and Bianca can push their opponent off the board.

After that they try to occupy chairs before their opponent, and while trying to do so the program explains how they can use "opposition" to outwit the opponent. At the end of this lesson the children have learned everything they need to know about the way the King moves, including the concept of opposition.

Learning how the Rook moves is equally entertaining. In a pacman-like game the children learn to move the Rook and avoid capture by the enemy spiders. There are sound effects and high-score lists to keep their attention.

The way the Bishop moves is learned by bouncing a ball off a rectangular paddle to destroy toilet bowls (the kind of thing young children find hilarious). Since the ball moves diagonally they are learning to operate the Bishop. Mind you, these games might also create some problems. Very often the parents start to play them and compete against their offspring. There can be ugly scenes when it turns out, as it usually does, that the children are better.

The terrific advantage you gain with Fritz & Chesster, Learn to play chess is that you can insert the CD into a computer drive, fire up the program and know that your child is embarking on a journey that will improve their cognitive thinking while they have fun.

After a few weeks your child will come to you and say: "Can we play a game of chess?" Your child will have learned all the rules – we are talking pawn moves, castling rules, promotion, mate, stalemate, everything – and even understand a bit about strategy and tactics!!

Use your wits, learn to think ahead, have interactive fun and excitement AND learn a whole lot about chess: Fritz and Chesster is a great chess adventure with all of this and more for you and your child!