We got this a couple of Christmases ago and it's great! We only needed to play with the cards a few times before we were ready to play without them, but using the cards made learning completely "No Stress." Now, we'll often go several months without playing chess, and it's always nice to be able to play a game or two with the cards to refresh our memories of which pieces can make which moves. (BTW: We got this game when our kids were newly 5, 7, and 10, and the 5 year old had a very easy time learning to play. I'd actually never played chess before that, and I picked it up as easily as my kids did.)
