Looking for advice on which to buy

melcrose · Post by **melcrose** » Sat Nov 26, 2016 9:34 pm

I'm located in the US and scanning ebay looking for an "old school" electronic chess board.

I used to own a Tandy 1650 portable, and enjoyed it, but it was lost in a move.

I'm not a strong player by any stretch. I was "good" when I was young, got away from it for many years, and when I tried to play again the instincts I used to have had left me.

I realize that I could just load up a chess program on a computer or android tablet, but I miss the feel of the pieces.

I have a LOT to learn, and was thinking the Kasparov Talking Chess Academy would be a good purchase? I've also read good things about the Saitek "bullet" on this forum.

Any thoughts? Thanks very much!

melcrose · Post by **melcrose** » Sun Nov 27, 2016 2:06 am

Thanks for the reply.

Rating? Probably too low to be currently calculated.

I'm sure the very first chess computer would stomp me handily in my current state.

You bring up excellent points and things I haven't considered.

So, is it better to just bite the bullet and get a "modern" set like the Millennium Chess Genius PRO or M810? Will that offer a variety and still be able to be "toned down" to my level?

Or is there an older (let's say "classic")

model that offers variety but could be purchased more inexpensively?

I truly appreciate the time you took to reply and any advice anyone may offer.

Thanks all so much!

paulwise3 · Post by **paulwise3** » Sun Nov 27, 2016 5:13 pm

If you are somewhere between 1500 - 1700 elo then good (and very reasonably priced) machines are the Saitek Team Mate (1500 elo), the Saitek Conquistador (1600 elo) and the Mephisto Europa (A) (1700 elo). The Europa (A) also has a nice textbook with chess lessons!
But if you had trouble beating the Tandy 1650 (1200 elo), you might want to buy a weaker machine, for instance one with the 4kb program of Kaare Danielson (Sphinx Comet, CXG Enterprise, Lexibook models).

On the other hand, the Talking Chess Academy (1960 elo) could be useful because of its built-in lessons. And you could set it to a low level where you can have a chance to beat it. The Millennium Chess Genius machines are probably too strong for you, even at the very lowest level!

PS: if you want a wooden board, try to find a Mephisto Exclusive board plus a module of the strength you want, e.g. MM I (1500 elo) or MM II (1800 elo). If you get stronger, you can then update to Rebel 5.0, MM IV, etc.

Good luck choosing one (or more) regards,
Paul

paulwise3 · Post by **paulwise3** » Sun Nov 27, 2016 5:54 pm

paulwise3 wrote: PS: if you want a wooden board, try to find a Mephisto Exclusive board plus a module of the strength you want, e.g. MM I (1500 elo) or MM II (1800 elo). If you get stronger, you can then update to Rebel 5.0, MM IV, etc.

Also the Mephisto Mirage module (1550) exists.

melcrose · Post by **melcrose** » Sun Nov 27, 2016 7:00 pm

Thank you all! I found a new Saitek / Kasparov Talking Chess Academy for $80 shipped on ebay so I picked that up.

From the sounds of this board it won't be my last.. chess computers must be like potato chips: you can't have just one.

melcrose · Post by **melcrose** » Sun Nov 27, 2016 10:31 pm

wow, looks like you can learn a lot from this thing: including studying various openings, etc. Since half the fun of a new toy is reading the instructions and I found these online, I'll post them for anyone with a free few hours.

https://www.chesshouse.com/v/vspfiles/m ... cademy.pdf