while i am on the subject of Excalibur i thought i would test another one so i made an appointment with the Karpov 2294 to come in for its annual physical
the unusual name for the computers derives from the fact that Excalibur entered it for a CRA Rating(USCF) and it came in with a rating of 2294 after 40 rated games
the computer is in reality the Novag Emerald Classic Plus but with an Excalibur Badge and it is really about 1960 Elo in strength
one thing i like about the packaging of the 2294 is that it was sold with a nice wooden piece set(similar to the Citrine pieces but smaller) and a nice leather pouch for the pieces..i always appreciate little extra's like that
i escorted the 2294 into the examination room asked it to undress and then bend over across the examination table
donning my proctological examination gloves ..i removed the battery compartment cover and inserted 6 new fresh C batteries
In the Exam room next door was the similarly rated Tiger Grenadier(also 1960ish)
the Tiger brand name is not held in very high regard by collectors but the Grenadier is a bit special because it contains the only program Chrilly Donninger(Of Hydra and Nimzo fame)ever wrote for a dedicated chess computer
also interesting about the Grenadier is that it has an "action chess" button which if pressed immediately sets up a game to be played at Blitz 30 minutes
having the button right in front of me i decided to play the game at that time control and give the G the first move
In the Game the G was out of book by move 3!
both computers reached typical search depths of 7 ply with the G searching about 4000 positions per second
the Karpov 2294:
The Grenadier
[White "Tiger Grenadier"]
[Black "Excalibur Karpov 2294"]
[TimeControl "Game 30 Min"]
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Nd5 Bc5 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Bd3 d6 7.O-O Nxd5
8.cxd5 Nb4 9.Bc4 Bf5 10.a3 Nd3 11.Qb3 Nxc1 12.Raxc1 Bg4 13.d4 Bb6 14.Bd3
[fen]r2q1rk1/ppp2ppp/1b1p4/3Pp3/3P2b1/PQ1BPN2/1P3PPP/2R2RK1 w - - 0 14[/fen]
Whites last move was one diagonal too short
in fact i double checked its display screen to make sure it hadn't played 14Be2 instead
from here on in Black decimates the White King side and gobbles up several pawns
14.Bxf3 15.gxf3 Qg5+ 16.Kh1 exd4 17.Rg1 Qh4 18.Kg2 dxe3 19.fxe3 Qg5+ 20.Kh1
Qxe3 21.Rgf1 Rae8 22.Rc3 Qd2 23.Qc2 Qh6 24.Qg2 Re3 25.Be4 Rxc3 26.bxc3
Re8 27.Qg4 Qe3 28.Qf5 g6 29.Qg4 Qxc3 30.Qd7 Kf8 31.Qa4 f5 32.Qc2 Qxa3
33.Bd3 Qa5 34.Qb2 Qxd5 35.Qh8+ Kf7 36.Qxh7+ Kf6 37.Bb1 Qc4 38.Qh3 Kg7
39.Rd1
[fen]4r3/ppp3k1/1b1p2p1/5p2/2q5/5P1Q/7P/1B1R3K w - - 0 39[/fen]
Karpov is just up 4 pawns for nothing here
this game reminds me of the Hydra-Adams match two years ago in which Adams was beaten like a small child
the difference here of course is that the Grenadier is on the losing end as is not running on 1000+ processors
39.c6 40.Qg3 Qe2 41.Rc1 Bf2 42.Qg2 Bd4 43.Qg3 Qe3 44.Rd1 Be5 45.Qg2
Rh8 46.h3 Rh5 47.Bd3 d5 48.Be2 Qh6 49.Bf1 Qe3 50.Be2 Qh6 51.Bf1 Qf4
52.Rd3 Qc1 53.Rb3 b6 54.Rd3 Rh8 55.Kg1 Re8 56.Rd2 Qc5+ 57.Kh1 a5 58.Re2
Qd4 59.Rc2 Qa4 60.Re2 Qh4 61.Rc2 c5 62.Re2 Re6 63.Rd2 d4
64.Re2 g5 65.Kg1 Qf4 66.Kh1 c4 67.Rf2 d3 68.Rd2 Bc3 69.Rd1 Re3 70.Rb1
Rxf3 71.Qg1 Bd4 72.Qg2 g4 73.hxg4 Be5 74.Re1 Qh6+
[fen]8/6k1/1p5q/p3bp2/2p3P1/3p1r2/6Q1/4RB1K w - - 0 75[/fen]
here the 2294 announces a Mate In 4
75.Qh3 Rxh3+ 76.Kg1
Rh1+ 77.Kg2 Qh3+ 78.Kf2 Qg3# 0-1
FINAL POSITION
[fen]8/6k1/1p6/p3bp2/2p3P1/3p2q1/5K2/4RB1r w - - 0 79[/fen]
it would be interesting to know if the program in the Grenadier bears any relationship to the program in Hydra or Nimzo
sadly however we will never know .. Regards
Steve