For many who enjoy playing chess socially and certainly for those wanting to learn how to play while acquiring sound foundation skills that will stand them in good stead, the electronic chess computers in the Social category are the first port of call for a fun opponent or patient teacher.

The performance of these computers is simply configured with menus and options to give even observant novices opportunities to win on their lowest settings, while on their highest settings they can play to a standard better than the average of all people able to play chess. The handheld model in the Social category also offers the choice of seven other strategy games with graduated skill levels for each.

The programs of the PowerBrain and Millennium models are the effort of teams led by an elder statesman of computer chess, British International Master David Levy. The programmer of the Social category Saitek Mephisto units is US computer scientist and FIDE Master Craig Barnes.