Classic DOS Chess Games

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spacious_mind
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Classic DOS Chess Games

Post by spacious_mind »

Browsing through some old 3.1/2" Floppy Disks, I came across this one, which surprisingly works with DOSBox! :)

M-Chess 1.41 - Marty Hirsch - 1991

Image

Version 1.41 is I think the oldest version that I have from M-Chess, but I cannot say it for certain :) because who knows what else I will find as I go through some old disks.

Image

It has a few options which you can read up on by pressing ? and the above screen comes up.

Image

It doesn't use mouse control so you have to move the pieces on the chessboard with the cursor keys. The above picture is M-Chess 1.41 playing against Saitek Risc 2500 2 MB. You can see from the picture it reaches a depth of 7 at 3 seconds per move, which is on par with dedicated chess computers. More likely on my 4.3 GHz PC DOSBox plays around 1-2 ply deeper than top dedicated computers. The setting I used is the fastest that I can which is Dynamic + Max.

Here are the two games I played against Saitek Risc 2500 2 MB:

Game 1 Saitek Risc 2500 Offensive - DB M-Chess 1.41

[Event "Test Match"]
[Site "Alabama"]
[Date "2017.04.15"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Saitek Risc 2500 Offensive, 30S."]
[Black "DB M-Chess 1.41, 30S."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D39"]
[WhiteElo "2439"]
[BlackElo "2418"]
[Annotator "SM"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2017.04.15"]
[EventRounds "2"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Bg5 Bb4+ 5. Nc3 dxc4 6. e4 c5 7. e5 cxd4 8.
Qa4+ Nc6 9. O-O-O Bd7 {Saitek Risc 2500 Offensive out of book} 10. Ne4 {
DB M-Chess 1.41 out of book} Be7 11. exf6 gxf6 12. Bh4 Nb4 13. Qxb4 Bxb4 14. Nxf6+ Kf8 15. Rxd4 Qa5 16. Nxd7+ Ke8 17. Nf6+ Kf8 18. Bxc4 h5 19. Rhd1 Kg7 20. Ne4 Rhc8 21. Kb1 a6 22. Bf6+ Kg8 23. a3 Bc5 24. Rd7 Bf8 25. Ne5 Rc7 26. Rxc7 Qxc7 27. Rd7 Qxd7 28. Nxd7 Bg7 29. Be2 Bxf6 30. Nexf6+ Kg7 31. Nxh5+ Kh6 32. Nhf6 Rh8 33. h4 Kg6 34. h5+ Kg7 35. g4 Kh6 36. f4 Kg7 37. g5 a5 38. Bd3 Rxh5 39. Nxh5+ Kg8 40. Bc4 b5 41. Bxb5 e5 42. Bc4 exf4 43. g6 a4 44. Bxf7+ Kh8 45. Ndf6 f3 46. g7# 1-0

The ratings I used are the exact ratings as published in Computer Chess Reports 1991-1992 at Mike's Website:

http://www.chesscomputeruk.com/html/publications.html

Actually the Readme text included in the program states:

"Based on advanced concepts of artificial intelligence, this chess program can challenge your skill and creativity to their utmost. On a fast AT (25 MHz with RAM cache) its playing strength is somewhere around USCF 2400 (Senior Master). Its play is sharp, strategic, and accurate. To beat it, be creative, and play with precision!"

Well, Saitek Risc 2500 2 MB must have done all of the above as M-Chess 1.41 as the opening was not so good for it and it got behind early and struggled to survive in this game.

