Collector's Corner..On Dedicated Chess Computers...

[Steve B]

Hi Steve,

Rook sac, and mate in 5 , sometimes this machines make you think that they have a bigger elo than they really have.

Best
Ricardo

hi Ricardo
even many of the older computers were very good with tactical shots
but we can see that in endgame play,positional play and long range planning the older ones were very weak

the Excellence 4.0 could be 2000 Elo tactically but only 1500 positionally (by way of example)

Robot Rodeo Regards
Steve

[cornetmike]

Indeed! Steve has shown why I still play my old beat up Excellence. Perhaps I'll post a game of my Excellence beating the pants off of my Excalibur King Arthur....

regards
Mikey

[Steve B]

Indeed! Steve has shown why I still play my old beat up Excellence. Perhaps I'll post a game of my Excellence beating the pants off of my Excalibur King Arthur....

regards
Mikey

indeed Mikey
yet another win for the Spracklens over Nelson
let see it Regards
Steve

[Steve B]

It is always a cause for celebration when a new old chess computer is added to the collection.
after the mandatory acceptance speeches,awards ceremonies and luncheon buffet the time soon arrives for the new addition to be tested in fierce battle

The Mephisto London program was released independently in 1996 by programmer Richard Lang for use in the various Mephisto boards
the program was based on his Genius 3 program but added the Genius 4 opening book

the London program could be purchased in 5 different flavors:
London 68000(upgrade for several Mephisto 68000 modules)
London 68020(upgrade for several Mephisto 68020 modules)
London 68030-33Mhz (Upgrade for Genius 68030 modules)
London 68030-36 Mhz(For the Tournament machine)
London Pro(upgrade for the Berlin Pro)

The new arrival.. the London 68020(In Portorose 68020 casings) was rated 2196(SS):




i thought a good test for it would be to match it up against another computer with the name of a major City so i choose another Mephisto but with a different programmer..the Mephisto Atlanta.. rated 2224(SS) By Frans Morsch:


London 020 had White..TIME Control Game/30min

In the game the Atlanta was out of book first at move 6
it searched typically 8 ply and approximately 3000 NPS
the London reached 4 ply(Brute) and 16(Selectively)


[White "Mephisto London 68020"]
[Black "Mephisto Atlanta"]
[Time Control "Game/30Min"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.d3 Bb4 7.Bd2 O-O
8.Nxd5 Qxd5 9.Bxb4 Nxb4 10.a3 Nc6 11.Bg2 Qb5 12.Qc2 Bg4 13.Qc3 Rad8 14.Rc1 Bh5 15.a4

[fen]3r1rk1/ppp2ppp/2n5/1q2p2b/P7/2QP1NP1/1P2PPBP/2R1K2R w K - 0 15[/fen]

the London throws the game into wild complications with this unnecessary pawn thrust
the move would not be so bad if White had already castled..however in this position with its King still in the center
the move just leads to a loss of material
15..Qxa4 16.Nxe5 Nd4 17.g4 Rfe8 18.f4 Bxg4 19.e3 Nf3+
20.Bxf3 Bxf3 21.O-O Bd5 22.Qxc7 f6 23.Nc4 Rc8 24.Qd6 Qb5
25.b3 Rcd8 26.Qa3 Qd7 27.f5 b5 28.Nb2 Rxe3 29.Qc5 Re5 30.Qf2 Rde8 31.Rc2 Bxb3 32.Rd2

32..g6!
[fen]4r1k1/p2q3p/5pp1/1p2rP2/8/1b1P4/1N1R1Q1P/5RK1 w - - 0 33[/fen]
a nice finesse by Atlanta
already behind two pawns if London takes the pawn it will be open to an attack which will result in the heavy loss of material and to not take the pawn results in even more material loss

here the London showed a PV 0f -4.21 and Atlanta showed +3.7


33.Qh4 Rxf5 34.Rxf5 Qxf5 35.Qf2 Qg5+
36.Kf1 Be6 37.Re2 Qc1+ 38.Nd1 Qxd1+ 39.Qe1 Qxd3 40.Kg1 a5 41.Rd2 Qf5
42.Qe3 Qb1+ 43.Kf2 Bd7 44.Rxd7 Rxe3

Final Position

[fen]6k1/3R3p/5pp1/pp6/8/4r3/5K1P/1q6 w - - 0 45[/fen]
London Resigns here

A Tale Of Two Cities Regards
Steve

[Wardy]

Very nice game by the Atlanta Steve

Nice to see it win against another strong opponent after seeing it lose to the Star Diamond twice in Blitz!

