Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Game
Game2012
Check vs Mate
Developer Targem Games
Battle vs. Chess (Russian: Battle vs Chess: Королевские битвы), also known as Check vs. Mate in North America, is a computer simulation game of chess developed by Targem Games and published by TopWare Interactive. It is intended to target all major seventh-generation platforms as well as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, the console and computer versions were released in Europe on May 17, 2011, while the… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
104 reactions from 1 source (Steam reviews) · newest Sep 11, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
62
Fresh
64 positive · 40 negative
95% range 52–70%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 64 | 40 | 0 |
Steam's own rating
Mixed
81 of 124 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 104 · most liked firstExtremely invasive DRM. Had to provide my home address and phone number to activate. Also this game can only be activated for one installation. If you need to reinstall it, you will have to email the developers. Do not buy. EDIT: Provided by user ThreeSon: Please note that although this review was accurate when it was written in 2014, the DRM has since been completely disabled. The activation files are still present in the game directory, but they are completely inert. There is no activation…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Horrifically invasive DRM. I thought this level of "give us all of your personal information and register immediately and have an active internet connection" type DRM was gone... or at least publicized. As for the game... it's a terrible Battle Chess wannabe. And it's easy to tell why they were forced to change the name. This is certainly not in the spirit of Battle Chess. No charm, no character, and the animations (which you can't zoom in nearly close enough to enjoy) are canned and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is animated and has some nice looking graphics, but does not give you more than one ai opponent and one chess set. No tools for rewinding your game to see where you went wrong, or sugested opponents that chessmaster had. There are maps to choose from but only one chess set, all you can change is the background. If the oponent wins the game with their queen, she will bounce her titties. No way to check where you rank, if you are improving or not. The tutorials are simple to the point how…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bought it to play solo vs AI. It's quite nice, with nice chess pieces that's well animated, in beautiful environment. AI is challenge enough for a mediocre chess player like me. So I'm quite satisfied. However, I just read a bit more about the DRM in this game and you might want to check this discussion out before buying this: http://steamcommunity.com/app/211070/discussions/0/828924672535272934/
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not worth the paper it is printed on. Started up a "Campaign", where the first battle's goal is to capture all the opponent's Pawns. I was given a legitimate move with my King to capture the last one, but because that put me in a "Check" position after, I wasn't allowed to move him. Wait a second... wasn't capturing the Pawns the entire goal?! Apparently not. To add insult to injury the entire game is basically copied from Battle Chess, which is why the name changed. And the DRM isn't…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Stay away. Hardware based DRM. Terrible support. No real multiplayer. See http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=1516. I regret this purchase.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Finally Check vs. Mate (previously known as Battle vs Chess) removed the intrusive DRM! Now I fully recommend this strategy game, especially if you're a chess fan!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Terrible game. Limited options. You can't save the progress of a game, and there is no clock, nor any way to set up a position. Might be fun for a quick, casual game, but not a good choice for chess training, or even for extended play.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I decided to try out this chess version while it was on sale, despite all the negative complaints. The complaints were accurate and a fair representation of this product. If you're looking for a Chess game, this isn't it. That is all.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →No idea what happened, but this no longer works on OS X. Until it is patched, do not buy it. My game is forever stuck in the corner of my display at full screen - won't run in a window, and going into the video settings in the options menu causes the game to crash.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Buy at your own risk. Check vs Mate offers a profoundly confused game concept utilizing shoddy storytelling and nonsensical game modes to advance a single gimmick, chess as warfare. Punishing optimism with an exposition that even fails to accidentally tell a story. Without an active online community of players, narrative, or strong chess engine Check vs Mate cannot compete with free alternatives. Chess.com, Chesscube, Chess24, Redhotpawn and ICC are all better for straight up chess. Or if you…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Selling of this title should be illegal, as there is no way to activate the product after purchase, and thus, no way to play the game. Thank the heavens for Steam Refunds!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →requires personal detail, multiplayer sessions do not work awful game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I was hesitate about the invasive DRM, however it was on sale, I like chess, so I decided to give it a shot. Potential buyers you will be pleased to hear that the invasive DRM has been removed (atleast for me). As for the game itself, it is chess. It is what it is. I like chess and I wanted to have a little fun watching animations. It is not the GOAT chess game, it is a chess game with animations, straight up plain and simple and that is why i bought it to play and little fantasy. The…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I bought the game thinking I could play multiplayer with my friends on Steam. This is not possible at all, the multiplayer only functions locally on your computer through LAN or Direct IP. Do not buy if you want to play chess with your friends on Steam.