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The playing of board games on computers is an old sport going back as far as the very beginnings of computing itself. The ability to teach a machine to be a "clever" opponent has long been a prized goal.

This program goes a long way toward that goal and plays a very good game indeed. There are two levels of play and I found even level one very hard to beat.

The graphics are very clear indeed and there is no doubt as to how to use the board markings or who owns the playing pieces. The use of only black and white makes the game even clearer. I know it could have been multicoloured and some people like this, but in this case it helps concentration very much.

Even more important than the graphics is the speed of response. This game is excellent in this respect - it's very fast indeed. And, what is more, it tells you what it is considering, while it is calculating its next move. I found the timing displayed on screen very off-putting as mine was always the longer, by a factor of 10 usually.

The one major criticism I have is that it cheats! It can take a follow through move (after taking one piece to take another) but you can't and if you try to it takes your piece away. Now that's what I call really human behaviour!

D.C.