Kotaku: Chess

Why Can't All Games Be As Simple As Portal 2?

Mike Fahey — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 11:20:00 EDT

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Though complicated and convoluted, Portal 2 takes one solid idea and runs with it until the very end. In today's Speak Up on Kotaku, commenter Fernando Jorge wonders why more games can't follow in Portal 2's footsteps. More »

World Champion Chess Program Banned For Cheating

Luke Plunkett — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 03:30:00 EDT

The engine which has emerged victorious from the past four World Computer Chess Championships, Rybka, has been banned for cheating. But, uh, how can a computer cheat unless it's programmed to? More »

What Is Chessboxing?

Mike Fahey — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 15:20:00 EDT

Chessboxing is an activity that combines the physical demands of boxing with the mental discipline of chess. Competitors alternate between rounds of chess and rounds of boxing, kicking things off with a four-minute round of chess and alternating with fisticuffs until 11 rounds have passed, or one competitor jams a rook in the other's eye. More »

Boom, Checkmate!

Stephen Totilo — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 17:00:00 EST

Some people watch clips of shooter video games, marveling at each amazing gunshot. Some watch replays of races. Let us enjoy a more refined batch of video game victories. Checkmates. In computer chess. More »

Ding Dong, It's Another BioShock 2-o-Gram

Owen Good — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST

A month before its release, special deliveries from the BioShock 2 viral website are still showing up at people's doors. This time, the packages contain a chess piece and a coded telegram from the "International Order of the Pawns." More »

Mario Vs. Bowser, Waged Through Chess

Stephen Totilo — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:00:29 EST

One last visual for everyone to see from my visit to the New Super Mario Bros. launch event at the Nintendo World Store this past Saturday. In addition to the museum, and the Marios I shot, I saw some chess. More »

Second Life Flying Wang Attack Goes IRL

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 19 May 2008 20:30:27 EDT

Remember when Room 101 griefers issued a flying penis attack on Second Life "real estate" "mogul" "Anshe Chung" during a virtual interview? How could you not? It's just about the only interesting thing to ever happen in Second Life. Now, it has happened in the real world, only on a much smaller, much briefer scale. More »

It's Chessmaster Live Hip Hop Weekend!

Mike Fahey — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 21:00:00 EDT

Don't forget folks, this weekend is the Chessmaster Live Hip Hop Weekend on Xbox Live, where you could win fabulous prizes just for playing a Chessmaster Live match online! Sponsored by the Hip Hop Chess Federation and Xbox.com, players who register either online or by downloading the Chessmaster LIVE Registration Gamer Picture Pack and then play an online match are automatically entered to win an hourly drawing for a 12-month Xbox Live Gold subscription and 1500 Microsoft points. All hourly winners are then entered to win the grand prize - a custom chess board signed by Grandmasters, and a copy of the PC version of Chessmaster: The Art of Learning. Woot! The chess action will be slow and furious this weekend! See you there! More »

Digital Kriegspiel Creator Under Fire From Dead Marxist

Maggie Greene — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 16:30:00 EDT

Alex Galloway has put together a lovely digital adaptation of a chess-like game created by French Marxist Guy Debord dubbed Kriegspiel; now the estate of Debord is sending cease and desist letters to Galloway, claiming the digital version is infringing on the intellectual property rights of Debord. Reminiscent of the problem faced by the Scrabulous creators, Galloway is insisting that the idea of a game and rules are not subject to copyright. Ian Bogost weighs in: More »

Quests Chess Tells Kasparov To Try Another Piece

Mark Wilson — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 14:40:06 EST

Quests Chess is the product of an extremely talented point-n-click adventure game fanboy without many new adventure games to play. Apparently (and sadly) turning to chess to fill this void in his/her heart, "BioJ" crafted this chess set from Fimo clay. With star appearances from Monkey Island, Simon the Sorcerer, Roger Wilco and Day of the Tentacle (plus who are we missing here?), we only wish that we had the correct items in our pocket to click upon the board in proper celebration. Alas, we have but a crank, some fishing wire and a hamster with hypothermia. More pics after the jump. More »

Kasparov Arrested

Brian Crecente — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 14:00:43 EDT

True, chess champion Garry Kasparov's ties to video games are tangential at best. (Though I loved his PC chess games.) But I have a soft spot for him and when I read on Slashdot that he had been arrested for leading a march through Moscow in opposition to Russian President Vladamir Putin, I knew I had to post it. More »

Archon Returns!

Mike Fahey — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 12:20:17 EST

Probably one of the most quietly influential computer games of all time is on the rise once again, as Myriad Interactive announces an agreement with Free Fall Games which awards them rights to the Archon license. Archon is a game that plays like chess, only the pieces do actual battle when they meet, with power boosted for the side whose color matches the battlefield. Countless games owe much to Archon, including the Battle Chess series, The Unholy Way for the PS1, Wraith Unleashed for the Xbox and PS2, and even Mortal Kombat: Deception's Chess Kombat side game. More »

Worth's Never Made Games

Mike Fahey — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 17:40:49 EST

Nothing helps me wind down at the end of a long work day quite like flipping through Worth1000's Photoshop contests. As a graphics designer on the side, I can truly appreciate how much better most of these bastards are than I am, while still catching the occasional really bad one that boosts my self esteem. More »

Windows Vista's Free Games

brownlee — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 10:40:33 EDT

Well, Windows Vista and DX10 are supposed to be the next big thing for PC gaming. Halo 2, after all, will be the first game that requires Vista and DX10... and, I mean, you just know Vista's gonna rock for games if it's the only OS that can render a two year old game running on a 700mhz processor in full glory! More »

Play Lennox Lewis in Chess, Win $1000

brownlee — Wed, 17 May 2006 09:40:13 EDT

In a match of pugilism, Lennox Lewis would punch you so hard your whole family would die. A talent for 8x8 strategy games and the ability to rattle off a Kasparov defense that applies to any chess permutation isn't going to stop you from being vaporized when he starts smashing those big, meaty guns into your torso. More »

Chess and Sex Together at Last

lsmith — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 08:40:18 EST

There are some entries that you just can't put a picture with because it's simply NSFW, the sex chess from Pink4Boys is one such entry. The game is called Lovechess: Age of Egypt, and I guess it's like battle chess, if battle chess was choosing doggy or missionary. More »

3D "Star Trek" Chess

ataylor — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 17:00:00 EST

OK, this is ancient, but worth a post nonetheless as it's just resurfaced. We're sure there are still willions of you who are secret (or not-so-secret) Trekkies, and who might fancy a post-holidays craft project: build your own 3D Star Trek Chess Set! More »

What Chess Can Teach About Counter Strike

Brian Crecente — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 11:00:46 EST

Game Set Watch points to an excellent story over on GotFrag that compares the strategies used in chess and Counter-Strike. It really isn't that far a stretch, strategy is strategy; the hard part is mastering the ability to use it to cross forms. Just look at all those crappy business books that use the Art of War or Ghengis Khan to teach success in business. More »

Four Chess Records Broken Simultaneously by Genius Hottie

Brian Crecente — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 14:21:29 EDT

Super genius, chess grandmaster and all-around hottie Susan Polgar broke a number of records (and hearts) this week when she played more than 1,100 chess games in more than 17 hours in Florida. More »