Years ago, now soon to be former GameSpot editor-in-chief Greg Kasavin reviewed Chess for this site.

He didn't like it.

The pacing was slow. There was only one gameplay mode and one map, which was too small and lacked detail. Multiplayer was limited to two players. The story was minimal. Characters were the same on both sides and their initial placements were always the same. The too few characters had bland names and appearances, no personalities and differed from their rivals only in color--and because muliplayer was limited to two, there were only two sides. Character movement was arbitrary and limited. A token effort to attract female players by allowing "Queen," the only female character, the greatest freedom of movement was insulting. Worst of all, because new resources could not be acquired, most matches ended in stalemates.

Chess did not compare well to other strategy games, like Command and Conquer: Red Alert.

The next year, Greg Kasavin previewed Chess II for GameSpot.

The sequel addressed some, but not all, of the complaints players had regarding the original Chess. The map was larger. The story was detailed. The characters had backgrounds, personalities, distinct appearances and were not the same on both sides--and there were more of them. There were multiple campaigns, many with multiple objectives. New resources could be purchased, and were sometimes necessary to complete future objectives. Rules for online games were set by players. A scenario editor allowed for player-made campaigns, with new characters and terrains, and thus infinite replay value. And of course cut-scenes advanced the story.

The additions in Chess II turned a dull game into an exciting game.

Alas, Chess II was never released. It wasn't real. GameSpot's preview was an April Fool's joke. (And GameSpot's Chess review was an earlier April Fool's joke.)

But sometimes jokes turn into reality.

Online Chess Kingdoms, a PSP game from Konami, attempts to improve upon Chess by adding a real time mode, a story and multiple sets of detailed pieces.

It doesn't work. The appeal of Chess is its simplicity. Adding or changing anything removes that appeal. Online Chess Kingdoms, fortunately, lets you play Chess the old-fashioned way, so it isn't a complete bust.

All of which is pointed out in GameSpot's review.

Which is written by Greg Kasavin.

If this is his final review, it is an interesting exit.