As with most computerized chess programs, there's a Tip function that recommends your next move. Chess Genius has expanded on this, however, with a feature that I especially like called "Tutor." When the Tutor function is activated, Chess Genius will evaluate each move you make and then warn you when it thinks you have made a mistake. It doesn't tell you what the mistake is or recommend a move, so you get an opportunity to reevaluate your move and try to figure it out on your own.

PocketChess Deluxe 2.0
PocketChess Deluxe (at http://www.pocketexpress.com/Catalog/Catalog.html) presents you with a bigger board by default, which I liked, but also has a myriad of controls and buttons, which I found confusing. In fairness, you don't need to know what any of these buttons do in order to play chess, but it really bugs me to see something on the screen and not know what it does. Because of this, the first thing I did was to start pushing buttons instead of jumping right into a game of chess. The control icons are arranged down the right hand side of the screen, as you can see in Figure F.

FIGURE F

Here's the PocketChess Deluxe main screen.

The very top icon looks like a tiny knight. When you tap on it, a small black square appears in every square on the board where your opponent could possibly move next. The next icon looks like a small sheet of paper. This will allow you to enter up to three sets of notes for your game. Next is a series of icons that look like controls for a VCR. These buttons allow you to step forward and backward through your current game. Below those is an icon that looks like a notebook. When you tap on this, you're presented with a list of your past games. At this point, you can choose a past game or return to your current game.

Finally, there's a toggle button. When you tap on this, the board expands to fill the entire screen. One note of caution here: unlike Chess Genius, once you expand the screen, the toggle button disappears. It took me five minutes of hunting to find the command in the menus that would return the screen to normal. Look under View in the Edit menu and choose "Medium."

Options
PocketChess Deluxe also boasts a large selection of options. The main options screen is pictured in Figure G.

FIGURE G

Here's the main options screen.

The Edit menu options are pictured in Figure H.

FIGURE H

Here are the Edit menu options.

The Options menu is pictured in Figure I.

FIGURE I

Here is the Options menu.

Game control
PocketChess Deluxe also allows you to import and export games in PGN format, however it adds to that feature by allowing those files to include variations and annotations. You also get the option to beam games to or from another Palm handheld. PocketChess also comes with a database of famous games and chess problems. I found it very enjoyable to try and solve these problems when I didn't have time to play an entire game, such as waiting for meetings to start or waiting in line somewhere.

You still have the option to set up the board in any way that's legal, and with the VCR controls you can step forward and backward through your games as well as skip to the first or last move of a game. You can set the play clock to any value between one minute and nine hours.