Suggestion: Reverse language on the assist level

First off, I am loving the ChessUp 2 and have been having a blast with my 5 year old son playing chess for the first time. He loves it.

One issue I thought I would mention is around the naming of the assist levels. It seems to assume that we are choosing the assist level of the board (master = most assist). However, for myself and everyone else who has tried the board, the assume the assist level is referring to the player’s ability level (master = least assist). This has caused confusion a number of times. I would recommend either reversing the names to reflect the skill level of the player (not the board assisting) or make it more clear by changing the words (something like least assist vs. most assist).

I know you guys are working hard on a lot of updates and just wanted to call this one out to see if anyone else thought it might make sense.

Keep up the great work!

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Hmm. I would think that I like the current naming system better than your proposed change, but if in the past you used another app or system with that sort of naming system I can see how it would be confusing. I recommend using the color icons at the bottom more than the verbal language to determine assistance level.

That said, reversed naming would be a good setting to be able to toggle on and off in settings…

Good question.

Here is the logic of which level of player should be using which assistance, hence the names:

  1. Beginners need help learning not to blunder - mainly not leave pieces hanging or enter exchanges where they come out down material. So the assistance level 2, which warns of blunders = beginner assistance

  2. Top players who are trying to master specific deep tactics and strategy, need to know the top move - the engine choice. So level 6 = master assistance.

Anyone can use any level of assistance. But if a beginner is following level 6, they will not be playing their own game anymore. So we encourage beginners to use the lower levels to practice against bots and other beginners.

The exception, and what causes confusion, is when trying to balance a match between a beginner and an expert. In that case, the beginner may need “master” assistance to keep up.

However, we named them by which levels we feel the player benefits from the most. Beginners benefit most from learning simpler tactics, not hanging pieces, etc. They should get comfortable with level 2/3 until they are mostly picking green moves naturally. Then progress up. An expert should be studying with 5/6.

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Interesting, did not know that was how that worked.

Thank you for explaining the theory behind the decisions. That makes sense when you explain it from your side. I only bumped up against it playing 2 player OTB games, so I hit the edge case that caused me to scratch my head.

I like the suggestion of a setting that can change it, but also realize this is WAY lower priority than all the other amazing things you guys are working on.

Thanks for helping me understand!

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