Travel in the Time Machine....

[Fernando]

I am sure you will forgive me for playing engines, but this time were very old DOS engines which Ed Schroeder made available.
The best of them are known as such since those years, like genius, Fritz, Mchess, Wchess, etc, but there were others, like Gambit, Socrates, Complete Chess System, Sargon IV and V that although not that strong, were strong enough to put in problems an expert level player even running in the paltry machinery of those days, say, 286, 386 Pc's
Now with the powerful stuff we now all posses those engines of middle class, perhaps created to give fun to club players, run 10, 100 times faster and every one of them is at least a 2300 player or near that.
So no surprise I was defeated after long fight by Socrates and gambit -what a funny program!- and only at last, gathering all my will, I crushed omne of those, sargon IV.
It is necessary to play these old but still strong engines to realize how much spoiled we are playing dedicated units that with luck see 6--7 ply in middle game.....

Fern

[Larry]

It is necessary to play these old but still strong engines to realize how much spoiled we are

I remember when the software engines were so weak and the graphics
so pathetic that they were just a feeble alternative to the "real thing",
ie a dedicated machine. Then along came what they called "AT" technology
in the form of the '286' personal computers,
and suddenly things changed. The graphics were clearer
and the processing capacity took a quantum leap upwards.
I was late to take up personal computing, because of the price. A 286
PC would cost around $2500, a lot of money for someone who had no
other use than playing a board game. Fine for someone with a business
reason who had other uses,and would get a tax deduction on the outlay.
It was an era before internet, and a time when adults were working all
week for just a few hundred bucks.
Like others, I was taken in and paid about $200 for Genius2. It came
with three "lives", meaning you could stuff two installs, then your
$200 went up in smoke if you messed it up a third time.
I never did get that "Gambit" program. Was that Chris Whitacker's
program? Is it the one that was released later under the name
"Majestic Chess"?
I have in recent times been curious enough to pit a stronger dedicated
against a chess program on my cellphone. I once played risc2500
against some software program on the phone, and to my surprise the
risc won the game.
I've currently got Genius on the phone, and it does come in handy
for solving a newspaper chess column problem, but that's pretty much
it.
L

[spacious_mind]

Hi Larry,

Nice reminiscing. I believe Kasparov's Gambit was Don Daley & Larry Kaufman. Majestic Chess I think was David Kittinger.

Best regards

[Fluppio]

Hi Nick,

you're right.

Kasparov's Gambit is Socrates II program from Dailey/Kaplan.

My Majestic Chess DVD came with an extra program for PPC. Very nice.

Best, Peter

[Cyberchess]

Sargon V – the final Sargon edition – was by far my favorite Spracklen program.
I still have this program with the original box that it came in archived with all of my old DOS software.

For sure there were much stronger programs out at the time: HIARCS; MChess; Rebel, etc., but the graphics and nifty features put Sargon V in a class by itself.
I especially loved the “Illustrative Games” feature – which allowed you to try and guess the move that was played. There was even a park chess simulation whereby a squirrel would occasionally leap across the table.

These screenshots should bring back some memories...

Strolling Down Software Lane Regards,
John

[ricard60]

Fern,

You open this post maybe you would like to read this

http://foro.meca-web.es/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=72


Enjoying old engines regards
Ricardo

[spacious_mind]

Hi Nick,

you're right.

Kasparov's Gambit is Socrates II program from Dailey/Kaplan.

My Majestic Chess DVD came with an extra program for PPC. Very nice.

Best, Peter

Hi Peter

I must have the same DVD. I have not loaded on PPC, will do it next time I play with them. One thing I don't like too much with Gambit is that you are limited to fixed countdown levels only. Otherwise it's not bad.

Best regards