Collector's Corner... On The Mephisto Wunder Machine

[Steve B]

Hi Steve, come to think of it, didn't you play the WM against Harvey Williamson with his 63030 Mephisto London for SS? The result was a drubbing by the WM if my memory serves. Still, cardboard box or no, both those machines are a thing of beauty. Such a great thread this.

Regards,

Paul H

Hi Paul
actually i operated the Tasc R30 against Harvey's London 030
that 10 game match lasted almost the entire summer

Not Much Beach Time For Me Regards
Steve

[paulhuk]

Duh!! Of course it was the Tasc R30 and a monumental job you guys did on that. I kind of hope Ruud will make the R30 emulation available for the
Rev II at some point. Meanwhile Rev II London seems to doing OK considering the strength of the WunderBeast. Great job Steve,

Too Darned Freezing Over Here For The Beech Regards,

Paul H

[Steve B]

The match of the Epoch continues with game 3...

Rev II London has white and is out of book at move 11
Mephisto WunderMachine is out at move 10

WM establishes a strong p center and on move 26
begins a p steam roller right down the board overwhelming the
RevIIL's position
a sparkling Q sacrifice by WM on move 41 ends all meaningful resistance



[Date "2013.12.20"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Phoenix Rev II London"]
[Black "Mephisto WunderMachine(Genius 5)]
[Time Control "1 Min./Avg."]
[Result "0-1"]


1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 Nf6 4.Be2 g6 5.O-O Bg7 6.Re1 O-O 7.Bf1 Bg4 8.d3
Nc6 9.Nbd2 d5 10.h3 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 e6 12.Nb3 Ne5 13.Qf4 Ned7 14.Be2 c4
15.dxc4 dxe4 16.Be3 h6 17.Rad1 Qb8 18.f3 exf3 19.Bxf3 Ne5 20.Bc5 Nxf3+
21.Qxf3 Re8 22.Be3 Kh7 23.Nc5 Re7 24.Bf4 e5 25.Ne4 Nxe4 26.Qxe4 f5
27.Qe2 Qc7 28.Rd5 Rae8 29.Bg3 Qc6 30.Bh4 Rf7 31.b3 e4 32.Qd2 f4 33.Qc2
Qe6 34.Re2 f3 35.Re3 Be5 36.Kh1 Bf4 37.Re1 e3 38.Qd3 Bc7 39.Ra1 f2
40.Qe2 Qe4 41.Rd4 Qc2 42.Rd7 Qxe2 43.Rxf7+ Kg8 44.Rxc7 g5 45.Bg3 Rd8
0-1

FINAL POSITION
[fen]3r2k1/ppR5/7p/6p1/2P5/1PP1p1BP/P3qpP1/R6K w - - 0 46[/fen]
REV II London Resigns here

WM expands its lead to...
2.5-.5 Regards
Steve

[Steve B]

In game 4 Mephisto WunderMachine has white

Rev II London is out of book first at move 4
WM out at move 5
play was equal until move 32 when the REVIIL repeating its "mysterious backwards Knight" move of game 1... embarks on a Knight maneuver bringing its N back to the first rank at C8 ...removing it from play and also shutting in its QR which had still not moved
WM was effectively playing with an extra R+N
this allows the WM to initiate another P roller as in the last game..this time blitzkrieging up the board
by the time the RIIL's R get into the game its already a lost cause

[Date "2013.12.21"]
[Round "4"]
[Black "Mephisto WunderMachine(Genius 5)]
[Black "Phoenix Rev II London"]
[Time Control "1 Min./Avg."]
[Result "0-1"]

1.c4 e5 2.e3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Qc2 Bc5 5.a3 a5 6.g3 O-O 7.Bg2 d6 8.Nf3 Bg4
9.O-O h6 10.d3 Qe7 11.Nd5 Nxd5 12.cxd5 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 Qf6 14.Bg2 Ne7
15.Bd2 Qf5 16.Rac1 f6 17.Qc4 b5 18.Qxb5 Rfb8 19.Qc4 Rxb2 20.Bc3 Rb7
21.Rb1 Rb6 22.a4 Rxb1 23.Rxb1 Bb6 24.Qe4 Qh5 25.Bf3 Qg5 26.Qg4 Qxg4
27.Bxg4 f5 28.Bf3 g5 29.h3 f4 30.gxf4 exf4 31.e4 Ng6 32.d4 Ne7 33.Kf1
Kf7 34.e5 Nc8 35.Ke2 Kg6 36.h4 Kf5 37.Kd3 Kg6 38.hxg5 hxg5 39.Be4+ Kg7
40.Rg1 Kh6 41.Rh1+ Kg7 42.Rh7+ Kf8 43.Rh5 Ne7 44.e6 g4 45.Bd2 Kg8
46.Bxf4 g3 47.Bxg3 Rf8 48.f4 Nc8 49.f5 c5 50.dxc5 Bxc5 51.Bh4 Rf7
52.exf7+ 1-0



FINAL POSITION
[fen]2n3k1/5P2/3p4/p1bP1P1R/P3B2B/3K4/8/8 w - - 0 52[/fen]

Rev II London resigns here..its a mate in 8!

