NYT has developed a pocket sized chess system in conjunction with Excalibur and it is top-notch. And what makes it so good is the little voice that delivers instructions as you ponder over the next move.
Tagged Deluxe Talking Touch Chess, the pocket-sized system is replete with a large LCD and works like one of those hi-tech PDAs. Moving pieces on the screen with a stylus is easy and the light button makes it easy to make moves in the dark as well (don’t get any ideas!). The instructions are delivered in three different languages viz. English, French and Spanish. There are even coaching features for the, um, less gifted of us.
Robert Byrne - the noted NYT columnist - has designed over 500 different chess challenges on this unit and made things that bit interesting. Deluxe Talking Touch Chess is 2000-rated, meaning thereby that it is capable of beating 99% of all players. Luckily yours truly is a part of the other 1%.
Using two AAA batteries it even has features like auto save, built-in chess clocks, take back mistakes and a storage spot inside the stylus itself. Coming in at $89.95, Deluxe Talking Touch Chess is as feature packed a device as one could have hoped for. Equally suited for both beginners and veterans, this promises ages of mind bending action. Buy it here.
