Chess U on the iTunes Store
Our product Chess U has gained traction on the iTunes store. It’s a way to take guided quizzes to increase chess knowledge on openings, endgames, and classic games by famous grandmasters. As some readers have noticed, at its foundation it is simply an advanced PGN reader. Then we add on the quiz elements and competition elements such as ratings, quiz scores, and graduation diplomas.
The free course is called Attack 101. This comes with the product. It goes over basic attacking techniques by examining and taking quizzes based on tussles I’ve had with strong players such as Petursson, Dzindzihashvili, and others. The first paid course we put together is Rook Endgames 101. It costs $0.99. Apple gets some of that. 🙂 The Rook Endgames is 16 classic positions ranging from Rook versus Pawn or two pawns to Rook and Pawn versus Rook. All the classic themes are in there: the Philidor Defense, stalemate tricks, the Saavedra study, building a bridge, cutting off the king, and so on. The Rook Endgames course is currently available in our most recent product build, which is Version 1.0.1. In Apple jargon, it is an “in-app purchase.” The user downloads the free Chess U and the free course Attack 101 and then has the opportunity to buy Rook Endgames 101. Hot on its heels is Play Like Anand 101. Here, we have taken 10 of World Champion Vishy Anand’s most spectacular games and built quizzes based on the key moments. It’s surprising how many difficult defenses the opponents missed in even the seemingly most one-sided of victories. We will also canvass guest strong player authors for their own selection of instructive quizzes. The basic course themes are:
- Openings
- Endgames
- Famous Players
Sample Course Walkthrough: Rook Endgames 101
The user sees this welcome screen to start with (going over the various topics):
Future Plans
Before talking about porting to other platforms, the first things are:
- Create a custom iPad build to use the full iPad screen real estate. Currently it runs on the iPad but in “2X” magnification mode – that is to say, twice the zoom of the standard iPhone view.
- More Courses
- More User Testing