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bought this game 10 years ago, just now tried playing it again. Wow, even at a sale price of $5 what a waste of money. If you enjoy Chess, there are countless ways to play it on the PC without this overblown hunk of trash. Lots of pretty graphics and animations, which are apparently so good, not only did the developer NOT provide a way to skip those animations, but they actually provide a pop up instruction every time you try, warning you that you must finish watching said animations.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Cool game. It's not terrible by any means. I'm just struggling to figure out which niche this game fills that isn't done better by a competing product. It's designers obviously meant it to be in the mold of the classic Interplay chess game Battle Chess, but it doesn't have even half of the old games charm. In the old Battle Chess every piece had a different animation depending upon which pieces were doing battle. Knight vs Pawn looked different that Pawn vs Knight, for example. In this game,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Linux version runs well, and the DRM that most of the negative reviews mention looks to have been removed.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →**********NOTE****************** Battle vs Chess Check vs Mate Same game, but both will activate on the same account and both will be added as separate games. Both link to the same store page but are exactly the same. If you own one, do not activate the other as it does not add a thing. ******************************************* So loading this game up required me to register a bunch of personal details... input cd keys etc. The game itself can be normal chess, but you arent…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Multiplayer mode doesn't work! This is single-player chess vs the AI, with some alternate game modes. The different game modes are interesting, but the controls are unpolished in some of them (why are there quicktime events?) It's hard to play with the animated pieces but the graphics can be changed to standard chess pieces.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This was the first chess game on Steam after the free chat games were shut down. Check vs Mate is total crap. Instead of this buy "Fritz" or "Battle Chess: Game of Kings" if you want to play chess on the Steam network.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is nice But the online does not work.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really bad DRM which the developer should remove as soon as possible. Major texture bugs currently make the game unplayable even if you are able to get it activated.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very well done spin on classic battle chess by adding some very good new game modes like The hack and slash game mode that takes the normal game of chess to a whole new level and gives it a step above regular chess in the fun department. very good game .
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Anyone love chess? Wish you could see the pieces fight it out , instead of simply 'capturing'? Check out this game mate....Check...Mate...yeah...see what I did there....listen if you want clever you really should get better friends. Anyway A pretty cool chess game, with varying degrees of difficulty to keep you challenged and entertained.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Horrible netcode. Can't play online without DMZ'ing your connection or using a VPN solution like HAMACHI
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just plain awful. Bad chess, through and thorugh. Like someone's lame college project.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's not just chess.. well..okay its just chess.. 3.5/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Chess with a couple game modes that alter the traditional Chess game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Tags: Boards & Cards TLDR: Disappointing animation work. Warcraft Era models. Visual glare. Failed opportunity for bringing back the classic Interplay battle chess franchise. This is Battle Chess from DOS but remade with something similar to the Warcraft 3 engine. The DOS versions were more entertaining. Back then the animations had a lot of attention given to them, were humoristic or at least creative and unexpected. In Check VS Mate all you get is your standard attack animation and the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Went looking for a modern version of BattleChess, found this. Was not disappointed.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Glitched. FIRST game and the Knight became stuck even though it had multiple legal moves.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →To everyone worried about the DRM, that doesn't appear to be an issue any longer. Great game, challenging AI (and this is coming from a fella what's played a lot of chess in his day), and nice visuals. Highly recommended.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Do you wanna play chess like Ron and Harry Potter? If you love chess and past chess games like "Chess Master" and fighting games like "Soul Blade" then u will love this one. You can play chess the chess way or the fighting harry potter, my rook will joust yours and we'll see who winns E7 way. Over head or eye level zoomed in or not, lovely grafics and animated locations like a heavenly feelds, grass waving in the breeze- or Volcanic Mount doom exploding as the ground below crackles and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not bad, but could be better, especially the multiplayer component, which is completely non-existent. 7/10.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Prolly one of the first games I bought on Steam, still looks gorgeous! p.s. runs natively well on my ultrawide monitor with no black bars
