Novag Super Expert A

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kgvetter
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Novag Super Expert A

Post by kgvetter »

Hi,

just received a Super Expert A from the US, yes, it's the one having been auctioned by The house of Staunton. As I expected, the board is really in mint condition.
What puzzles me is the fact that the manual states on the top page:

Novag Super Expert

Instructions

(PRELIMINARY)

Has any of other S-Expert A owners this (PRELIMINARY) word on the manual.

Maybe the machine is also a preliminary version.

Anyway I find the item entertaining. I have played so far two games (30 min) myself and noticed a quite unusual opening-repertoire. First game I opened 1.e4 and after 1.Nf6 2.d4 S-expert plays Nf8, the apparent loss of tempo is not as bad as it looks, in most cases your opponent will be out of book at move 2.

Game two went 1.d4 c5 with a subsequent Snake-Benoni, interesting opening choice.

I added a test-game with Vancouver 32bit on the white side where black had a winning position but the Super Expert lacked expertise in rook endgames so it was a draw, anyway not a bad result for a 8-bit machine.

Any comments, especially to the 'PRELIMINARY'-question are welcome.

Gerhard
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Steve B
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Re: Novag Super Expert A

Post by Steve B »

kgvetter wrote: Has any of other S-Expert A owners this (PRELIMINARY) word on the manual.


Gerhard
Hi Gerhard
i checked my SE A manual and it does NOT say PRELIMINARY

as to the unusual book moves
i guess you meant 2.. Ng8..not 2..Nf8
anyway...one of the options is to engage a Gambit book which perhaps could be the cause of these moves but i tend to doubt that

2..Ng8 Regards
Steve
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Fernando
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Re: Novag Super Expert A

Post by Fernando »

Steve B wrote:
kgvetter wrote: Has any of other S-Expert A owners this (PRELIMINARY) word on the manual.


Gerhard
Hi Gerhard
i checked my SE A manual and it does NOT say PRELIMINARY

as to the unusual book moves
i guess you meant 2.. Ng8..not 2..Nf8
anyway...one of the options is to engage a Gambit book which perhaps could be the cause of these moves but i tend to doubt that

2..Ng8 Regards
Steve

Perhaps, Steve, you should make an offer for that weird booklet with that amazing word. Surely is a collector item.

Just offer him 10 grands and is yours regards
Fern
Festina Lente
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Steve B
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Re: Novag Super Expert A

Post by Steve B »

Fernando wrote:
Steve B wrote:
kgvetter wrote: Has any of other S-Expert A owners this (PRELIMINARY) word on the manual.


Gerhard
Hi Gerhard
i checked my SE A manual and it does NOT say PRELIMINARY

as to the unusual book moves
i guess you meant 2.. Ng8..not 2..Nf8
anyway...one of the options is to engage a Gambit book which perhaps could be the cause of these moves but i tend to doubt that

2..Ng8 Regards
Steve

Perhaps, Steve, you should make an offer for that weird booklet with that amazing word. Surely is a collector item.

Just offer him 10 grands and is yours regards
Fern
Not So sure about that Fern
this might be the very first recorded case of a ....

Modified Manual Regards
Steve
kgvetter
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Post by kgvetter »

Hi Steve,

as you suspected rightly the gambit book was not engaged in the games. I notice after a couple of more games that the book is really wide with some variations going into the last possible wrinkle (e.g. Sicilian Najdorf, main variation). Also naturally I was talking about Ng8 and not f8 in the Aljechin, a typical typo after the intake of bavarian beer...

Concerning the manual-issue I hope that the comment of our chilean chessfriend was on the ironic and not on the cynical side which I cannot make out with my limited command of the english language.

founding a club of modified manual owners regards,

Gerhard
kgvetter
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Post by kgvetter »

Hi,

today I looked the first time closer at the surrounding cardboard packaging and discovered that it says "CRA prototype" on it which leads to the conclusion that this Super Expert A is really a pre-production unit.
I will run some tests in order to find out if it differs from the later units.

What could the acronym "CRA" stand for anyway?

Computer Rating Agency ?? regards

Gerhard
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paulwise3
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Post by paulwise3 »

Interesting code!

Customer Riscs All regards,
Paul
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Steve B
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Post by Steve B »

kgvetter wrote:Hi,

today I looked the first time closer at the surrounding cardboard packaging and discovered that it says "CRA prototype" on it which leads to the conclusion that this Super Expert A is really a pre-production unit.
I will run some tests in order to find out if it differs from the later units.

What could the acronym "CRA" stand for anyway?

Computer Rating Agency ?? regards

Gerhard
Hi Gerhard
does your SE A have a model number label on the backside of the computer?
the SE A was model number 878
SE B was model 887
SE C was model 902

i doubt a prototype would have the label

it seems there are some strange Novag's hitting the market lately
i just recently acquired a very unusual Connie Expert sold by the factory running at 5 Mhz
normal is 4 Mhz

Strange Days Indeed Regards
Steve
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Post by Larry »

Steve B wrote: it seems there are some strange Novag's hitting the market lately
i just recently acquired a very unusual Connie Expert sold by the factory running at 5 Mhz
normal is 4 Mhz
Yep, I got one too...nothing like an economic downturn to bring
rare chess comps out of the closets:
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Erik Stillum
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Post by Erik Stillum »

What could the acronym "CRA" stand for anyway?

Computer Rating Agency ?? regards

Computer Rating Association, as far as I remember. It was some information about it in the Swedish magazine PLY long time ago. I shall try to look it up some time. I would guess also CCR would have some information about it. As far as I remember someone in the eighties hinted that Fidelity had to much say in the Agency....

Erik
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mclane
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Post by mclane »

Maybe this was one of those units ssdf got for free for testing purposes.
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