I consider myself at a ~beginner+ level. Beat it on my second attempt. IMO this is the right amount of difficulty without being overwhelming for a beginner(or novice), which TBH is the majority the world. This is a great program that I could use as a litmus test for checking if my newbie friends of chess has made satisfactory progress without me playing with a handicap or artificially lowering my gameplay. This program appears to be in the delightful zone for the casual player. Bravo!