Final Position

[fen]7k/5BP1/5N2/7N/p7/P4p2/1P6/1K6 w - - 0 46[/fen]


Game 2 DB M-Chess 1.41 - Saitek Risc 2500 Offensive

[Event "Test Match"]
[Site "Alabama"]
[Date "2017.04.15"]
[Round "2"]
[White "DB M-Chess 1.41, 30S."]
[Black "Saitek Risc 2500 Offensive, 30S."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A29"]
[WhiteElo "2418"]
[BlackElo "2439"]
[Annotator "SM"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[EventDate "2017.04.15"]
[EventRounds "2"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bb4 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O e4 7. Ng5 Bxc3 8. bxc3 Re8 9. Qc2 d5 {DB M-Chess 1.41 out of book} 10. cxd5 Qxd5 11. d3 Bf5 12. Rb1 {Saitek Risc 2500 Offensive out of book} exd3 13. Bxd5 dxc2 14. Bxf7+ Kh8 15. Rxb7 Re7 16. Ba3 Bc8 17. Rb5 Ba6 18. Bc4 Rd7 19. Rc5 Bxc4 20. Rxc4 Ne5 21. Rd4 Re8 22. Bc1 Rd5 23. Ne4 Ra5 24. a3 Nd5 25. f3 Nc6 26. Rd2 Ne3 27. Re1 Ne5 28. Rd4 N5c4 29. a4 Kg8 30. h3 Rb8 31. Kh2 Rb1 32. Rd8+ Kf7 33. Rd7+ Kg6 34. Rxc7 Rxa4 35. Nc5 Raa1 36. Nd3 a5 37. g4 Kf6 38. g5+ Kg6 39. Rg1 Kf5 40. h4 h5 41. g6 Ke6 42. Rxg7 Ne5 43. Rh7 Nxd3 44. g7 Rb8 45. Rh8 Rab1 46. Rf8 Rxf8 47. gxf8=Q Ne5 48. Qh6+ Kd5 49. Qxe3 Rb5 50. Qe4+ Ke6 51. Rg5 Ke7 52. Ba3+ Kd8 53.
Rg7 Rb7 54. Qxb7 Nxf3+ 55. Qxf3 a4 56. Qf8# 1-0

This time Saitek Risc 2500 2MB was outplayed in the final stages of the game. A deserving win for DOSBox M-Chess 1.41

Final Position

[fen]3k1Q2/6R1/8/7p/p6P/B1P5/2p1P2K/8 w - - 0 56[/fen]

Final Score

Saitek Risc 2MB = 1 Point
DB M-Chess 1.41 = 1 Point

Well that was fun playing these two pretty much equally strong opponents.

This most likely is the oldest version of M-Chess that I have. I don't know if anyone else here has some older versions?

Best regards
Nick
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spacious_mind
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Post by spacious_mind »

Here is another rarity. Thanks to a chess friend I managed to finally get a working copy of this one.

Hiarcs Master 2.1 - Mark Uniacke - 1993 World Microcomputer Chess Champion

Image

Below you can see Hiarcs performance in this World Championship:

https://www.schach-computer.info/wiki/i ... nchen_1993

Genius 2 finished 3rd in this Championship. Therefore to test it I played a couple of games against Mephisto Genius 68030.

Image

The above picture is from the match against Mephisto Genius 68030.