Keep on testing regards

Paul

[Steve B]

Very nice game by the Atlanta Steve

Nice to see it win against another strong opponent after seeing it lose to the Star Diamond twice in Blitz!

Keep on testing regards

Paul

yes Paul ..the Atlanta is a very fine computer
played another game against your Arch Nemesis the Berlin London Pro:

in the Game ,Atlanta took White and oddly was again the first out of book and also again at move 6
the BLP searched typically 4 ply (Brute) and 16 (Selective) with an occasional foray into 5/17

[White "Atlanta"]
[Black "London Pro"]
[Time Control "Game/30 Min"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 Na5 7.Bb3 Nxb3
8.axb3 c6 9.O-O Bg4 10.Na4 Bb4 11.c3 Ba5 12.b4 Bc7 13.b3 O-O 14.Re1 a6
15.h3 Bh5 16.g4 Bg6 17.Nh4 h6 18.Nxg6 fxg6 19.Bh4 g5 20.Bg3 Nd7 21.Nb2
Qf6 22.Nc4 Rf7 23.Ne3 Raf8 24.Nf5 Kh7 25.Qe2 g6 26.Ne3 Kg8 27.Nc4 d5
28.Ne3 dxe4 29.dxe4 Bb6 30.Rad1 Re7 31.Rd3 Bc7 32.Ra1 Nb6 33.Rad1 Ref7
34.Qc2 Nc8 35.Nc4 Qe7 36.Rd7

[fen]2n2rk1/1pbRqr2/p1p3pp/4p1p1/1PN1P1P1/1PP3BP/2Q2P2/3R2K1 w - - 0 36[/fen]
With material equal the Atlanta gives up two Rooks for Queen and Pawn
but the pawn is now passed and becomes the focus of attention for the ensuing battle
36..Qxd7 37.Rxd7 Rxd7 38.Nxe5 Bxe5
39.Bxe5 Rf3 40.Bd4 Ne7 41.Kg2 Rf8 42.Qe2 Kh7 43.Kg3 Re8 44.Qf3 Ng8 45.e5
Ree7 46.h4 gxh4+ 47.Kxh4 Re8 48.g5 h5 49.Qf4 Ree7 50.Bc5 Rf7 51.Qe4 Rf5
52.e6 Rd8 53.e7 Re8

54.Qe6 Kg7

[fen]4r1n1/1p2P1k1/p1p1Q1p1/2B2rPp/1P5K/1PP5/5P2/8 w - - 0 55[/fen]
Whites position is now overwhelming with the pawn serving as a knife in the BLP's throat
black could have offered a bit more more resistance here with 54.Rf4+ ..the text however loses immediately

55.Bd4+ Kh7 56.Bf6 Rxe7
57.Bxe7 Nxe7 58.Qxe7+ Kg8 59.Qxb7 Rxf2 60.Qxc6 Rf4+ 61.Kg3 Rg4+ 62.Kh3
Rxg5 63.Qe6+ Kg7 64.Qe7+

FINAL POSITION

[fen]8/4Q1k1/p5p1/6rp/1P6/1PP4K/8/8 w - - 0 64[/fen]
the London Pro Resigns here

The Atlanta is sooo Fine..theres no tellin where the money went
Simply Irresistible

Robert Palmer Sends His Regards
Steve
PS..To all of our US Members
Happy Thanksgiving!

