Serious chess players should enjoy – Really Bad Chess Review

This game is addicting. Beating a high-ranked position is an absolute rush! I can liken the comparison between serious chess and "really bad" chess as similar to the comparision between classical music and jazz, both of which I have spent much of my life admiring. Indeed, while the classical approach is ancient, refined, serious, and studied to the extreme; the unconventional approach can be freeing and endlessly creative, like a breath of fresh air, but still allows you to return to the classical form of the discipline with no loss of insight or skill. Another comparison comes from the battlefield origins of the game. You move from the pre-19th century model of warfare where you have infantry who march out first, followed by the cavalry, and then the field generals; to a modern situation where you lob long-range artillary at your opponent, coupled with some intense door-to-door urban combat. My take on the AI is yes, it is puzzling why it takes so long to come up with its moves when other standard chess apps can dissect you in a matter of seconds. On the other hand, the AI has some human-like characteristics that make the game tolerable and allows you to compete at an extreme material disadvantage. Let's be clear: if Mr. Gage wanted the AI to win every time upwards of level 50 (the point of material equality), it could. The AI has to play flawed in order to give the human a fighting chance. I have observed that AI is less interested in gobbling up random extra material (often declining to immediately recapture or snag unguarded pieces) and more interested in finding the quickest way to weaken your king's defenses. Once the AI smells blood, you will be running for your life, and it is tactically very strong when it comes to dissecting your position. IF you defend smart, you can keep AI at bay, and if you find a way to start attacking at multiple points, it quickly becomes overwhelmed. It is even deliberately humorous, I believe, that it will begin making "desperado" moves, throwing some of its pieces at you in an ill-fated attempt to dissuade you from your intended line of attack. It is very strong at recognizing your tactical goals at a 1-3 move level, but if you can coordinate your attacking pieces into strong lines, you can definitely shatter its will. Here are strategies I have learned after several weeks of play, having reached as high as level 110: -Before making a single move, analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the starting position. See where you can attack the AI right off the bat will give you the initiative and keep AI on the defensive. (Mate-in-two with a knight is a good starting place). If you are lucky you may even be able to pick off a piece right away. This is the key to winning this game. Attack, attack, attack, and never relent. It does not matter if the AI is able to counter or thwart your initial attacks, the key is to keep it guessing and don't give it an opening to begin chipping away at your weaknesses or undermine your king's defenses. If the king cannot be easily attacked, try harrassing a high value piece such as a queen instead. -Along those lines (since castling is not going to produce the same degree of safety as it does in standard chess) coordinate your defending pieces carefully. Analyze the opponent's position and make sure that you have a answer for every attack it can throw at your king. Try to look at least 2-3 moves deep in this regard because it is very good at recognizing mate-in-two or mate-in-three type situations. -If you are in a winning position, in spite of being behind in material, which you will encounter frequently in higher ranks, be wary of overpursuing your attack. I have lost games that I should have been able to win more than once, due to overlooking easy mating patterns against my king. Never stop defending, even while trying to close the game. -If you are playing level 50 or higher, you are at a material disadvantage to begin with, so sacrificing or trading off pieces is going to do little good. Only sacrifice a piece if you see that it opens a clearly advantageous attack. For example, sacrificing to deflect a defender or put your opponent out of position is probably okay. Paradoxically, one advantage of having more minor pieces than your opponent is that you can trade up on exchanges. Whenever possible trade a knight for a rook or a bishop for a queen. -Study basic tactics: due to opening setup, take advantage of and guard against discovered attacks and checks. -Use the "undo" feature. In standard chess taking back moves is against competition rules, frowned on in friendly play, and considered a sign of weakness. Since this game is designed to turn standard chess on its head, don't feel guilty about taking back moves. You will see lots of positions which are absurd if not impossible in standard chess, and since the game allows only one take-back at a time, it is not an unlimited license to try to replay the game from some random point in history. It simply gives you a chance to fix an accidental move or even predict the AIs next move, which will help you improve your strategic or tactical approach. Lastly, my advice for improving the app: -Add a feature that allows you to review the entire game, even after checkmate, so that you can analyze the mistakes of your final position and also save and/or export the game for later study. Granted, the goal of the app is not to take itself too seriously, but there have been a couple of times that I did not even get a clear view of the checkmating move that sunk me or likewise, me over the AI. -Allow up to 1 "reset" of the board at each level of ranked play, much like the daily or weekly challenges. It can be frustrating to put yourself in a bad position early on, then have to resign the game and back up a few levels. Like the idea of only allowing one take-back move at a time, however, I am not advocating for unlimited resets.
Review by tbonemagic on Really Bad Chess.