Dedicated chess machines more for collection than play

[Jaimes Conda]

We must all agree that dedicated chess machines have a certain ‘’allure’’ especially those from the golden years and in particular the wooden units. And these old machines are able to beat most amateur chess players .But despite their features and the wooden machines obvious aesthetic attributes they do not meet the needs of a serious ‘’wanna be’’ chess player.

Let me explain: Game moves must be hand written. A source of error.
Very tiny info screen and limited info.
Limited choice of changing the program’s playing style.
However it must be noted the dedicated chess machine is a REAL 3-D chess opponent. Not chess on a computer screen.

Now for the more discerning player:

Chess software coupled to a DGT tournament size rosewood chess board using sculpted and weighted chess pieces is just perfect and it is tournament size.
Using the computer allows for a much bigger screen and access to much more info.
Using chess software many more play styles - personalities are available.
No need to manually write down the game moves.The game is finished just copy and past into the analysis engine of choice.

The devils advocate : Jaimes Conda

[Steve B]

hi Jaimes
and welcome to the future of all things..Computer Chess

the DGT board is quite beautiful and is all that you say it is
however..for many of us it is a very costly item

and with the way the US Stock Market is tanking nowadays i could never hope to afford one

one day perhaps.. if i

Wish Upon A Star Regards
Steve
PS.Sigh..

[spacious_mind]

I am not sure if I agree, I spent most of my past years with chess engines but over the last few years I have become more retro. You cannot beat having your Wooden Mephisto board, Resurrection, or any dedicated chess computer that meets your level set up in the lounge and you play a few games while watching tv. Try that with a pc

Besides if you want to track your moves which I always do, I have chessbase open or even winboard and track the moves as I play on the board. For me it is fun to do this especially if I play 2 dedicated machines against each other.

Try beating Resurrection Rybka or Fruit/Toga etc in your lounge ! They will be more than a match for anyone who visits this forum

Hiarcs would make me very happy if they ever made their software available to Ruud Martin of Phoenix Chess Systems for his Resurrection or Revelation. I would buy the Hiarcs software in a Resurrection in a heartbeat.

Best regards

[Jaimes Conda]

hi Jaimes
and welcome to the future of all things..Computer Chess

the DGT board is quite beautiful and is all that you say it is
however..for many of us it is a very costly item

and with the way the US Stock Market is tanking nowadays i could never hope to afford one

one day perhaps.. if i

Wish Upon A Star Regards
Steve
PS.Sigh..

Bonjour mon ami..............Jaimes

[Steve B]

HI Nick and welcome aboard

Hiarcs would make me very happy if they ever made their software available to Ruud Martin of Phoenix Chess Systems for his Resurrection or Revelation.

i second that emotion Regards!
Steve

[Jaimes Conda]

I am not sure if I agree, I spent most of my past years with chess engines but over the last few years I have become more retro. You cannot beat having your Wooden Mephisto board, Resurrection, or any dedicated chess computer that meets your level set up in the lounge and you play a few games while watching tv. Try that with a pc

Besides if you want to track your moves which I always do, I have chessbase open or even winboard and track the moves as I play on the board. For me it is fun to do this especially if I play 2 dedicated machines against each other.

Try beating Resurrection Rybka or Fruit/Toga etc in your lounge ! They will be more than a match for anyone who visits this forum

Hiarcs would make me very happy if they ever made their software available to Ruud Martin of Phoenix Chess Systems for his Resurrection or Revelation. I would buy the Hiarcs software in a Resurrection in a heartbeat.

Best regards

Nick,
Hello.Yes,I do understand your point of view.
I have the Grandmaster by Excalibur and really enjoy playing against this machine. Even though my win score is not that good.
My only complaint is the colour. I bought second hand a silver and black board. The green board is better in my opion.

Unfortunately,absorbed by the game,I make mistakes noting the moves.

Jaimes

[spacious_mind]

HI Nick and welcome aboard

Hiarcs would make me very happy if they ever made their software available to Ruud Martin of Phoenix Chess Systems for his Resurrection or Revelation.

i second that emotion Regards!
Steve

Thanks Steve, I hear and read only good things about you so I hope the health humor in this forum is just humor and that you are well.

best regards

[spacious_mind]

Nick,
Hello.Yes,I do understand your point of view.
I have the Grandmaster by Excalibur and really enjoy playing against this machine. Even though my win score is not that good.
My only complaint is the colour. I bought second hand a silver and black board. The green board is better in my opion.

Unfortunately,absorbed by the game,I make mistakes noting the moves.

Jaimes

Hi Jaimes
I agree that the Grandmaster takes a little getting used to when moving its pieces. I don't have the silver one but I do like the look of my green board. Also at around 1800 ELO it will keep most of us on our toes.

best regards

[Peter Grayson]

My personal preference was the Genius 030 which I upgraded to the London 030. Essentially offering more features than most others and the two most useful features I used were

1. The ability to add book moves that would be played first before referring back to its own book and

2. Being able to set different time controls for myself and the chess computer. To a large degree this offset the need for an Elo adjustment feature and ... yes you guessed it ... I gave myself much longer than the computer ... it taught me to make best use of my own and opponents times that seemed to give me an abundance of time when playing at club level.

..... and you could save 50 or so games depending on number of moves so possible to record moves after game.