[Steve B]

Novag released five calculator style computers :
VIP(1638)
Super VIP(1688)
Ruby(1882)
Sapphire(2092)
Sapphire II(2133)

all programmed by MR.Novag(Dave Kittinger)
Perhaps the least commonly seen of these five is the Ruby



the principle reason for the increase in strength of the Ruby over its lower rated brethren was the use of the Risc processor over the 6301 processor

in trying to locate a suitable opponent for the Ruby's annual check up i glanced at my trusty Selective Search dedicated computer rating list and i found these three contiguous entries:

Mephisto Monte Carlo....1874
Novag Ruby....1882
Mephisto Monte Carlo IV ....1884

instead of just playing the run of the mill Monte Carlo IV I choose instead the very controversial Mephisto Monte Carlo IV Limited Edition(LE)
controversial because it must be the largest selling "Limited Edition "of all time
almost every collector i know has it and i think it was only "limited" to anyone who wanted to buy one
actually i think there were more LE's sold then regular Monte Carlo IV's or even Monte Carlo I's

the normal MCIV ran at 4 Mhz and the only difference in the MCIV LE is that it runs at twice the clock speed at 8 Mhz
both have the same exact engine by Ed Schröder
the MCIV was rated 1884(SS)so i imagine a doubling of the clock speed would place it solidly in the Mid 1900's:



the time control was 30sec/avg and i gave the white pieces to the MCIV LE
in the game the MCIV LE reached typical search depths of 6 ply and was out of book first at move 7 while the Ruby also reached 6 plies on avg

[White "Monte Carlo IV LE"]
[Black "Novag Ruby"]
[Time Control "30Sec/avg."]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Be3 Qf6 6.c3 Nge7 7.g3 d5 8.Bg2
dxe4 9.Nb5 Bxe3 10.Nxc7+ Kf8 11.O-O Rb8 12.fxe3 Qe5 13.Qb3 f5
14.Nb5 Be6 15.Qa4 Qc5 16.Nd4 Bf7 17.Bxe4

[fen]1r3k1r/pp2nbpp/2n5/2q2p2/Q2NB3/2P1P1P1/PP5P/RN3RK1 w - - 0 17[/fen]
17..Qb6 ??
the Ruby simply does not recognize that it is in dire straits here...and decides to embark on an ill conceived pawn grabbing escapade for white's b2 pawn (precisely the same type of mistake some Team Hiarcs players are trying to get the Res ll X to make..)

.17..g6 is needed to protect the F5 Pawn

White's last move sacking the Bishop is a nice surprise and certainly not a typical move for a Schroder program which is not typically known to be a ferocious attacking engine but rather had its strength in very solid strong positional play
actually it is the Kittinger attack engine that typically finds moves like these and i double checked the position to make sure i had the proper computers making the proper moves
the Bishop of course cannot be taken as white has 18.Ne6+ forking the Black Queen

18.Nxf5 Qxb2 19.Nxe7 Kxe7 20.Bxc6 bxc6 21.Qxa7+ Qb7 22.Qc5+ Ke8 23.Qe5+
Kf8 24.Nd2 Qa7
25.Rxf7+!
[fen]1r3k1r/q4Rpp/2p5/4Q3/8/2P1P1P1/P2N3P/R5K1 w - - 0 25[/fen]
the final punishing blow
the Ruby RESIGNED here showing a pv of-7.87 with the MCIVLE showing a pv of +8.15

A Nice attacking game for Schroder's Engine and a good lesson for the Res II X(who was following along in this game and taking copious notes)

The Brotherhood Of Machines ..Send Their Regards
Steve

[Steve B]

