Chessmaster: The Art of Learning (2007). Play online

Summary

Chessmaster: The Art of Learning brings Josh Waitzkin’s celebrated teaching style to the DS, letting you hear the eight‑time national champion narrate every move. An updated King engine drives a massive database of roughly 600,000 historic matches and offers 190 distinct computer personalities to spar with, ranging from casual novices to grandmaster‑like foes. Beyond traditional play, the title packs six quirky minigames – “Fork My Fruit” (fork two fruit pieces), “Masterpiece” (paint a picture in as few moves as possible), “Breaking the Lines” (capture pawns using only knights), “Chain Reaction” (link three or more pieces), “Pawn Charge” (race a pawn to the eighth rank) and “Minefield” (defeat an invisible opponent). Multiplayer throws in fresh twists: “Progressive Chess” adds moves each turn, “Dark Chess” cloaks enemy pieces, “Losing Chess” rewards sacrifice, and “Extinction Chess” swaps checkmate for total piece capture. The DS version streamlines the PC’s deep tutorial set, omitting a dedicated strategy chapter, classic grandmaster game collection, and Larry Christansen’s offensive lesson, but it still supports wireless multi‑card play (though no Wi‑Fi).