USCF Chess

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Follow this link for info about the review system. 1 = Terrible, 5 = Awesome!

Continuing their grand tradition of licensing anything they could (other than arcade titles, of course), Mattel picked up the license for their Chess game from the Unites States Chess Federation.

USCF ChessGraphics: 3
Sound: 2
Replay Value: 3
Notes: 0-, 1- or 2-player game. Needed extra RAM on the cart!
Screen Shots

Since I'm a bad chess player, I can't judge U.S.C.F. Chess based on its chess-playing ability. Rumor has it that it can be quite good–if you give it overnight or so between moves. The game seems pretty feature-complete in terms of Chess rules.




ROM No ROM variants have been identified.
Box So far, four variations have been found.
Manual Ten variants have been identified.
Overlays Four different overlay variations are known to exist. Note: This game uses multiple overlays.
Label To date, four labels have been recorded.
Easter Eggs No Easter Eggs have been found.




A total of four USCF Chess box variants have been documented.

Image Vendor Part Number Year Origin Description
USCF Chess Box (Mattel Electronics 3412-0910) Mattel Electronics 3412-0910 1982 U.S.A. Trayless pocket; no part number on top; © Mattel, Inc. Hawthorne, CA on bottom
USCF Chess Box (Mattel Electronics 3412-0510) Mattel Electronics 3412-0510 1982 Hong Kong NOT CONFIRMED (assumed due to shrinkwrapped copy); French-Canadian; plastic tray; no part number on top; © Mattel Canada Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada on back; USCF logo on front and spine replaced with 'king' glyph from overlays; USCF designation in game title
USCF Chess Box (Mattel Electronics 3412-0410) Mattel Electronics 3412-0410 1982 Hong Kong International version with slots in back for localized manual; damaged shrinkwrap
USCF Chess Box (Intellivision Inc. 3412) Intellivision Inc. 3412 1982 U.S.A. Standard Intellivision, Inc. box

The two different versions of the box from Mattel have a subtle difference in them. Special thanks to Hankster for pointing it out. Look carefully to the left of the title on the box and the spine, and you'll see that the dual-language (English/French) box has a different symbol on it than the U.S.A. market release. C'mon, is a map of the U.S.A. really that offensive? Why bother removing it? The irony of it is that the game's title remained U.S.C.F. Chess!





A total of ten USCF Chess manual variants have been documented.

Image Vendor Part Number Year Origin Description
USCF Chess Manual (Mattel Electronics 3412-0920) Mattel Electronics 3412-0920 1982 U.S.A. Several errors, addressed in supplements - Playing Recommendation (3412-0790, U.S.A.) and error corrections (3412-8922, Canada)
USCF Chess Manual (Mattel Electronics 3412-0920-G3) Mattel Electronics 3412-0920-G3 1982 U.S.A. Corrects numerous errors as compared to the original
USCF Chess Manual (Mattel Electronics 3412-0720G1) Mattel Electronics 3412-0720G1 1982 Hong Kong French-Canadian version; is there a non "G1" version?; provided by BSRSteve
USCF Chess Manual (Mattel Electronics 3412-0121) Mattel Electronics 3412-0121 1982 Hong Kong German translation; submitted by <Unknown>
USCF Chess Manual (Mattel Electronics 3412-0121G1) Mattel Electronics 3412-0121G1 1982 Hong Kong German translation; curious about differences with the non-G1 version
USCF Chess Manual (Mattel Electronics 3412-0111G1) Mattel Electronics 3412-0111G1 1982 Hong Kong French translation
Image not available. Mattel Electronics 3412-0131 1982 Hong Kong Italian version; title localized as 'Il Gioco Degli Scacchi U.S.C.F.'
USCF Chess Manual (Mattel Electronics 3412-0131G1) Mattel Electronics 3412-0131G1 1982 Hong Kong Italian version; title localized as 'Il Gioco Degli Scacchi U.S.C.F.'
Image not available. Mattel Electronics 3412-???? 1982 Hong Kong Spanish translation; spotted in an eBay (Mexico) auction once
USCF Chess Manual (Intellivision Inc. 3412-0920-G3) Intellivision Inc. 3412-0920-G3 None U.S.A. Staple along top edge; thickness of stock may vary

Supplemental Materials

The following supplemental materials have been found for USCF Chess.

