De Luxe talking Touch Ches by Excalibur

Post by **Fernando** » Mon Mar 23, 2015 4:37 pm

With this contrivance we have another case where it is difficult to ascertain the real quality of the program and with that, the identity of the author.
Respect the first problem, when you play De Luxe..etc.. you face a mix of old fashioned moves of the kind "King from g8 to h8" when it has not idea what to do, but then, when you relaxed after the machine play that, it strike a brutal move full of positional and/or tactical acumen as If the program was made of two different parts, a kind of "game in consult" with one expert or master player joining forces with a B player.
So, is it a 2000 elo program as some say, a 1800 as other say, a 1600 or so as a third party say?

For the same reason the problem of authorship comes again to the fore. We know Steven Blincoe say Ron Nelson said he was the guy, but, again, it looks to me that IF he took a hand on it, it was making use of pieces of codes and/or ideas coming from the full history of Excalibur, Fidelity and in fact of all the industry. That does not means he is not the father, but rather suggest, again, as I said before, that father ship is today a very different things as it was in the early times.

Fern

Larry · Post by **Larry** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 1:06 pm

http://www.schach-computer.info/wiki/in ... ouch_Chess
Rated a mere 1611. Although even that would challenge me in
these rocking chair years.
No mention of a programmer. My guess is it's a Nelson program
that has been butchered almost beyond recognition by a variety
of later programmers. It looks like a neat machine to take on a flight.
L

Post by **Fernando** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 3:55 pm

I would like to know which are the sources that wiki uses for this and other ratings. If they are coming from comp to comp competences, it has no sense to me. I am the guy that play the machines and that is the reason I get them, NOT to put them to compete each other.
I know this is enjoyable for a lot of pals here, but not for me...

Fern

Post by **Fernando** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 3:56 pm

Larry wrote:http://www.schach-computer.info/wiki/in ... ouch_Chess
Rated a mere 1611. Although even that would challenge me in
these rocking chair years.
No mention of a programmer. My guess is it's a Nelson program
that has been butchered almost beyond recognition by a variety
of later programmers. It looks like a neat machine to take on a flight.
L

For a plane, yes. Any table has the problem of battery life. Not this little machine.

Monsieur Plastique · Post by **Monsieur Plastique** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:13 pm

You do realise the actual program is 100% identical to the Excalibur Alexandra The (Not So) Great? Obviously there are differences in the interface and voice but the engine and levels are identical (Excalibur Phantom Force engine is also identical).

Post by **Fernando** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 12:41 am

Yes, I did....same settings, etc, nevertheless, curiously, in some sites Alexandra is rated as a lot stronger. The more I see sites, ratings, etc, the more I realize how much they differ....

Fwern

SirDave · Post by **SirDave** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 3:19 am

I have the Excalibur Deluxe New York Times unit which I believe was the sequel to the above unit mentioned and among the final handheld/LCD/stylus chess portables before the iphone/itouch chess apps pretty much killed off the genre.

http://www.spacious-mind.com/html/new_y ... eluxe.html

It's a beautifully designed unit and has a quality look and feel that was a bit of a surprise coming from Excalibur which also put out a lot of cheap-looking handhelds that tend to flood eBay these days.

The problem for me is with units like this: Why would I want to fool with the limited screen clarity, no physical pieces and a stylus when I could get a better experience from an iTouch chess app (eg. HIARCS, Shredder, Glaurung and a host of others)? After all, so much of the reason I am a player/collector of boards is that I want a regular board, physical pieces and a machine adversary.

Post by **Fernando** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 3:39 am

SirDave wrote:I have the Excalibur Deluxe New York Times unit which I believe was the sequel to the above unit mentioned and among the final handheld/LCD/stylus chess portables before the iphone/itouch chess apps pretty much killed off the genre.

http:/www.spacious-mind.com/html/new_york_times_deluxe.html

It's a beautifully designed unit and has a quality look and feel that was a bit of a surprise coming from Excalibur which also put out a lot of cheap-looking handhelds that tend to flood eBay these days.

The problem for me is with units like this: Why would I want to fool with the limited screen clarity, no physical pieces and a stylus when I could get a better experience from an iTouch chess app (eg. HIARCS, Shredder, Glaurung and a host of others)? After all, so much of the reason I am a player/collector of boards is that I want a regular board, physical pieces and a machine adversary.

Why? Because we can beat those units, but not the others in those magnificent Ipads... I want to enjoy a winning from time to time, not to be mauled all the time.

SirDave · Post by **SirDave** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 4:21 am

Fernando wrote:
SirDave wrote:I have the Excalibur Deluxe New York Times unit which I believe was the sequel to the above unit mentioned and among the final handheld/LCD/stylus chess portables before the iphone/itouch chess apps pretty much killed off the genre.

http:/www.spacious-mind.com/html/new_york_times_deluxe.html

It's a beautifully designed unit and has a quality look and feel that was a bit of a surprise coming from Excalibur which also put out a lot of cheap-looking handhelds that tend to flood eBay these days.

The problem for me is with units like this: Why would I want to fool with the limited screen clarity, no physical pieces and a stylus when I could get a better experience from an iTouch chess app (eg. HIARCS, Shredder, Glaurung and a host of others)? After all, so much of the reason I am a player/collector of boards is that I want a regular board, physical pieces and a machine adversary.
Why? Because we can beat those units, but not the others in those magnificent Ipads... I want to enjoy a winning from time to time, not to be mauled all the time.

I agree, but those ipad/itouch apps can be dumbed down to whatever level you want.

Post by **Fernando** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 4:10 pm

SirDave wrote:
Fernando wrote:
SirDave wrote:I have the Excalibur Deluxe New York Times unit which I believe was the sequel to the above unit mentioned and among the final handheld/LCD/stylus chess portables before the iphone/itouch chess apps pretty much killed off the genre.

http:/www.spacious-mind.com/html/new_york_times_deluxe.html

It's a beautifully designed unit and has a quality look and feel that was a bit of a surprise coming from Excalibur which also put out a lot of cheap-looking handhelds that tend to flood eBay these days.

The problem for me is with units like this: Why would I want to fool with the limited screen clarity, no physical pieces and a stylus when I could get a better experience from an iTouch chess app (eg. HIARCS, Shredder, Glaurung and a host of others)? After all, so much of the reason I am a player/collector of boards is that I want a regular board, physical pieces and a machine adversary.
Why? Because we can beat those units, but not the others in those magnificent Ipads... I want to enjoy a winning from time to time, not to be mauled all the time.
I agree, but those ipad/itouch apps can be dumbed down to whatever level you want.

I know, but I have a strong dislike to do that....I always play the things at its best....
It is called masochism..

Fern