No Stress Chess

I have never bought my grandson a toy which was not educational. For his 7th birthday I found what I thought would be an ideal educator. Little did I know how right I was !! He now eagerly does his homework so that we may play after. Since this game not only educates in chess skill but also introduces an element of 'luck' he's already 'managed' to win me a few games and his improvement in moving the pieces was immediate. Will certainly recommend it for all ages from 7. Good value for money

Brilliant introduction to chess for non players (me included). Played it over Christmas hols with kids ranging from 7 to 13. Some could play already some couldn't but by the end of a few games we all knew the names of the pieces and the moves they were allowed to do, Even the snooty chess playing adults agreed it was a great piece of kit.

My boys are just turned 4 and 6 and they both love to play against me. The game is 7+ so I always supervise (When they play each other I have to adjudicate to keep it civil!!) The card designs are so effective with their description and diagram of how each piece can move. The board design is fantastic, the boys can set up the pieces independently, which they love. I really like the fact that the board is reversible and it will be a regular chess set for when they eventually know how to play. It was not cheap but great value. Thoroughly recommend.

This was a fantastic starter for my 6 yo, whatever she learned from the cards she taught her 4 yo sister, and was enthusiastic to play everyday. She even stopped using the cards to play on her own accord. But for someone who knows how to play it's frustrating because there are patterns or set moves that you would play to trap or win a game, and here this doesn't work because you are directed by the turn of a card. The next step would be to find a box or tutorial on how to play and practice different setups to see if the kids can recognise and resolve those mini challenges before really into a game of chess. But to break the fear and make the game an equaliser for novice and experienced this is a clever approach. Enjoy.

We love it.. Our child of 4 years and old, my husband and I :) Everynight we are playing... Our child chooses if goes with mum or daddy but he is doing great, sometimes better than me. I did not know either to play before but now thanks to this game I win sometimes to my expert husband. Lot of laughs! A possible tip: sometimes in your turn you cannot move and we decided, against the rules, that then we take another card till we can move.. it make us feel the game is more dynamic.

This is brilliant! Previously, I tried before to teach my 5 years old daughter to play without success! This game is doing the trick. I am not interested to get her to play now, I just want her to familiarize with the board and pieces. She loves playing with me and this is giving us lots of quality time together. Do not forget to let your child win now and then!!!! It is a bit pricey but worth to the last penny!

My grandson is only 8 years old and he loves this game as it is teaching him the rules of chess so he can understand the moves.

Brilliant for children. Granddaughters 7 and 9 loving it and learning to play very easily. A clever addition to the traditional game of chess.

1. Sehr speditive Lieferung über Landesgrenzen hinweg, danke! 2. Das Spiel war ein Geschenk für unsere 7-jährige Tochter. Sie liebt es und hat dank dessen innerhalb eines Tages die Züge der Figuren gelernt. Ich auch :-) Für uns also eine sehr hilfreiche Art, Schach zu erlernen. Daher 5 Sterne von uns!

Bottom line: you could make your own set of six directional cards for each piece. No Stress Chess provides several advantages for anyone new to the game--including me. I purchased this No Stress Chess set to introduce my grandchildren to the game. So far, it is the four-year old who likes to play it. The older ones prefer checkers, though they do like to put the chess pieces on top of the checkers to liven up the game. ( Note to other adults with a similar goal, I wish I'd introduced chess to the others by at least five years of age.) After two games, my granddaughter could correctly arrange the pieces on the board and by the fifth game she decided to challenge herself and use the standard or "grown-up" side of the board without referring to the picture on the back of the box. From the beginning, we used the cards to see which way a piece could move. At first, we each got a set of cards consisting one each of a rook, a knight, a bishop, the king, the queen and a pawn. Later she decided we could share one set which she would line up off to the side of the board. Each card has the name of the piece at the top, a clear picture of the piece, and another picture of a small chessboard with arrows that show the direction the piece may move. Initially, the most helpful card was for the pawn, because it clearly shows that it can move twice the first time, once afterwards, and can only take another piece with a diagonal move. Without the card, this would have been difficult to explain.--we're still working on the "horsie." We found all the directional cards quite useful. Actually, imo, these directional cards are the best part of this game. Being able to refer to them allowed my granddaughter to be much more independent while learning. The cards provide visual aids that make the basic concepts much easier to grasp than verbal instructions alone. She didn't have to ask me about the rules over and over and she could actively participate from the first game. On her own, she learned to use the cards to plot strategy, for instance, figuring out how to sacrifice the pawn to free up her rook. Being able to refer to the cards allowed her to be confident and independent from the beginning. In short, they're great. We have not used the cards that suggest moves, so I can't comment on them. Maybe we will use them some day, but I rather doubt it. If you already have a chess set, you could easily refer to the illustration on the box provided here on Amazon and make your own set of six directional cards. The box is shiny and quite attractive. The pieces are black or white, lightweight plastic, the pawns are about an inch high and the king is about two inches high. The side of the chessboard that provides "hints" has the name of the piece printed on its beginning position, and it hasl arrows showing how a pawn can move the first time. No Stress Chess definitely made learning chess easy and enjoyable for both of us. The price is reasonable and I do not regret this purchase. But we already have two chess sets so this is just one more to store. Based on my experience using No Stress Chess, were I to do this again, I'd have taken a picture of the rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, and pawn from my own chess set and printed them out. Using your computer or colored pencils, you could include the name of the piece and a small chessboard on which you've drawn the directions that piece can move. Either way, this is a great way for kids and adults to learn to play chess. To encourage her, I've let her win a few times, but she's also surprised me with a checkmate more than once.

Don’t buy this, it will make you learn and love chess. I don’t know about children, but it helped me learn chess. My husband has always loved chess but I was intimidated by the rules and different pieces. When you play the card version you start to hope for certain pieces to come up in the deck and develop a strategy in your mind, this makes you want to stop playing with the cards and start playing normally as you develop a better understanding of potential moves. The booklet also gives you a basic understanding of chess strategy. After teaching myself, I thought one of my friends in an afternoon and she taught her boyfriend, and now we all play. I’m confident children could learn easily too, I was kidding earlier definitely get this. On one side of the board is labeled with suggested moves to meet the card game works better, the other side is plain. The pieces are a light plastic, nothing special, but it’s just a training set anyways. If you learn to like chess you can invest in a much nicer board, and if not, you got your value for your money. My only tiny complaint is that some of the colours on the cards are close together and easily confused at a glance in dim lighting (but you can also just read and see the picture). Great set!

Loved the game but what made it a real pleasure was the excellent customer service from Alpinler.SG. They made buying the game a lovely experience. Their customer service is top notched and I will definitely buy from them again no questions asked. They are now my number 1 go to to get games from! Love them for their excellent top notched customer service

Makes a great introduction to chess with the labels on the board. Also cards to help identifying how each piece type should move. It’s a great tool for young beginners!