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It was late June of 2009, the sunny, summer weather now hitting all parts of the great United States. Tucked away in a game store near you (or maybe not so near you) was a little chess simulation for the Wii entitled Fritz Chess.

Now, chess simulation games have never been known to be hot sellers, though most of us older gamers remember the glory days of the Chessmaster series (which hit it stride in the late 80s and early 90s and still continues this day on handhelds like the DS and PSP).

Fritz Chess is a program developed by Germans Frans Morsch and Mathias Feist (thanks wiki). The program is published by Chessbase (a german based company) and has taken a footing in the European PC market. The program has been translated into console form and can be found all over Europe for the PS3, PC, Wii and DS.

A company called Deep Silver – which is also based in Germany – decided to port the game over to US shores for the Wii and DS last summer as well, in hopes the American crowd, which has gone gaga over Nintendo’s console – could appreciate a deep, strategic chess game.

It appears that the game didn’t take off as hoped for (or so it seems). A quick search for the title on eBay brings up exactly one listing right now (and at $124.71 new, I think I’ll pass). I hit up Amazon only to find seven copies on sale through their merchants, the lowest price for a used copy being $36.99 and $88.99 for a new one. Now, this is popular practice for merchants selling “obscure” titles, to inflate the value where it only sells to the most gullible (if it sells at all). So by simply trusting Amazon on it’s own merits is simply falling into that trap that those merchants want.

But what if those merchants are on to something here (intentionally or not)? You see, most every modern gaming title (outside of some special edition releases) can be found with a quick search on ebay/amazon, even if they are long out of print. Whether a title is in-demand, out of print, out of stock, new or used, one with a handful of cash and a computer can generally find the game they want online these days. It makes collecting games more streamlined and the lessens the reliance on waiting for that old game to come through the local indie trade-in store. Punch in any game for the Wii/PS3/Xbox 360 and you’ll find a bevy of listings online selling the game, I don’t care if it’s shovelware or an instant classic, it’s on there somewhere.

With Fritz Chess, it’s really not. Searching the internet for a couple hours, I came up with next to nothing outside those listings on Amazon and the one on eBay. You can’t find it on any national retail chain’s websites. With google I was able to pull up old listings for the game on Buy.com, Target, Meijer and Toys ‘r’ Us, only to find either they are out of stock or the listing doesn’t exist anymore in their system. Wal-mart shows the game (including a graphic for the European box) but is out of stock. A google search for Gamestop’s page brings up some hope, as it shows a used game listing. On a tip that the game was found at a bargain bin at a Toys ‘r’ Us in Los Angeles, I typed in a Los Angeles zipcode, and, sure enough, a couple stores were stocking a used copy. I checked zipcode in DC for used copies, and one Gamestop in Annapolis carried it. I then checked some in Chicago and New York, but no dice. My state – Montana – has none…

There is one online retailer offering a new copy for sale. Yesasia seems to have it in stock for $40 (with an ominous wait 7-14 days for shipping note). The game retailed for $29.99 new (I’m guessing based on my searches) so this is hardly a deal. Also, somewhat surprisingly, the game can be rented from Gamefly (and kept for $19.99, but I imagine that is for the disc only).

Other than that, it is a barren wasteland for those looking to purchase a copy of Fritz Chess in the U.S. For a game that came out less than a year ago, it’s literally nowhere to be found online (or at least as close as you can get).

Now, we all know online isn’t the only rodeo for video game distribution. The game is apparently for sale in and around Los Angeles, as far as I know as a fellow gamer noted the Toys ‘r’ Us store near him sells it as do indie game shops in the area. That’s all fine. But where else is it? I checked my Toys ‘r’ Us and the manager never heard of the game – even going so far as to look it up and find no listing for it in the database (outside of the DS version, which is more widely available and can still be purchased new). Did the game have a limited distribution? This seems to point to that idea.

My theory is that Fritz Chess got a test run, a short distribution to a few online retailers and stores in major markets. After the stock ran dry (or was liquidated) that was it. It’s likely if you live in an area that got copies, it’s still in one of those bargain bins. While the demand seems to be nowhere for a game like this, what happens a year or two down the road. What happens when the Wii gives way to the next Nintendo console? What happens if we got the next Bubble Bath Babes on our hands (ok, I know I’m stretching it). Either way, evidence points to Fritz Chess being a very limited release and if your one to prospect, it might be worth snatching up a copy now before the well runs dry.