Not since Battle Chess has this ancient game seen such a face lift. Not only can you use a number of different style pieces to play with in Chessmaster, including both 2D and 3D boards, but you can also play in a fantasy realm where knights fight orcs. All of this works great in theory, but trying to replicate a 3D chessboard from a fixed point of view is apparently quite difficult. The only boards really worth playing with are the two-dimensional ones, as the 3D boards, including the knights and orcs, make it hard to determine what the pieces are.

A soothing soundtrack will accompany you as you take on beginner and master alike, as will the pleasant sound effects of felt bottom pieces being placed on a wooden board. Chess is not a game that requires any sound at all to be played, but it cannot be enjoyed aesthetically without it.

The game of chess has not been altered for thousands of years. Chessmaster does not try to reinvent this age-old classic, it merely takes it in new directions that only digital technology can handle. This classic series is known for its great AI and teaching abilities, but more recently, it has been taking this impossible-to-master game to everyone who owns a computer, and now, a console.

The game starts out by asking you what type of player you are, whether you play a lot or a little, and how long and how dedicated you are to playing. >From this, it generates a rating for you, the same type of ranking system used to rate international players.

>From here you can do a number of things. If you're just getting started, the Pandolfini Chess School will most likely be the place for you. This area offers lessons and puzzles on chess, and after spending some time here you will notice a beneficial change in your playing style. Even veterans will learn something new from the various chess masters' teachings.

Once you are rated, you can also take part in rated matches and tournaments. Here you can take on one of the many different Artificially Intelligent entities included in the game, including computer versions of real chess masters that mimic their style accordingly, like Bobby Fischer and Josh Waitzkin. There are opponents of all skill levels, including a monkey who can put up a slight battle.

Chessmaster for the PS2 also includes online capabilities, so you can take on other players from around the globe in any setting the game offers. And if you get bored from all of that, you can watch over 800 famous games played between 1619 and 2002. These famous matches also have commentaries written on them by famous players.

With dozens of different opponents to play against, as well as anyone you can drag off the street and get to take up a controller, Chessmaster can be as easy as you want it to be, so long as you can play the game. However, you will probably never beat the Chessmaster himself; recently it was pitted against a United States master and won.

To describe the game of chess here would be futile. This simple board game has captured the attention of people for millennia, undergoing little change since its shadowy conception. If you don't know what chess is, you probably never will. But, if you happen to get this piece of software without having any prior knowledge to the existence of chess, Chessmaster will do a fine job in educating you.

However, there are some down sides to having this game on the screen instead of on a board in front of you. First of all, you don't get the full view you do in real life, possibly leading you to making a mistake you wouldn't have done otherwise. Along with this is the inability to zoom or out to get a better look at the board. You are stuck at the same height with most of the 3D boards, making you guess at some of the moves you make. This poor view becomes especially bothersome during the fantasy-battle style games, where things are so grainy and unclear that it seems like it's just a matter of closing your eyes and randomly picking a piece to move.

If you have a PS2 instead of a computer and you love chess, there is no better buy out there. However, the computer version of this game is much better, though it does suffer from some of the same flaws. The online play is a definite plus though, so if you just want to play someone you haven't seen before without having to go down to the park to play that weird, scraggly guy, Chessmaster can do you no harm.