Game 1 Hiarcs Master 2.1 Normal - Mephisto Genius 68030

[Event "Test Match"]
[Site "Alabama"]
[Date "2017.04.15"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Hiarcs Master 2.1 Normal, 30S."]
[Black "Mephisto 68030 Genius, 30S."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C85"]
[WhiteElo "2500"]
[BlackElo "2489"]
[Annotator "SM"]
[PlyCount "117"]
[EventDate "2017.04.15"]
[EventRounds "2"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. Qe1 Nd7 8. d4 {Mephisto 68030 Genius out of book} exd4 9. Nxd4 Nf6 {Hiarcs Master 2.1 Normal out of book} 10. c3 O-O 11. Bf4 Bc5 12. Nb3 Bb6 13. N1d2 Re8 14. Bg5 h6 15. Bh4 g5 16. Bg3 Bf5 17. Rd1 Bg4 18. Rb1 Qd3 19. e5 Nh5 20. Kh1 Nxg3+ 21. hxg3 Kg7 22. f3 Bf5 23. Rd1 Qb5 24. f4 Bd3 25. Rf3 g4 26. Rxd3 Qxd3 27. Ne4 Qb5 28. Nf6 Red8 29. Nxg4 a5 30. Rc1 Qd3 31. Na1 a4 32. Nc2 Qd5 33. Nce3 Qe4 34. Nf1 Qc4 35. Nfe3 Bxe3 36. Qxe3 Qd3 37. Kh2 a3 38. b3 Qd2 39. Ra1 Rd3 40. Qxd2 Rxd2 41. Ne3 Kg6 42. c4 Re2 43. Nf1 h5 44. Kh3 Rd8 45. g4 Rd3+ 46. g3 Rf3 47. gxh5+ Kxh5 48. Nh2 Rff2 49. Ng4 Rxa2 50. Rh1 Rfd2 51. Nf6+ Kg6 52. Kg4 Rh2 53. Rd1 Rad2 54. f5+ Kg7 55. Ra1 a2 56. Kg5 Rb2 57. Ng4 Rb1 58. Rxa2 Rxa2 59. Nf6 {Hiarcs Master 2.1 Normal resigns} 0-1

The ratings were again taking from the same Computer Chess Reports 1993/94

Mephisto Genius had the better of the opening and kept its advantage throughout and winning this game.

Final Position

[fen]8/1pp2pk1/2p2N2/4PPK1/2P5/1P4P1/r7/1r6 w - - 0 59[/fen]

Game 1 Mephisto Genius 68030 - Hiarcs Master 2.1 Normal

[Event "Test Match"]
[Site "Alabama"]
[Date "2017.04.15"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Mephisto 68030 Genius, 30S."]
[Black "Hiarcs Master 2.1 Normal, 30S."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C95"]
[WhiteElo "2489"]
[BlackElo "2500"]
[Annotator "SM"]
[PlyCount "127"]
[EventDate "2017.04.15"]
[EventRounds "2"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8 13. Nf1 Bf8 14. Ng3 g6 15. a4 c5 16. d5 c4 17. Bg5 h6 18. Be3 {Hiarcs Master 2.1 Normal out of book} Bg7 {Mephisto 68030 Genius out of book} 19. Qd2 Kh7 20. axb5 axb5 21. b3 Qc7 22. Reb1 Rxa1 23. Rxa1 cxb3 24. Bxb3 Rc8 25. Rc1 Nb6 26. Qa2 Nc4 27. Bxc4 Qxc4 28. Qxc4 Rxc4 29. Nd2 Ra4 30. Rb1 Ba6 31. Rb2 h5 32. Bg5 Kg8 33. f3 Ra3 34. Nb1 Ra1 35. Kf2 Nd7 36. Be3 h4 37. Ne2 f5 38. Nc1 Nf6 39. Bg5 fxe4 40. Bxf6 Bxf6 41. fxe4 Ra4 42. Kf3 Bg5 43. Nd3 Kf7 44. Rb3 Ra1 45. Nb4 Bb7 46. Nd3 Bc8 47. Na3 Rd1 48. Nb2 Rf1+ 49. Ke2 Rf4 50. Rb4 Ke7 51. Nd3 Rf8 52. Nxb5 Bd7 53. Na7 Rf7 54. c4 Bf4 55. Nc6+ Bxc6 56. dxc6 Rf8 57. Rb7+ Ke6 58. Nb4 Bg5 59. Nd5 Rc8 60.
Rg7 Rxc6 61. Rxg6+ Kf7 62. Rxg5 Rxc4 63. Rg4 Ra4 64. Rxh4 1-0

Mephisto Genius 68030 outplayed Hiarcs Master 2.1 this time in the end game.

Final Position

[fen]8/5k2/3p4/3Np3/r3P2R/7P/4K1P1/8 w - - 0 64[/fen]

Both games however were really good. I used the "Normal" style setting with Hiarcs Master 2.1. There is also a "Solid" and "Aggressive" setting that could be tried out.

