iChess 3D 1.1

iChess 3D is a chess game for amateur players rendered in 3D. The developers claim that they can't guarantee that the algorithm used in this game will be a challenge for experienced players.

I tested the three available difficulty levels: easy, medium and hard, and I can't say that I thought that any of those difficulty levels was too easy. I noticed, however, clear differences in how the different computer opponents would react to errors on your part. For example, the easy opponent would sometimes miss clear opportunities to take my pieces. One time, I moved my queen and sacrificed it to a pawn, and the computer didn't take it. The medium and hard difficulties didn't make that mistake.

As far as graphics go, this game lets you play both in 3D and 2D. In 3D mode, you can move the board around by clicking and dragging with either the left or right mouse buttons. Unfortunately, this sometimes gets in the way of gameplay. There were some instances were I tried to move a piece and ended up rotating the board. The 3D graphics look stunning and the rotation of the board is smooth. The 2D graphics for the pieces leave a bit to be desired, however.

In short, iChess 3D is a very nice chess game. If you are a casual player, you probably will like it.