In accordance with the match terms...Rev II London needs at least 1.5 Pts in the 5 game match to extend the match to 10 Games
Rev II needs a win in game 5 ..a draw or a loss will end the match

WM Leads 3.5-.5 Regards
Steve

[Wardy]

Interesting games Steve, thanks for your efforts!

[paulhuk]

Really good games Steve. Many thanks for all your hard work. ResII London is taking a spectacular beating. The wundermachine is a powerhouse of a dedicated computer. As well as faster calculation capabilities, it sounds like the program might be a more advanced version of the ResII London engine.

SteamRollering Regards,

Paul H

[Steve B]

Glad you are enjoying the games guys

from what i have observed....Rev ll London generally completes a 7/19 search in the 1 min TC while the WM hits 8/20
of course this depends on the position and search depths for either computer can vary significantly

given that Lang programmed both engines i am a bit surprised there were not as many ponder hits as i would have expected..
supposedly the version of Chess Genius 5 running in the WM is a special version but i dont know if that is anything more then making the engine compatible with the auto-sensory chess board

the fifth game is in progress and is a real nail biter
can the Rev ll pull out a win to extend the match?

Stay Tuned Regards
Steve

[Steve B]

In game 5 both computers are out of book at move 16!

Having to go for a win at all costs..the RIIL chooses the Queens Gambit which the WM declines
massive exchanges of pieces early on and by move 26 each side has only a Q+R+minor piece.. there follows even more exchanges and by move 35 a drawn position is reached
by move 50 each side was just shuffling their R's and Q's to and fro..back and forth...
normally i would have called the game a draw at move 50 but given that so much was riding on a win for the RIIL i let the two computers slog it out until they repeated the position at move 79


[Date "2013.12.21"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Phoenix Rev II London"]
[Black "Mephisto WunderMachine(Chess Genius 5)"]
[Time Control "1 Min./Avg"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]


1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 h6 6.Bh4 O-O 7.Nf3 b6 8.Bd3
dxc4 9.Bxc4 Bb7 10.O-O Nbd7 11.Qe2 Ne4 12.Bg3 Ndf6 13.Rfd1 Nxc3 14.bxc3
Ne4 15.Qc2 Nxg3 16.hxg3 c5 17.d5 exd5 18.Bxd5 Bxd5 19.c4 Bf6 20.Rab1 Be4
21.Qxe4 Qc8 22.Rd6 Qa6 23.Qc2 Rad8 24.Rd5 Rfe8 25.Rbd1 Rxd5 26.cxd5 Qb7
27.d6 Qd7 28.Qc4 Re6 29.Qd5 Bb2 30.e4 c4 31.e5 c3 32.Nd4 c2 33.Nxc2 Bxe5
34.Nd4 Bxd4 35.Qxd4 Kf8 36.Qd5 Kg8 37.a3 Re8 38.Qc4 Rc8 39.Qd3 Re8
40.Qc2 Rc8 41.Qb1 f6 42.Qe4 Kf8 43.Qd3 Rc5 44.Qb3 Re5 45.Qc4 Rc5 46.Qd3
Rc8 47.Qe4 Rc5 48.f3 Re5 49.Qd3 Rc5 50.Kf2 Re5 51.Qc4 Rc5 52.Qb4 Rc2+
53.Kf1 Rc5 54.Qb3 Rc6 55.Qb5 Rc7 56.Qd5 Rc5 57.Qa8+ Qe8 58.Qxe8+ Kxe8
59.Re1+ Re5 60.Rc1 Ra5 61.Rc7 g5 62.Re7+ Kd8 63.Re6 Rxa3 64.Rxf6 a5
65.Rxh6 Rb3 66.Rg6 a4 67.Rxg5 a3 68.Rg8+ Kd7 69.Ra8 Kxd6 70.g4 b5 71.g5
Ke6 72.Ra6+ Kf7 73.f4 b4 74.Kf2 Rd3 75.f5 Rd2+ 76.Kf3 Rd3+ 77.Kf2 Rd2+
78.Kf3 Rd3+ 79.Kf2 1/2-1/2

