No Stress Chess by Winning Moves Games USA, Celebrating 20 Years as the Chess Teaching Game Using Innovative Action Cards, for 2 Players, Ages 7+ (1091)

My children received this game last Christmas, they were 5 and 7. They absolutely love it.How the game works:There is a game board which is a standard chess board on one side, and a chess board with all the starting positions of the pieces as well as the initial moves marked on the other side. There is also a rack for the cards and discard. Each card has a specific piece on it, as well as an explanation, both visual and in words of how that piece moves on the board.The deck of cards is shuffled and placed in the holder. The opening moves start like any chess game, white always starts, the pawns move. Then the player draws a card. The player has to move one of his or her pieces listed on the card. The card shows them how to move it. Pieces are captured just as in regular chess and the game is played not to checkmate, but rather until the opposing King is captured.It seems so silly, but its brilliant. The game is simplified enough so that learning players don't become overwhelmed by the strategy. The choice of piece is random, so a player isn't necessarily screwed if they leave their queen exposed, the other player may not pull the appropriate card to take that piece. Playing the game this way the kid learns the way all the pieces move, which frees them up to start thinking about strategy.The next level of the game is instead of drawing one card, you draw 3 cards and get to choose which to play. This allows a little bit of freedom and some strategy again without making the choices overwhelming. Once the child has that down, they can move on to regular chess.After my children got this for Christmas, I spent a minimal amount of time explaining the game to them. They caught on quickly and enjoyed playing it. I've come down to the playroom to find them playing chess - all on their own :)Once when at a mostly adult party at a house with someone without kids, the only thing for the kids to play with was a chess set. Since the kids were already familiar with how all the pieces move we were able to play and naturally all the adults were super impressed to see a kindergartener and 2nd grader playing chess! They don't have much strategy, but they understand the mechanics of the game at this point.I highly recommend this set for anyone wanting to learn chess. The rules are far too overwhelming if you are trying to learn them all at once, this is a brilliant way to break it down into pieces.

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.

I first learned about this from a friend who purchased this for her 7-year old grandson. She stated that he was extremely happy to play this and his parents, whom play very little to no chess, are also learning as they go along.We purchased this for our grandson who is 11. He has not played chess before and thought this would be a great starter for him as well. Fingers crossed!PROS: Excellent quality, designed and advertised correctly. Great for ANY age, for those wishing to learn the game.CONS: None noted