No Stress Chess Favorite Chess Teaching Game by Winning Moves Games USA | Celebrating 20 Years, Innovative Action Cards, 2 Players, Ages 7+

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.

So this game is a FANTASTIC way to learn chess. It's not the ONLY way, but it's an easy way for a parent who wants to play with their kid, but doesn't have time to learn with their kid teaching them. All of my kids (including my 5-6 year old, who can't even read!) have learned chess using this game. My nephew came over and was talking about wanting to learn chess, so we gave him No-Stress Chess for Christmas. Here's how it works: There's a deck of cards, and each card has a piece on it, with its allowable moves (graphically illustrated). There are also "move any piece you like" cards. * Level 1 - Set the board up as shown on the side with the pictures of pieces. The white color draws the first card, and moves one of their pieces as described. There are no real rules aside from that. If you don't have the piece described, you lose that turn. You CAN put your king into danger. Game is over only when the king is captured. This is brilliant because it's teaching the mechanics of how the pieces move, giving you a big picture of overall goal, but tying the arm of strategy behind your back. Thus, no-stress! It's the luck of the draw, and all you have to remember is when the king is captured, the game is over. * Level 2 - Once you have mastered how all the pieces move, it's time to throw a LITTLE strategy into the mix. Like level 1, you set the board up and shuffle up the cards. But in level 2, you draw a hand of 3 cards. Each turn, you pick a card to play, and play it. At the end of your turn, you draw a replacement card. This is a great progression because it allows for some strategic thought, but doesn't open wide the doors. You have a selection of pieces you can choose from that makes sense to win the game, but doesn't paralyze the player with too many choices! It builds that strategic muscle. You can progress here to a 5-card hand, if you want, too, which allows for even more strategic thinking. Level 3 - In no time at all, you'll find yourself wanting to play regular chess, and this game has all the regular rules of chess when you're ready for them. Flip the board over to the side where the pieces aren't printed on the board for easy setup, and you're ready to begin your journey to grand master. I love this game and highly recommend to anyone wanting to learn chess, but who is intimidated by all the variety of pieces, etc.

Excellent way to learn chess! Seriously, as the name implies - no stress. The pieces, the board are just as you’d need, instructions are clearly written. I wrote the company because I was missing a piece(it came with two of the same color) and they emailed me promptly and professionally and in a few days I had the needed piece in the mail. This is a perfect game for learners of any age.

My son loves this game and has sparked an interest in chess! We've only played a handful of times but he now wants to play without the cards. This is fun with adults to put a new spin on the game and I think we will get a lot of use out of the set. I do have two issues: 1. The set lacks the rules for NORMAL chess. Like seriously? The whole rules leaflet is lacking all around. I wanted a brush up because it had been years and I had to stop and google them. 2. The card holder is disgustingly cheap. With an energetic 7 year old grabbing at cards the shoddy plastic is going to shatter eventually. We don't even bother to use it anymore. I suggest a house rule where the first round each player can opt discard any card to move a pawn regardless of cards in their hand. Otherwise, occasionally you'll be drawing cards for a bit to even start! For 3-5 card games we draw a new card at the start of our turn also have a discard a card for a new one option at the end of our turn to keep people from getting hands of pieces they can't use. Sometimes we still can't move a piece but it happens a bit less often.

I’ve tried so many ways to learn chess (unsuccessfully) I got this for my 5 year old son and I and we learned all the pieces and how they move by the second night! It’s so simple but SOOO creative in how you learn! I recommend this game to anyone who has been wanting to learn or teach their children chess. We are now using it to teach my mother in law chess! We even use the cards to play on our real chess board from time to time!

My 7 year old loves learning chess via this game set. Highly recommend

So easy to learn with this Chess Set and instructions. The person I gave it to is now beating me at the game in a short period of time.

For years I have been trying to get my now 11 year son to learn how to play chess, but I was unsuccessful and he didn't really seem interested. I finally decided on this product based on the many glowing reviews here on Amazon.com, and all I can say is this product succeeded in accomplishing what I could not. I see some reviews complaining about the quality/durability of this set, but in all honesty what do you expect from a set that costs less than $20? You want intricate figurines or nicely crafted glass pieces, then buy that instead. You want something you can display on your coffee table, then spend the money to get that. This set is for learning and once you learn the game you can flip the board and play chess on a standard board. Playing chess does not require an expensive board as the pieces don't "perform" any better during a game just because they are made from a better material. Knights are knights, queens are queens, and rooks are rooks, no matter if the piece is paper, plastic, glass or metal. If you take care of this set (i.e. put it back in the box when done) then it should last a long time. If you or the person you are getting this for already knows how to play chess, then there is no need for this and you can buy any set you like. This set is for learning how to play chess gradually and in that regard it does an excellent job. My son and I started off with the basic draw a card and move game, while he got used to learning the pieces and how they moved. After a few games of the draw a card game we moved to the 3, and then 5 card games where each player was dealt a number of cards and could move any piece that the player has in their hand. We played a couple of 3 card games before he started getting more comfortable and wanted to move to the 5 card game which we spent a lot of time playing many games. The card game is chess with a couple of exceptions to the rules, 1) unlike standard chess, the object is the physically capture the king and remove him from the board, 2) Because you are playing with cards, there is no restriction from moving you king into check or leaving him in check which is illegal in standard chess. In the final game of the night, he managed to blindside me and capture my king because I underestimated him. He went to bed elated while I stared at the board in disbelief on how I missed what he was doing. The next day he wanted to play again so we played a couple of more 5 card games, until he decided he was ready for a real game. I explained to him the the slight differences in the rules as we went along and he seemed to catch on really fast. He immediately understood the concept of check and checkmate and after a couple of corrections from me he was making some pretty good moves to get himself out of check. Naturally I beat him on our first real game against each other, but I sense he will get better as we continue to play. Later on I will explain to him new moves like castling and en passant. It will be so much easier to explain these things to him now that he has a solid understanding of the basics. I am amazed at how quickly my son who had ZERO knowledge of the game picked it up and I look forward to more matches against him especially when he gets better. This set has exceeded my expectations and if you or anyone you know wants to learn chess the "No stress" way then this set is highly recommended.

Good quality product , as well as good method to teach 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!

When my son came home asking for chess lessons from me, I was hesitant because of his age. But I found this game and it has worked wonders. I don't mean to say that he became an expert in days and he can play chess well. But it explains the rules of the game and some basic strategies can slowly be introduced with each game. It reduces the stress while playing chess, especially for beginners.

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!

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