FINAL MATCH POSITION
[fen]8/5k2/R7/5PP1/1p6/p2r4/5KP1/8 w - - 0 79[/fen]

other views of the final position:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10261668@N ... 0922171154

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10261668@N ... 0922171154

WM takes the match 4-1(+3 =2 -0)

Game and Match Regards
Steve

[Steve B]

Having annihilated the Millennium Chess Genius in their 3 game match i decided to try out an odds game
WM came equipped with CG5 and removed its QB

REMOVE WHITES QUEEN BISHOP
[fen]rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RN1QKBNR w KQkq - 0 1[/fen]


[Date "2015.11.29"]
[White "WunderMachine-CG5"]
[Black "MCG"]
[TimeControl "1 Min./Avg-"]
[Result "1-0"]
[QB Odds Game"1"]


1.e4 Nc6 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e5 Ng4 5.d4 Bb4 6.Bb5 a6 7.Bxc6 Bxc3+
8.bxc3 dxc6 9.O-O b6 10.c4 O-O 11.Qe2 Bb7 12.c5 Rb8 13.Rab1 bxc5 14.Rb3
Qc8 15.Rfb1 cxd4 16.Qe4 d3 17.cxd3 f5 18.Qd4 c5 19.Qb2

[fen]1rq2rk1/1bp3pp/p3p3/2p1Pp2/6n1/1R1P1N2/PQ3PPP/1R4K1 w - - 0 19[/fen]

after only 19 moves the WM Equalizes showing a score of 0.0
MCG shows +.54

19..c4 20.dxc4 c5
21.Rxb7 Qxb7 22.Qxb7 Rxb7 23.Rxb7 Rd8 24.g3 Rd3 25.Kg2 g6 26.h3 Rxf3
27.Kxf3


[fen]6k1/1R5p/p3p1p1/2p1Pp2/2P3n1/5KPP/P4P2/8 w - - 0 27[/fen]

27 moves in and WM has a won game
WM +2.09
MCG -1.75

27.. Nxe5+ 28.Kg2 Nxc4 29.Rc7 Nb6 30.Rxc5 Nd5 31.a3 f4 32.gxf4 Nxf4+
33.Kf3 Nxh3 34.Kg3 Nxf2 35.Kxf2

[fen]6k1/7p/p3p1p1/2R5/8/P7/5K2/8 w - - 0 35[/fen]

game over man
WM +3.63
MCG -2.59

35..h6 36.a4 Kf7 37.Ra5 h5 38.Rxa6 1-0

FINAL POSITION
[fen]8/5k2/R3p1p1/7p/P7/8/5K2/8 w - - 0 38[/fen]

MCG was showing -11.00 here so i resigned for it

Rook Odds Regards?
Steve

[spacious_mind]

game over man
WM +3.63
MCG -2.59

Rook Odds Regards?
Steve

You are really putting some nails into Millennium's coffin.

[Steve B]

You are really putting some nails into Millennium's coffin.

Well we here in the Hiarcs forum take no prisoners
we are a rough group of hard hitting researchers and we will eventually detect every single weakness in this and other other computer released for sale
so there....

Nah.. Just Havin Some Fun Regards
Steve

[spacious_mind]

You are really putting some nails into Millennium's coffin.

Well we here in the Hiarcs forum take no prisoners
we are a rough group of hard hitting researchers and we will eventually detect every single weakness in this and other other computer released for sale
so there....

Nah.. Just Havin Some Fun Regards
Steve

I know, hate to say it though since Millennium Chess Genius scored better than Berlin Pro when I tested them, but I fear that it's weaknesses especially in endgames will probably eventually drop it down the rankings to low-mid 2100's. Although the score 4-3 in favor of BP looked close when I quit playing, I struggled to enjoy the games and you are right about it turning off every minute. That is a major nag.

In a longer match I would fear that BP would end up convincingly running away with it.

My enjoyment was diminished because the games felt so slow and so long. It wore me out playing 7 games.

But hey for someone who wants to enjoy a Lang program similar to London somewhere around 68020 then Millennium is a great buy, especially at its price.

Best regards

[Steve B]

Seeing how the WM pulverized the MCG in a 3 game match ..and to add insult to injury ..defeating it in a game where it played without its QB
i was curious to see just how much material WM could spot the young impertinent upstart..perhaps even all of its Q side Pieces?

i upped the anti even further and had the WM start a game Vs the MCG without its QR...

