Karpov Chess Hands-on

Pretty much anyone who's ever lifted a pawn has heard of chess geniuses like Garry Kasparov and Bobby Fischer. You also probably know about IBM's marvelous "Deep" series of chess-playing computers, which have fought the very best monkey brains to a standstill and are now pulling into first place. But casual chess fans have probably never heard of Anatoly Karpov, even though he is regarded as Kasparov's equal in some circles--in fact, both men currently claim the title of World Champion, abetted in their rivalry by the fragmentation of chess's international governing bodies. The depth of chess celebrity may be as shallow as the game itself is profound, but Karpov's relative lack of cachet didn't stop Hudson from snapping up his name for its new chess game (Jamdat produces Kasparov Chess, incidentally). After putting a preview version of Karpov Chess through its paces, we're ready to say that this game may spark a mobile renaissance for the overlooked chess champ.

Karpov Chess' board and pieces are laid out in a pleasing pseudo-3D arrangement. The small 3D piece models look almost like they're sprite-based, but they definitely have a very realistic look and feel on the slightly isometric board. In fact, this chess game's most remarkable feature is the way each move animates--your piece will actually float above the board as though it's been picked up by a phantom player and plunk itself down in the right spot a second later. This sounds like a subtle touch, but it really makes a big difference in the overall tone of the game, which seems more like a PC chess sim than a mobile game, down to the progress bar-style meter that measures the computer's thinking time.

According to the producer, Karpov Chess will feature five difficulty levels, as well as pass-and-play multiplayer. There's no definitive word on over-the-network multiplayer as of yet, but there's a distinct possibility that this feature will make it into the final version of the game. This game will be coming to most consumer phones by August, which also happens to be when we'll have the full review ready for you.