Today a real Collectors Item stumbled into my examination rooms

The Fidelity USCF Special Edition(SE)
released in 1984 it was offered exclusively to the then current members of the United States Chess Federation(USCF) and hence its name
Fidelity every early on Supported the USCF and still does today through Excalibur Electronics
the computer was rated in the mid 1600's and contained an improved version of the CSC program by the Spracklens
it was sold "bundled " with the Impact printer

notice how although the program is in the typical CSC wooden housing the squares are White-Green instead of the normal White-Brown
this was done to simulate the colors of the typical vinyl board used even today in rated USCF weekend chess tournaments
Excalibur continues with this idea today in their Grandmaster computer :



i matched the USCF up against the Saitek Renaissance program
without an added module the program built into the board was rated 1730(SS) and was programmed by Julio Kaplan

the time control was game 30 minutes

In the game the USCF had the White pieces and was out of book by move 4 it typically searched 4-5 ply deep
the Ren also searched 4-5 ply averaging about 225 positions per second

[White "Fidelity USCF SE"]
[Black "Saitek Renaissance"]
[Time Control "Game 30 Min.]


1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 e6 3.g3 dxc4 4.Qa4+ Bd7 5.Qxc4 c5 6.Nc3 Nc6 7.Bh3 Nf6
8.O-O Na5 9.Qf4 Be7 10.Bg2 Bc6 11.d3 O-O 12.Bd2 Qd6
13.Qxd6 Bxd6 14.Bg5 Kh8 15.Bxf6 gxf6 16.Rac1 Rfd8 17.Ne4 Bxe4 18.dxe4
Rd7 19.e3 b6 20.Rfd1 Rad8 21.Rd2 a6 22.Rcd1 Nc4 23.Rc2 Ne5 24.Nxe5

Bxe5 25.Rxd7 Rxd7 26.Bf1 Rd1 27.f4 Bc7 28.Kf2 a5 29.Be2 Rh1
30.h4

30...Rh2+????
[fen]7k/2b2p1p/1p2pp2/p1p5/4PP1P/4P1P1/PPR1BK1r/8 w - - 0 31[/fen]
in a drawn bishops of opposite color endgame ,with both sides having doubled pawns the Ren spews forth a blunder of historic proportions
the Ren was not even short of time here
the Rook will now be trapped by the White King and this just loses the Exchange and the game for no reason

31.Kg1 Rxe2 32.Rxe2 b5 33.Rd2 Bb6 34.Rd6 Ba7 35.Ra6 Bb8
36.Ra8 *

FINAL POSITION
[fen]Rb5k/5p1p/4pp2/ppp5/4PP1P/4P1P1/PP6/6K1 w - - 0 36[/fen]
its over..
the Ren was showing a PV of -5.03 and the USCF +7.00



Membership Has Its Rewards Regards
Steve

[spacious_mind]

Today a real Collectors Item stumbled into my examination rooms

The Fidelity USCF Special Edition(SE)
released in 1984 it was offered exclusively to the then current members of the United States Chess Federation(USCF) and hence its name
Fidelity every early on Supported the USCF and still does today through Excalibur Electronics
the computer was rated in the mid 1600's and contained an improved version of the CSC program by the Spracklens
it was sold "bundled " with the Impact printer

notice how although the program is in the typical CSC wooden housing the squares are White-Green instead of the normal White-Brown
this was done to simulate the colors of the typical vinyl board used even today in rated USCF weekend chess tournaments
Excalibur continues with this idea today in their Grandmaster computer :

Steve:

Beautiful!

I am going to have to stop looking at your collectors corner all it does is make me want to spend more money

All the green best

[Steve B]

I am going to have to stop looking at your collectors corner all it does is make me want to spend more money

thanks Nick

judging by the speed with which you have been adding to your collection lately..i would say money for you is

No Problemo Regards
Steve

[Steve B]

Some what alarmed that the lower rated USCF SE could make such fodder out of the Renaissance Basic Program i elected to give the Ren a second chance against another highly collectible computer

The Fidelity Septennial..
released in 1984 to commemorate 7 years since Fidelity's release of the Chess Challenger .. and hence its name
like the USCF SE it is mid 1600's in strength and programmed by the Spracklens

another 30 min game this time giving the White pieces to the hapless Ren Basic program

in the game the Ren was out book first at move 11
the Sept searched typically 4-5 plies

