Chess Master King

Chess Master King is the game itself with the scaffolding a regular player actually wants around it. The engine can be dialled down until it blunders like a beginner or up until it punishes anything careless, and the five practice levels give you somewhere sensible to stand while you work out which one you belong on.

The tournament is where the practice goes: thirty opponents in a row, each a fresh game with no way back once you have moved. Games can be saved and replayed afterwards, which is the quickest way to find the moment a position slipped away from you. And when there are two of you, the second player just takes the other side of the same board.

How to play

Choose an opponent first: the computer at one of five practice strengths, the tournament ladder, or another person on the same screen. Move a piece by picking it up and putting it on the square you want. You can play untimed or set a clock, which changes the game more than it changes the rules. Save a finished game and step back through it afterwards to see where it turned.

Controls

Pieces are moved with a pointer and nothing else. Click or tap the piece you want, then click or tap the square you are sending it to; the legal squares are the only ones that will accept it. Changing your mind before the second click costs nothing. The same handling works on a tablet, where a finger replaces the mouse.