It all started when I purchased a copy of a chess game - from a large publisher that will remain nameless - that could play chess by email. I hadn't played much chess since I was a teenager and I thought this would be a great way to get back in to the game and give me something to do during breaks and lunch hours.

It did exactly what it said on the box, it just didn't do it very well; the interface was not well designed and looked as though it was made in the 80s and not for a modern PC. The small pixelated graphics just did not do justice to the aesthetic nature of Chess. The moves also took far too long to send, I worked out eventually that the game first sent the move ( and message! ) to the publisher before it was forwarded on, presumably so it could insert ads in to the mail. Searching the net failed to return any alternative ways to play email chess that I felt had the right blend of features, ease of use and graphical flair.

At the time I also tried playing chess online. I tried ICS (Internet Chess Server) which is a text based protocol for playing chess that has been around for years - even with a good graphical interface I found it clunky and archaic with a distinct learning curve. I also tried other web based services which were much easier to use but still flawed (even the pay sites). The Java interfaces were the best of the bunch but still had chunky pixelated pawns and lacked features that I felt should be requirements - the ability to save a network game for example.

Since I was researching chess I had a look at the chess software available. There were a lot of PC chess games around and I have to admit that although some of them were poorly done, there were a number that were very good - although they did tend to suffer from a lack of features and generally could only let you play chess against one computer opponent (i.e. no network or email support). They also tended to be pricey and required the cd-rom to be in the drive while you play.

What I wanted was a Chess game that had a pleasing, easy to use interface and could play email and network chess as well as against a computer. I was working as a games programmer at the time so I was pretty sure I could create visuals to rival commercial offerings. The board renderer came together pretty quickly and it looked good (IMHO). I used 3D games technology to create a board that could smoothly scale to any window size without pixelation effects, and pieces that perfectly blended to the background without any hard edges.

Of course it took a lot longer than I had first anticipated but finally I had a Chess game that had all the features I wanted, and more besides.

Will McGugan

Disclaimer: The above is a personal opinion, I'm sure I haven't tried every piece of Chess software or online service. Feel free to email me direct or discuss this article in the Forums.

 

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