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I like it, but I love chess. If you like chess, don't let the other reviews keep you from trying it. It have interesting chess problems and puts a little twist on the game of chess, but just enough. Graphics are superb and music is good. Chess rules still apply. You can play regular classic chess or choose games like the attacking piece becomes the opposite color. Also there are options of having a mini type game or combat when fighting for over a square. I like the chaos type mode where…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Best Chest Game Ever.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There are plenty of chess games out there for free that will satisfy the itch of playing vs AI, and the puzzles, unique modes, and animations (I really don't need to keep seeing the queen fondle her breasts every time she captures a piece) are nothing to write home about. Save your money.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game reminded me of an older late 80s computer game called Battle Chess. I've been looking for a similar version for some time, and this is it. Like chess, but want to see you pieces battle it out as you capture you opponents pieces? The queens are sexy. Sometimes I don't care who wins when they are fighting each other. I haven't found any issues with the software. I'm runnining the Linux version and haven't had to do any additional DRM like I see mentioned in the other posts…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I dont get why so many people are complaining! I am a ok chess player and i really enjoy this game. I love the music and the animations. The computer is actually very hard to beat even on level 3. I bought a copy for myself and one for my stepdad and we usually play this once or twice a day. So far i think this is the best chess game out, some of the games modes are stupid but the rest are fine. I jsut recommend you buy it when its on sale, i wouldnt buy it for $20. I got it on sale for $3…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →THe game does not recognize my mouse at all WTF this game is garbage and very cheaply made by amateurs..... Don't expect much from the horrible graphics to the non functioning mouse control to the incredibly laggy keyboard controls this game is a complete mess and If I could get a refund from steam I would demand one...
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is an alright game overall. The animation is decent, there are a surprising number of neat modes to mess around with, and I’m glad I gave it a try. Nothing absolutely blew me away, but there’s definitely some fun to be had here. I’d say give it a shot if you can grab it on sale.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Capture the white King with the black Queen and enjoy the show.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Horrible, look else brothers and sisters
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I decided to write a review for this since there's a great deal of misguided, negative reviews for this gem of a game. I bought Check vs Mate because of course I enjoy chess, but what made CvM stand out was that it had done FIRST what no other chess game had done: Animated piece fights to the death. This small detail added into an already awesome game made CvM worth looking into. I played it, I enjoyed it, and the only reason I don't have a whole bunch of hours into it is because I forgot how…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game looks good and for a chess player i enjoy it so many different ways to play chess now (If you get this i will battle you till the death mahahahahaha)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nice interface Chess game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a wonderful game, If you like Chess of course! It adds in many modes and allows multiplayer. It is well worth the money.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Haven't played the campaign, I think chess campaigns in general suck. It's a neat format to play chess with my partner. I like the stylized pieces. I especially like the sexy queens. Not worth it for $25, get it on special for $10 or less. Would be worth more if the graphics were better and if there was unique animations for piece-on-piece combat. As it stands the graphics are showing their age in 2024 and the piece animations are generic "piece A moves and flourishes and piece B goes up in…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I Can't install again. Read the other reviews for more details. Avoid this game!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is absolute garbage. it doesn't play chess with mistakes like people do. it refuses to play at all, juggling the same piece. its not fun, its not challenging, its cheap ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ game from a company that steals your personal data
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →used to run for me, now it dosen't work; when it did work it just wasn't a very fun game of chess.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An honestly fun game to play. I don't see where people talk about the DRM as I don't or ever had a problem with the game and also never had to sign up for anything. But yeah, this game is a great and fun way to get your children into playing chess and not bad if you find this game on sale from a bundle site like the "Dailyindiegame" one.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Durring battle phase, Why do I see Queen in fight, when I took her OUT Already? Won first game anyway; and Dev's.... This Game is SWEET! Hack & Slash Chess the way I Always wanted Chess to be. Vary Nice! Whom ever "Invented Chess"... Dev's have done them Proud. Well Done. :)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A very good game and also under-rated. The kids watch me play and get interested due to the animated pieces. How does the horsey move? Fun to watch them learn the game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Actually - quite a good game especially now that local LAN games are working again. Got the kids playing chess every weekend now.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Used to work and used to be one of the best chess games I've ever played; especially visually. Now, it crashes literally every time I attempt to launch it. No response from TopWare Support. Not sure if the problem I'm having is an isolated incident or not but I can't recoomend this in good conscience.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →its fancy chess...
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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