Image Vendor Part Number Year Origin Description
USCF Chess Additional Materials (Mattel Electronics 3412-0790) Mattel Electronics 3412-0790 1982 U.S.A. Recommendation warning the player that at the higher skill levels, the computer 'may take days to complete' a move
USCF Chess Additional Materials (Mattel Electronics 3412-8922) Mattel Electronics 3412-8922 None Canada Obverse side of English/French corrections to the manual; shows corrected version of the overlays; was this only supplied in the French-Canadian version?
USCF Chess Additional Materials (Mattel Electronics 3412-8922) Mattel Electronics 3412-8922 None Canada Reverse side of French-Canadian correction slip; corrects graphics used on page 10 of the manual
USCF Chess Additional Materials (Mattel Electronics 3412-0150) Mattel Electronics 3412-0150 1982 Hong Kong Multi-lingual version of the recommendation warning the player that at the higher skill levels, the computer 'may take days to complete' a move; reported by BSRSteve

Changes to the manual mostly involve the problems with the overlays...

Inside front cover - Left Controller (Original)

Inside front cover: Left Controller (Original)

Inside front cover - Left Controller (Rev. G3)

Inside front cover: Left Controller (Rev. G3)

Changes regarding the right controller.

Page 1 - Right Controller (Original)

Page 1: Right Controller (Original)

Page 1 - Right Controller (Rev. G3)

Page 1: Right Controller (Rev. G3)

Changed the 'color' of the text shown in the image on this page. (WHITE)

Page 2 Game Start (Original)

Page 2: Game Start (Original)

Page 2 - Game Start (Rev. G3)

Page 2: Game Start (Rev. G3)

Due to the overlay change, the image regarding the intermission code was also changed.

Page 6 - Intermission Code (Original)

Page 6: Intermission Code (Original)

Page 6 - Intermission Code (Rev. G3)

Page 6: Intermission Code (Rev. G3)

Finally, the last overlay-related change, on page 10.

Page 10 - Overlay (Original)

Page 10: Overlay (Original)

Page 10 - Overlay (Rev. G3)

Page 10: Overlay (Rev. G3)





A total of four USCF Chess overlay variants have been documented.

Image Vendor Part Number Year Origin Description
USCF Chess Overlay (Mattel Electronics 3412-4299) Mattel Electronics 3412-4299 1982 U.S.A. Left controller overlay; King and Queen incorrectly positioned
USCF Chess Overlay (Mattel Electronics 3412-4289) Mattel Electronics 3412-4289 1981 U.S.A. Right controller overlay; King and Queen incorrectly positioned
USCF Chess Overlay (Mattel Electronics 3412-4299G1) Mattel Electronics 3412-4299G1 1982 U.S.A. Left controller overlay; King and Queen correctly positioned
USCF Chess Overlay (Mattel Electronics 3412-4289G1) Mattel Electronics 3412-4289G1 1982 U.S.A. Right controller overlay; King and Queen correctly positioned
USCF Chess Overlay (Intellivision Productions) Intellivision Productions N/A None   Left controller overlay; part of the bonus overlays included with the Sam's Club edition of the 2014 Intellivision Flashback; copyright information has been removed; King and Queen incorrectly positioned
USCF Chess Overlay (Intellivision Productions) Intellivision Productions N/A None   Right controller overlay; part of the bonus overlays included with the Sam's Club edition of the 2014 Intellivision Flashback; copyright information has been removed; King and Queen incorrectly positioned
USCF Chess Overlay (Intellivision Productions) Intellivision Productions N/A 2014 U.S.A. Left controller overlay; part of the Supplemental Overlay Pack for Intellivision Flashback; King and Queen incorrectly positioned
USCF Chess Overlay (Intellivision Productions) Intellivision Productions N/A 2014 U.S.A. Right controller overlay; part of the Supplemental Overlay Pack for Intellivision Flashback; NOTE: this overlay has the King and Queen correctly positioned




A total of four USCF Chess label variants have been documented.

Image Vendor Part Number Year Origin Description
USCF Chess Label (Mattel Electronics) Mattel Electronics N/A 1981 U.S.A. Origin lower left; © M.I. 1981 left-center
Image not available. Mattel Electronics N/A 1981 Hong Kong NOT CONFIRMED (assumed to be in shrinkwrapped copy); Origin lower left; © M.I. 1981 left-center
USCF Chess Label (Intellivision Inc.) Intellivision Inc. N/A 1982 U.S.A. Origin lower right; © I.I. 1982 to left of origin; ™ small, centered vertically on right edge; smaller label, rounded corners
USCF Chess Label (Intellivision Inc.) Intellivision Inc. N/A 1982   Date lower right; no copyright, origin; larger label, square corners




Title Screen Title screen for USCF Chess.
Oooh! An 8x8 Chess Board! Yep. It's a chess board all right.




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