Slow, careful reading of the lengthy, poorly organised instructions in small type on the insert, are needed if this dual game is to be played to the full.

Suddenly comes the question "Kempston joystick attached?" with no sound. "Ordinary Chess 1 Yes 2 No" - why not stick to Y and N? Next question needs answering after reading the instructions, as it offers "Play Analyse or Load" - meaning, play the game, set up the board for analysis or load in saved game. Colour is then chosen and game starts with a choice of levels, from 0 (lasting two seconds) to six, best suited for correspondence chess.

The pieces are represented by graphic shapes, co-ordinates are entered to move them and, in Death Chess, six arcade, shoot-out games are played to see if a piece can be taken.

Ordinary Chess option allows for "castling"; T saves the game at that point, Z prints a copy of the board, 0 prints all the moves so far and S gives a stop facility allowing analysis to occur with chance to change level and colour before restart.

T.W.