Chess With Friends

Title: Chess With Friends
Platform Played On: iPhone
Release Date: October 22, 2009
Date Played: Fall 2009
Time Played: 10+ hours
Completed (Y/N): N/A
Score: 5/5

Opinion:
Chess with friends was among the first "With Friends" type of games. It came out around the same time as Words With Friends and became an instant hit.

Almost everyone in the world is familiar with chess. It is one of the oldest and widespread games in the world. It provides almost infinite amount of possible moves, which adds a ton of replayability. There are 20,000 possible moves within the first 4 moves. And the total number of moves is over 10 with 120 zeros (the Shannon number) which is larger than the number of atoms in the observable universe. Basically chess is a pretty crazy game that is easy to learn (somewhat) but very hard to master.

There is only one problem with chess, and that is the fact that it is most interesting when playing with another human opponent. Sure the modern age of computing allows us to play versus an AI (CPU if you will), but at that point it becomes very hard to balance, to make the computer think as a human would. To a computer chess is a math problem, a calculation of the best move. This of course leads to the computer being too powerful, in essence cheating, since it can calculate moves a billion times better than a human being. In a game versus computer, the variation depends on you, in an identical situation it will always make identical moves, while a human will not always make the same move.

I think its clear that human vs human games are the most interesting when it comes to chess. The problem is that as you grow up, you have less and less time to meet with friends, let alone play chess with them. So it becomes impractical and adults are not likely to play chess until they sit down to teach their children how to play.

No more shall one be deprived of chess. Zynga is here to save the day. Chess with friends is such a brilliant idea that I don't know why it took 2 years of iPhone's existence for it to come to fruition. It is nothing extraordinary, it is so simple that its perfect. It is the game of chess, as we all know it and love it, but instead of playing the computer or passing the phone back and forth between multiple people it allows you to play chess on the go, in your own free time with anyone in the world, as long as they have the same app installed.

As soon as you make a move Chess with Friends utilizes push technology to notify your opponent that it is their time to make a move. They can either do so immediately or take their time. As soon as they make their move, you get a notification on your phone that its time for you to move. It is a perfect system. A game can be a fast back and forth if both people are not busy, conversely it can be a weeks long game. Chess with Friends adjusts chess to your personal schedule.

Chess with Friends brings chess into the 21st century. It is a very convenient way to play, and allows even the busiest of us to enjoy this classic game. Whether you are a casual chess player or find yourself finishing 10 games per day, this app is a must.