With a game engine that actually beat Deep Blue (the computer that took down Kasparov), VIRTUAL CHESS 64 offers a full range of both tasteful and goofy options for players of all skill levels. You can choose to play with animated pieces that battle one another in cartoon sequences when a capture is underway, or you can play in either 2D or 3D views. You can rotate the camera to view the board from any angle you'd like, and you can play against the computer or a friend. If you choose a computer opponent, you'll love the 14 different skill levels; beginner levels allow the computer to slip up once in awhile, while advanced levels have the computer calculating 3,000 moves per second. If you're new to the game, there's an interactive tutorial to take you through all aspects of chess strategy, and a convenient display marker to show you all of your possible moves. The computer can be forced to move immediately, or allowed to think for a bit. All this, and you can save your preferences and unfinished games.