I have a very old tabletop from Radio Shack that I have always believed was manufactured by Saitek. The product is named Chess Champion 2150L, endorsed by Gary Kasparov The World Champion (no kidding, right?!). I bought the unit in 1993, and although I never use it anymore, it still works wonderfully. It had an advertised ELO of 2150 (hence the name) and does play strong enough to offer a challenging game to us mortals. I realize that it has little to do with the product listed here, but I do have a point. I've bought other products over the years by other manufacturers, including Excalibur, and have never seen anything as well made as this unit. If the one I have is typical of the quality of Saitek products, then I would recommend taking a serious look at the listed unit if you are in the market for a dedicated table-top chess computer.

It is this thing for all levels of chess players?

 

Rating:

I have now had this game for a few weeks and have updated my review with more in depth experience.

• It has many levels for beginner to advanced by limiting time, limiting search depth, and a cool "self adaptive" feature that adjusts playing strength in repsonse to your mistakes. I like the latter as it will go for mate but provides opportunities for you to gain an advantage.
  

• Its "all plastic" construction is pretty good. The plastic side doors are the only weakness with the rest of the board, pieces, and buttons being reliable and reassuring.

• The sound can be switched off making silent play possible. Note: The coach cannot play silent.

• The pieces are decent, magnetized and felted, they play well on the "push sensor" board and feel like a set of double weighted pieces. The push to move is very intuitive and not a distraction.

• I would prefer a larger board and wood pieces but for $89 I cannot complain.

• The in-built sliding storage bins either side of the board are handy.

• If you're planning to buy bag take a tape measure as its a very tight squeeze in a 15.4" laptop bag, preferable is 15.8". My personal recommendation is the Init Notebook Sleeve NT-NB127 (click here). I removed the side doors to play and transport the game without removing it from the bag. The "Notebook Sleeve" unzips 180 degrees and folds underneath making it good for a table or lap play. Visit your local retailer to see the bag first hand.

• The computer interface is very logical and I have no problems playing, setting up, verifying, or changing game options.

• I like the fact the computer interface is a small panel on the white side of the board. All the buttons are rubberized and feel like they will last a long time.

The game play is natural and appears to play positionally and tactically with an even hand. The interface is good and I really like playing over the board instead of an LCD screen. RECOMMENDED

I have produced a double sided quick reference card to keep with the game. It's the size of the board (8"x8") for easy storage and transport. Download on this link here (1 MB). Print the PDF with "page scaling turned OFF", "auto rotate and center ON", "auto paper select OFF". This will ensure the reference card is centered on the front and back side of the page for easy cutting.