Ultimate Chess Flash-based Chess Game

Caution: This Flash animation may be too graphic for children.

Ultimate Chess is a Flash-animated chess game created by Newgrounds.com user Hristo Atanasov (RatherRandom) and sponsored by mofunzone. More specific credits are given in-game and include the following: developed by Hristo Atanasov, music by Selcuk Bor, ideas and inspiration credited to Emily Doherty, some tracks from Warcraft II, and beta testers Svetozar Kolibarski and Emil Daynov. Specific tracks used in Ultimate Chess include _-={Apocalypse}=-_ and -+[Tetra Arsenic]+-, both of which are by Newgrounds.com user MaestroRage. Ultimate Chess was submitted to Newgrounds.com on May 8, 2010 and won a prestigious Daily Feature award, and it currently scores a 3.97/5.00.

Gameplay

Ultimate Chess is essentially your classic chess game, with an animated twist. When attacking pieces, there will either be an animated fighting sequence or a death scene that depicts the piece that is being captured as dying. There are a total of 50 different executions.

The main menu has a few useful buttons. First of all, of course, is the Play button, that will direct you directly to the chess game. A minefields link directs users who click on this link to a mofunzone.com site that features the Chess MineFields Online Game. This button opens up a new tab or window, so it will not take you away from the Ultimate Chess site.

There is also a button on the main menu that takes you to a section within the game that details the rules of the game of chess. This button is especially useful for beginners to the game of chess. To the right of this button is a button that is labeled executions. Clicking this button will direct users to a checklist of all the different types of executions that are possible in Ultimate Chess. As mentioned earlier, there are a total of 50 different executions, including executions involving a checkmate or a stalemate. Try to unlock all of these executions.

The fifth button on the main menu directs users to the credits for the game.

During a chess game, you can see the number of executions you have unlocked out of the possible 50 at the bottom of the screen. You can also undo turns. If you are playing on the mofunzone website, you can also change the type of board you are using. The chess game is untimed.

Game Review

Ultimate Chess is not for those looking for a good chess game. There are much better sites and/or applications for that. Ultimate Chess is more for the visual animations and death scenes, featuring 50 different executions. It is this addition to the game that keeps players playing. Because the game includes 50 different execution scenes, it can keep players playing for a long time to unlock all 50. Because the execution scenes take time to go through, gamers looking for a professional chess game should look elsewhere, as the fighting and/or death scenes can take up some time, though not much. For those looking for a little bit more out of the usual chess game, Ultimate Chess is a good option.

Overall, Ultimate Chess scores an 8/10 for providing a nice twist on an old classic while maintaining the dynamics of a chess game.