Hi
Katel,
I also had a lot of fun with the chess game. Actually I tended to play more than to read. In this sense, it is perhaps not a bad thing for me that the game is broken

.
This will not solve the problem, but do you know
Lucas Chess Portable (
http://portableapps.com/apps/games/lucas-chess-portable)? As it is a portable app you can put it on a usb for the laptop or, of course, play it with your desktop pc. There is a quite good tutor function.
At least, until Kobo removes bugs in the last update!