[fen]rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/1NBQKBNR w Kkq - 0 1[/fen]

a Rook odds game is a huge disadvantage because in addition to the obvious fact of being behind a major piece it also eliminates the odds player from having the possibility of castling on the side of the missing Rook should the position call for it

[Date "2015.12.05"]
[White "WunderMachine"]
[Black "MCG-CG5"]
[TimeControl "1 Min./Avg."]
[QR Odds Game"1"]

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 Nc6 4.c4 Ndb4 5.a3 Na6 6.b4 Nab8 7.Nf3 e6 8.d5
Ne7 9.Nc3 Ng6 10.Bd3 Be7 11.O-O O-O 12.Re1 d6 13.exd6 cxd6 14.dxe6 Bxe6
15.Bxg6 hxg6 16.Nd5 Nc6 17.Qd3 Bf6 18.Bf4 Bg4 19.h3 Bxf3 20.Qxf3 Be5
21.Qg4 Re8 22.Bg5 Qb8 23.b5 Nd4 24.Ne7+ Rxe7 25.Bxe7 Qc7 26.Kh1 Qxc4
27.f4 Bf6 28.Bxf6 gxf6 29.f5 Qc3 30.Rf1 g5 31.Qe4 Qc5 32.Qxb7 Re8 33.Qd7
Qxb5 34.Qxb5 Nxb5 35.a4 Nc3 36.Rf3 Ne4 37.g4 Rb8 38.Re3 Rb4 39.a5 Ra4
40.Kg2 a6 41.Rd3 Rxa5 42.Kf3 Re5 43.Rd4 d5 44.Ra4 Nc5 45.Rb4 Kf8 46.Rb8+
Ke7 47.Rb4 Re1 48.Rd4 Kd6 49.Rb4 Kc7 50.Rd4 Kc6 51.Rb4 a5 52.Rb8 d4
53.Rc8+ Kb5 54.Rb8+ Kc4 55.Kf2 Nd3+ 56.Kg2 Nf4+ 57.Kf2 Re2+ 58.Kf3 Re3+
59.Kf2 Nxh3+ 0-1


FINAL POSITION
[fen]1R6/5p2/5p2/p4Pp1/2kp2P1/4r2n/5K2/8 w - - 0 60[/fen]

WM Resigns here

At no time during the game did the WM's score get any better then -4.5 and most of the time it hovered around -5.0
MCG enjoys the bittersweet taste of revenge

WunderMachine is No WonderWoman Regards
Steve

[xchessg]

Released in 1993 and then upgraded in 1996 ..the Wunder Machine is a marriage between the strongest PC hardware of the day ,Richard Langs "Chess Genius" Engine and Mephisto's Auto-Sensory Munchen board
the original WM ran on a 486 at 66 Mhz with Lang's Chess Genius 2
in 1996 Mephisto updated the WM equipping it with a Pentium III AT 866 Mhz and added Chess Genius 5

Steve

Hi all,

Out of shear curiousity I decided to run Genius 2/DOS on a 80486 DX2/66 Mhz, 8MB of RAM just to see if the buyers of an original Wundermaschine got value for their money in terms of playing strenght. After all, I read an article in Schachcomputer&Spiele I believe reporting that was a serious bid to gain back first place in the rankings on the Tasc maschines.
I decided to limit myself to Rapid games (30"avg/move) so as to be able to play quite a few games. Ratings are from the unofficial list of the Schachcomputer Forum.

It all started quite well with a historic win 5+2=3- over the Tasc R30 2.5 (2368). Genius 2 seemed to dominate tactically but lost three really awfull games.
The I decided to go for a real test vs Ruffian 2.1 on Resurrection I (2379). Genius 2 scored a very reasonable 4,5 out of ten: 3+3=4-.
Genius 2's moment of glory came with a crushing 7+3=0- victory over ancient rival Fidelity V11 (2333).
Talking about rivalry, I decided to put it next against that top notch Schröder program Tasc R30 Gideon (2318). Ed will be pleased with Genius 2' poor showing of 2+2=6-!
Genius 2 "Wundermaschine" also failed to impress against Morsch's Magellan (2239): 2+6=2-

With that my "Wundermaschine" scored a 54% (largely thanks to the Spracklens) against an average of 2327 Rapid elo, which gives it about 2353 Rapid elo on the unofficial Schachcomputer Rapid elo list. Compared with the London 68030 Module (2339), Genius on 80486 Hardware isn't all that stronger it seems...

Which explains partly why people didn't really take to buying the 7500 Euro something costing Wundermaschine, although it must be said that the PC I used to run Genius 2 on (a portable Compacq) really didn't fall all that short of that sum back in those days, according to Wiki...

Xavier

[Steve B]

the 7500 Euro something costing Wundermaschine,

Actually that's slightly higher then what i paid for mine nearly 15 years later
so i guess the handful that were actually made held their value all these years

Solid Investment Regards
Steve