I decided to get back into chess after a twenty year layoff. I played a lot of computer chess, because access was easy but when I decided I would get into over the table playing, including tournaments, I felt that all my time on the computer had taken away from person to person, IRL, play. And I was right. Playing over the board felt a little uncomfortable the first night, but I quickly got used to it.

My decision to get the Millennium Chess Lasker King Edition came after a great deal of searching and comparing. I am strictly a Mac user, so that came into play as well. After ordering there were production side problems. Chess House did their best to accommodate me, but being a bit older, I do not have much patience. In the end, they got me what I wanted and I appreciate that. I also ordered the Millennium Chesslink.

This unit was packed as if it were a carton of thin shelled eggs. Excellent.

Set up was painless and went quickly.

Everything worked right out of the box.

Pieces could be a bit heavier, but that's just my preference.

I like the board and I like the led's.

Learning the menus and working through them just takes a bit it time. The manual helps, but just playing around with them gives you that real time feel. At least that's the way I do it.

I decided to work through the levels from the lowest up, to find the place where I was challenged. Easy to do.

I hooked up to my iPad easily, via bluetooth, but my preference is to use my Macbook Air. The adaptor for that is not included, but I will have it hand tomorrow. You do not need Chesslink to use Lasker, but I believe it is easier to save games that way. When I get the cable I will see.

I am a bit clumsy with the pieces on occasion, knocking them over when moving a piece, but it presents no real problem.

This product is a real work of art. I am quite pleased with my purchase and would recommend it to any Mac user (or PC).
That's all I can report at present.

The unit is a little pricey but worth every penny.
It comes with two opening books and there are many ways to reduce the strength of this chess computer to suit the weakest player.
The Lasker has piece recognition so setting up a new position is very easy and a delight to play against.

I have no regrets buying this chess computer.

ChessHouse has exceptional customer service. They do every thing to help the customer and are very knowledgeable concerning their products.
I would definitely purchase from ChessHouse again.

I INITIALLY BOUGHT THIS COMPUTER, THE LASKER KING, TO PREPARE FOR CHESS TOURNAMENTS. WHETHER YOU PLAY e4, d4, c4, or Nf3 AS YOUR FIRST MOVE, YOU NEED TO KNOW SUFFICIENT THEORY; WELL, THIS COMPUTER HAS 2 LARGE OPENING BOOKS AND A UNIQUELY HUMAN PLAYING STYLE. IT INCLUDES MULTIPLE "BEGINNER" AND "ADVANCED" LEVELS, AND I FOUND BEGINNER LEVELS CHALLENGING. IT'S OPENING BOOKS ARE DEEP; IT PLAYS A TRICKY TACTICAL MIDDLEGAME. IT IS EASY TO OPERATE; AFTER PLAYING A FEW GAMES, THE USE OF THE "KING" BECOMES INTUITIVE. YOU CAN USE IT AS A TOURNAMENT PRACTICE PARTNER. IT HAS A SET-UP MODE FOR PRACTICING YOUR FAVORITE POSITIONS OR ANALYZING YOUR GAMES; IT HAS AN AUTOMATIC "SAVE" FUNCTION SO YOU CAN PLACE A GAME "ON HOLD" AND PICK-UP LATER WHERE YOU LEFT OFF, OR TO "STORE" YOUR GAMES. THE 2 OPENING BOOKS "KNOW" OPENINGS , YOU CAN SET DIFFERENT PLAYING STYLES, AND THERE IS A FUTURE DOWNLOAD OPTION TO PLAY A PROGRAM FROM YOUR LAPTOP. THE "BEGINNER'S" ENGINES ARE STRONG, BUT DON'T LET THAT SCARE YOU AWAY; IT HAS "EASY" LEVELS FOR THE COMPLETE BEGINNER. THIS IS THE TYPE OF COMPUTER THAT GROWS WITH YOU AS YOU IMPROVE. I REALLY DO BELIEVE THIS IS THE BEST STAND ALONE MODEL I EVER PURCHASED. I INITIALLY HAD DIFFICULTY WITH THE AUTOMATIC SAVING OF GAMES - I WANTED TO ERASE THEM. THE MANUAL PROVIDES A WAY TO DO THIS, BUT THE STAFF AT THE CHESS HOUSE WERE ABLE TO PROVIDE A SHORTCUT! I HAVE MADE NUMEROUS PURCHASES FROM THE CHESS HOUSE AND THEIR SUPPORT TEAM HAS ALWAYS BEEN HELPFUL. YOU CAN TRUST THE CHESS HOUSE TO BE YOUR SOURCE FOR ALL OF YOUR CHESS EQUIPMENT. I HAVE ZERO RESERVATIONS ABOUT THE "LASKER KING" AND I BELIEVE YOU CAN MAKE YOUR PURCHASE WITH CONFIDENCE. I MIGHT ADD THAT THE BOARD AND CHESS MEN ARE MADE OF BEAUTIFUL WOOD, SO YOU ARE ALSO BUYING AN ATTRACTIVE PIECE OF FURNITURE; JUST KEEP IT AWAY FROM SUNLIGHT TO PREVENT DISCOLORATION. I'M COMPLETELY SATISFIED. LEN

This machine is quite awesome. I have quite a few machines, including a DGT board (the heavy one), a recent Revelation II and the old Exclusive / Munchen Mephisto ... so I can easily compare.

If you know what was a TASC R30/R40 this is really the closest you can get. https://www.schach-computer.info/wiki/index.php?title=Tasc

The build quality is quite great and there is plenty attention to details even in the packaging. The 81 LEDS board is great and the chessmen are cool and very responsive. I played a few games and never experienced any issue when moving the chessmen. The King on-screen menus are clear and easy to use, especially if you are coming from the good old Mephisto machines. The power adapter is great and can work in many countries.

I also really like the capability to reduce the processor speed down to 10Mhz (from 300Mhz by 10Mhz steps). This is a great idea actually !

Some of the cons (there are totally acceptable and you can easily live with them ) :

- the board could have more weight and be bigger.
- the chessmen could have been a tad better in their shape and their color
- the King module could have been in wood instead of plastic
- the black cable liking the board to the King module is a bit ugly and break the aesthetics
- I would have excepted to be able to buy a hard / soft case for storing the machine (instead of the regular box)

Now on the ugly: I was able to connect the King module to my MacBookPro. The provided Mac software is terrible and does not work for me so far. That is of a concern. I will try later with a Windows machine but this is uncool so far.

Last, the delivery from ChessHouse has been very fast and the packaging was very pro.

I am very happy about this purchase.

Yes, it costs a bit much, but it is perfect. The board lights up as you move pieces and tells you where to move the computer. The pieces are a bit smaller, but after a moment--likey after it takes your queen again--you do not notice anymore. No regrets paying for the special edition! Unboxed it today. Excellent!