Video Chess is a game that is played from an overhead perspective. The player uses an “x” cursor to select and move pieces instead of using chess notation. When an attempted move is illegal, a warning sound is made, and the move is not executed.
The game provides two options for players to choose from using the switches on the console. Setting the right switch to A will allow the computer to play as white, while setting it to B will let the player play as white. With the left switch, selecting A allows the player to set up the board as they wish, whereas selecting B sets up the board for a regulation chess game.
There are eight different difficulty levels in the game, and the computer player takes a variable amount of time to determine its moves for each level. The manual that came with Video Chess stated that these were the average amount of time it would take for the game to determine its move at each level:
- 15 seconds
- 30 seconds
- 45 seconds
- 2 minutes, 45 seconds
- 3 minutes, 15 seconds
- 12 minutes
- 10 hours
- 10 seconds
The manual also mentioned that these times were an average and that other factors, such as the complexity of the board position, would affect the amount of time taken for the computer to determine its move.