January/February 1996
Newton Software Review
ChessPad 2.0
Digital chess history book
Chess history hounds will love ChessPad 2.0, a combination chess book, database,
and portable chess set. ChessPad comes with 28 of the greatest chess games
of all time, including at least one game from every world champion in recorded
chess history. You can replay these games move by move, read the running
commentary, or try alternate moves to test your skill against the great
tacticians. You also have the option of viewing the games played automatically
at a user adjustable speed; a tap will restore the game to its original
position. ChessPad also includes 100 chess problems for you to view or solve,
illustrating basic to advanced tactical principles. You can also choose
to replay any of 100 "fantastic finishes", a final winning combination
of moves drawn from some of the greatest games ever played.
ChessPad is also an excellent portable chess set to use with a human opponent.
The board is large, with clearly rendered pieces. You can take back a move,
validate all moves against standard chess rules, or choose to have a timer
if you wish to play speed chess. ChessPad also contains an excellent set
of communications options. You can fax, email, print, or beam a saved game,
or access any of the thousands of chess games saved in Portable Game Notation
(PGN) format on the Internet and online services.
As nice as ChessPad is, it lacks the ability to actually play chess. ChessPad
is certain to entertain intermediate and advanced players who love to analyze
chess history or play against human opponents. When I gently chided the
developer for this omission he replied "Each game included with ChessPad
is like a work of art. Should a CD-ROM containing great art masterpieces
be criticized because it does not contain a paint program?" Fair enough.
However, chess-shy players like myself who would prefer to play against
an infinitely patient computer than a haughty Russian world chess master
may want make a different move.
Category: Game
Cost/Contact: $39.95, Clear Lake, 713-663-7513
Email: davidL62@aol.com
Newton memory: 90Kp;235K
System needs: Newton hardware
Pen Computing
Issue #8