[White "Saitek Renaissance"]
[Black "Fidelity Septennial"]
[Time Control "Game/30 Min"]


1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5
Be6 9.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 d4 11.cxd4 Nxd4 12.Nxd4 Qxd4 13.Bxe6 Nxe6 14.Nf3 Qxd1 15.Rxd1 Bc5 16.Ng5 O-O 17.Bd2 Bd4 18.Bb4 c5 19.Rxd4 Nxd4 20.Bxc5 Rfd8 21.Bxd4 Rxd4 22.e6 fxe6 23.Nxe6

[fen]r5k1/6pp/p3N3/1p6/3r4/8/PP3PPP/R5K1 w - - 0 23[/fen]
amazingly the Ren Basic finds itself once again behind material this time as White
here it is down the exchange
notice how efficiently the Septennial handles the Rooks from here..penetrating to the 2nd rank ..Classical Spracklen endgame technique

23.Rd2 24.Nc7 Ra7 25.Ne6
Rxb2 26.Nc5 Rc7 27.Nd3 Rd2 28.Ne1 Kf7 29.Kf1 Kf6 30.Nf3 Rb2 31.Nd4 Rc4 32.Rd1 Rxa2 33.Nf3 Rcc2 34.Kg1 Rxf2 35.Nh4 g5 36.Nf3 Rxg2+ 37.Kh1 g4 38.Ne1 Rxh2+ 39.Kg1 Rhe2 40.Nd3 Rg2+ 41.Kf1 h5 42.Rc1 a5 43.Rc6+ Kf5 44.Rb6 b4 45.Rb5+ Ke4 46.Nc1 Raf2+ 47.Ke1 g3 48.Ne2

[fen]8/8/8/pR5p/1p2k3/6p1/4Nrr1/4K3 w - - 0 48[/fen]

the Septennial announces a mate in 4!

48.Rxe2+ 49.Kd1 Ref2 50.Rxb4+ axb4 51.Ke1 Rg1# 0-1

FINAL POSITION

[fen]8/8/8/7p/1p2k3/6p1/5r2/4K1r1 w - - 0 52[/fen]

Total annihilation of the Kaplan Ren Basic by the famous husband-wife programming duo ..

Time to Load Up The Renaissance with a Module Already Regards
Steve

[cornetmike]

Three cheers for the Spracklens! Years ago, I can remember being quite surprised at the strength of Sargon II on my friend's Apple IIe. I'd love to see an updated Sargon for PC with a Spracklen program's typical playing style.

regards
Mike


"Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make us happy." - Dr. S. Tarrasch

[Steve B]

Three cheers for the Spracklens! Years ago, I can remember being quite surprised at the strength of Sargon II on my friend's Apple IIe. I'd love to see an updated Sargon for PC with a Spracklen program's typical playing style.

regards
Mike


"Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make us happy." - Dr. S. Tarrasch

yes Mike
i also loved the Spracklens program(with Kittinger my second favorite)
the highest Elo they ever achieved was with the Saitek Sparc module tipping the scales at 2218
just day dreaming a bit and trying to imagine what their program would be rated today running on the latest PC equipment..
perhaps 4000 -5000 Elo Easy..


and now for your nostalgic pleasure..a trip down memory lane..






The Good Ol Days Regards
Steve

[cornetmike]

The good old days indeed! Thanks Steve...

regards
Mikey

[mclane]

nice signature mike.

i wonder how the GDR (east germany) got the Fidelity program in their SC2, as claimed by the book from Schwenkel/Weiner/Ketterling.




does anybody know if they stole the eprom and just cloned the machine, or did they sell the program from nelson ?
i could imagine they sold from nelson when fidelity changed horses to spracklen.

if this question is answered, the next question comes to my mind:
which software is in the chessmaster diamond, also a z80 clone hardware,
but with software that allows sepperate modules (opening/endgame) to be installed.

is this program also a copy /clone of another or original invention ?

website about the company that made the eastern german chess computers:
http://www.robotrontechnik.de/index.htm ... schach.htm