Ed Schroder was well know for his Mephisto programs running on the 8 bit 6502 processor..Indeed many collectors today consider Schroder to be the Premiere 8 bit chess programmer of all time
Schroder was also one of the very first programmers to program for the Risc Processor
even to this day, his Risc I-1MB ( 2232 Elo) and Risc II-1MB ( 2261 Elo) are considered highly desirable additions to any collection
they are also very delicate finicky computers with a very high defect rate
in fact i had a Risc II go belly up on me a few years ago but luckily Ruud Martin (of Resurrection fame) was able to repair it
the power requirements for the Risc I and II call for a rather unusual 5 Volt adaptor (off hand i cannot think of any other computer that uses this voltage)
other then the start up screens the Risc's can be differentiated by the program modules casings which are some what different
Risc I:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10261668@N ... 922171154/
Risc II:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10261668@N ... 922171154/
it should be pointed out that i know of collectors who have the module casings reversed but i am fairly certain these are the original program casings for the programs
feeling a bit playful i wanted to experiment a bit and have some fun.
Veeery carefully and tenderly ..i set up the fragile Risc II and i took the white pieces playing at the normal start up level (10 sec.avg per move)
the game proceeded thusly:
[White "Steve B"]
[Black "Mephisto Risc II"]
[Level 10 sec.avg.per move]
1. d4 c6 2. c4 d5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nc3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5
8. Bd3 a6 9. O-O c5 10. Re1 Bb7 11. Bd2 c4 12. Bc2 b4 13. Ne2 Bd6 14. Ng3 O-O 15. Qe2 Rc8 16. e4 c3 17. bxc3 bxc3 18. Bg5 Be7 19. Qd3
the Critical position
[fen]2rq1rk1/1b1nbppp/p3pn2/6B1/3PP3/2pQ1NN1/P1B2PPP/R3R1K1 w - - 0 22[/fen]
on the 10 sec level Risc II proceeded with:
19.h6 and there followed:
20. Bxf6 Bxf6 21. e5 g6
[fen]2rq1rk1/1b1n1p2/p3pbpp/4P3/3P4/2pQ1NN1/P1B2PPP/R3R1K1 w - - 0 22[/fen]
not satisfied to end hostilities in this quick manner(up a piece for a pawn and with a strong King Side attack.. to boot) i then reset the position
back to the critical position and bumped up the level to tournament
strength-40/2hrs
from the critical position play then followed:
19..g6
20. Bh6 Re8 21. e5 Nd5 22. a3 Qa5 23. Nh5 Bxa3 24. Qe4 Rc7 25. Qg4 Nb4 26. Bxg6
hxg6 27. Nh4 Kh7 28. Qg5 c2 29. Bg7 c1=Q
[fen]4r3/1brn1pBk/p3p1p1/q3P1QN/1n1P3N/b7/5PPP/R1q1R1K1 w - - 0 22[/fen]
Risc II was very very pleased with its performance at this point and had me
down -3.65
that is until i unwittingly stumbled upon the eye gouging ..10 volt powerhouse..
30. f4!!
[fen]4r3/1brn1pBk/p3p1p1/q3P1QN/1n1P1P1N/b7/6PP/R1q1R1K1 w - - 0 22[/fen]
at this point the evaluation took a nose dive from +9.99 to -9.99
the game continued with..
Qxe1+ 31. Rxe1 Kg8
speaking directly to the 5 volt adaptor i was more then happy to announce a Mate in 5
32. Qh6 f5 33. Bf6 Re7 34. Qh8+ Kf7 35. Qg7+ Ke8 36. Qxe7# 1-0
Risk Taking Regards
Steve