This always seemed more user friendly than the PC that was more distracting and I used that mainly for analysis. A pity the Mephisto boards didn't have a module to interface with the PC.

Perhaps the Tasc units were marginally better chess playing machines but not sure if they had all the features.

The Risc 1 and 2 units were largely disappointing for their lack of features compared to the Mephisto R. Lang program range when they were very similarly priced.

It probably says a lot on the lack of development for dedicated machines when the top Chess Computers of 10+ years ago are still the best that have been available. Quite understandable when it is possible to buy a reasonably specified Laptop for under £400 and just load in Chessbase GUI and Hiarcs and away you go with probably more features than you need and a GM level opponent.

PeterG

[Wardy]

For analysing and playing serious games at a very high level then engines with a DGT board rule without question.........

however you try wandering out into the garden, sit at the patio table with a glass of bubbly and a Mephisto Atlanta in front of you as the sun goes down

There's still life in dedicated regards

Paul

[Jaimes Conda]

For analysing and playing serious games at a very high level then engines with a DGT board rule without question.........

however you try wandering out into the garden, sit at the patio table with a glass of bubbly and a Mephisto Atlanta in front of you as the sun goes down

There's still life in dedicated regards

Paul

Ain't that the truth.............Jaimes.

[Jaimes Conda]

My personal preference was the Genius 030 which I upgraded to the London 030. Peter,I am in such august company elo 2200+. How do you do it? Essentially offering more features than most others and the two most useful features I used were

1. The ability to add book moves that would be played first before referring back to its own book and

2. Being able to set different time controls for myself and the chess computer. To a large degree this offset the need for an Elo adjustment feature and ... yes you guessed it ... I gave myself much longer than the computer ... it taught me to make best use of my own and opponents times that seemed to give me an abundance of time when playing at club level.

..... and you could save 50 or so games depending on number of moves so possible to record moves after game.

This always seemed more user friendly than the PC that was more distracting and I used that mainly for analysis. A pity the Mephisto boards didn't have a module to interface with the PC.

Perhaps the Tasc units were marginally better chess playing machines but not sure if they had all the features.

The Risc 1 and 2 units were largely disappointing for their lack of features compared to the Mephisto R. Lang program range when they were very similarly priced.

It probably says a lot on the lack of development for dedicated machines when the top Chess Computers of 10+ years ago are still the best that have been available. Quite understandable when it is possible to buy a reasonably specified Laptop for under £400 and just load in Chessbase GUI and Hiarcs and away you go with probably more features than you need and a GM level opponent.

PeterG

[ricard60]

I allways ask myself if there will be ever an electronic chess computer that
can play from beginer elo 1000 or less to grandmaster elo 2500 or more for 350 dollars or less.
In the 80´s start the dedicated chess computers i buy one in 1989 a Fidelity designer 2100 by that time i had an elo between 1790 and 1850 an i was very hapy with it. It was hard for me to beat it and i learn a lot from it. Once in 1997 it did not turn on again. Now i came back to chess and i open the machine and fix it ten years later. My elo has drop since then but i have been improving in the last 4 months and gain 250 points

but in chess it depends on what you want,
1) If you are a master these type of machine is no good for you
2) if you are a beginer up to a 1900 elo player maybe this type of machine is good for you or a stronger one if you want to improve.
3) if you collect them no matter what you have it.
4) if you can spend money you can buy a laptop or desktop and run powerfull engines with a DGT board

but for me the most important is to try to make chess popular and making dedicated chess computers and chess software for computers is one step into that i think we need both if we want chess to be popular. This forum an all of them similar to this is also a step to that.

[spacious_mind]

I allways ask myself if there will be ever an electronic chess computer that
can play from beginer elo 1000 or less to grandmaster elo 2500 or more for 350 dollars or less.
In the 80´s start the dedicated chess computers i buy one in 1989 a Fidelity designer 2100 by that time i had an elo between 1790 and 1850 an i was very hapy with it. It was hard for me to beat it and i learn a lot from it. Once in 1997 it did not turn on again. Now i came back to chess and i open the machine and fix it ten years later. My elo has drop since then but i have been improving in the last 4 months and gain 250 points

but in chess it depends on what you want,
1) If you are a master these type of machine is no good for you
2) if you are a beginer up to a 1900 elo player maybe this type of machine is good for you or a stronger one if you want to improve.
3) if you collect them no matter what you have it.
4) if you can spend money you can buy a laptop or desktop and run powerfull engines with a DGT board

but for me the most important is to try to make chess popular and making dedicated chess computers and chess software for computers is one step into that i think we need both if we want chess to be popular. This forum an all of them similar to this is also a step to that.

Very nice words Ricardo!

But since I am a dedicated board fan I do want to add that you have the ability to play up ELO 2500 with a board computer nowawadays thanks to a dedicated Dutchman!

Best regards

[ricard60]

You are right he has made dedicated chess computer for masters of high level so i will say he made a step to fill point 1) and is wonderfull.

For the moment i can not afford this type of machine lets say i am in point 2) so i was looking for a new dedicated chess computer with a rating between 1900 and 2100 and if is possible with an interface conection to a pc for no more than 350 dollars and you know what, i found it, with the interface conection you can make things real good the posibilities are big.

Make chess popular.