800 Chess Puzzles Demo

Chess may be a pretty ancient game, but people are still finding ways to get better at it even today. Obviously, some concepts have already been cemented over the centuries, such as basic openings and a few responses to classic strategies, but after the first few moves the game can go in a million directions, depending on what the players decide to do.

800 Chess Puzzles is an application that provides you with a large database of interesting situations that require a solution, and it’s the perfect way to improve your skills on your own. In essence, you are presented with a few puzzles and hypotheticals, and it’s up to you to come up with the correct solution. Obviously, you need to be quite skilled to begin with, because this not exactly beginner-friendly.

Obviously, the first couple of puzzles can be tackled by new players as well, but they keep getting more and more difficult as you progress, which is great if you are looking for a challenge. On the other hand, it must be mentioned that the application is not interactive, which means that you cannot move the pieces around or write the answer, so you’ll have to do it on a piece of paper or an external text editor.

Each puzzle comes with two hints that reveal the first two moves, or at least give you an idea about what should be done. You can obviously skip these hints and go directly to the solution, although it’s recommended to do so only after you’ve got an answer of your own. The application has no anti-cheating functionality, but only the players have something to lose if they don’t at least try to come up with a solution.

Speaking of which, the general user interface is very basic, even if it’s meant to be like that in order to keep you concentrated. The board is too small, on the other hand, and it may be difficult to see for those with eye trouble. Hence, it would be nice to have some sort of zoom function, or at least a bigger board by default.

All things considered, 800 Chess Puzzles could use a few improvements in regards to accessibility and interface, and it would be nice to be able to interact with the board and solve the puzzles that way. However, the actual puzzles should be the main concern, and they are pretty tough and exciting.