Hiarcs searched between 1 to 2 ply deeper but it is hard to say if this was an advantage or not because the Lang programs have such a unique selective search that lets them search deeper in positions.

Final Score

Mephisto Genius 68030 = 2 Points
Hiarcs Master 2.1 = 0 Points

Best regards
Nick
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Dave C
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Location: SoCal, US

PC vs Dedicated

Post by Dave C »

Hi Nick,

I enjoyed reviewing the games and was a little surprised at the results between Hiarcs Master 2.1 and the Mephisto.

I played a few games between Lang's London 68020 and a RISC2 recently and Lang's program seemed to consistently outplay the Schroeder program. I'll need to play more games between the two, however.

Do you know what it is about Lang's selective search that seems to perform so well against some opponents?

Thanks,
Dave
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spacious_mind
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Re: PC vs Dedicated

Post by spacious_mind »

Dave C wrote:Hi Nick,

I enjoyed reviewing the games and was a little surprised at the results between Hiarcs Master 2.1 and the Mephisto.

I played a few games between Lang's London 68020 and a RISC2 recently and Lang's program seemed to consistently outplay the Schroeder program. I'll need to play more games between the two, however.

Do you know what it is about Lang's selective search that seems to perform so well against some opponents?

Thanks,
Dave
Hi Dave,

Basically what it does is search around 4 ply and then it picks the top 3 or so variations and focuses on searching those variations deeper. Lang apparently is very selective so it misses key moves sometimes because of it, but it also allows it to quickly search the ones it picked to pursue 3 or moves deeper than most other engines.

I am not a techie so I am sure someone with more chess programming knowledge can explain it better than I can :)

Best regards
Nick
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Fernando
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Re: PC vs Dedicated

Post by Fernando »

spacious_mind wrote:
Dave C wrote:Hi Nick,

I enjoyed reviewing the games and was a little surprised at the results between Hiarcs Master 2.1 and the Mephisto.

I played a few games between Lang's London 68020 and a RISC2 recently and Lang's program seemed to consistently outplay the Schroeder program. I'll need to play more games between the two, however.

Do you know what it is about Lang's selective search that seems to perform so well against some opponents?

Thanks,
Dave
ç


Basically what it does is search around 4 ply and then it picks the top 3 or so variations and focuses on searching those variations deeper. Lang apparently is very selective so it misses key moves sometimes because of it, but it also allows it to quickly search the ones it picked to pursue 3 or moves deeper than most other engines.

I am not a techie so I am sure someone with more chess programming knowledge can explain it better than I can :)

Best regards
I see at last you go it and so the stuff of your chess friend was of some use after all...

Today I played a hard game to colossus X -2 minutes the move- and at the end I was so tired that I declared a draw when ONE move forward I had a clear win...which I saw later, when it was too late.
Colossus laughed at me.

GRRRR regards
Fern .
Festina Lente
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Dave C
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Location: SoCal, US

Re: PC vs Dedicated

Post by Dave C »

spacious_mind wrote:Hi Dave,

Basically what it does is search around 4 ply and then it picks the top 3 or so variations and focuses on searching those variations deeper. Lang apparently is very selective so it misses key moves sometimes because of it, but it also allows it to quickly search the ones it picked to pursue 3 or moves deeper than most other engines.

I am not a techie so I am sure someone with more chess programming knowledge can explain it better than I can :)

Best regards
I'm not a techie either and your explanation is fine and gives me an idea of Lang's approach.

Thanks....regards,
Dave
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spacious_mind
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Post by spacious_mind »

Here are a couple of more DOS games. The first one has to be of interest to people who don't have a Tasc Chessmachine! :P

Tascbase version 2.1a - The King 2.54 - Johann de Coning - November 6, 1998

Image

Tascbase was a games database similar to what people nowadays are familiar with when they use Chessbase.

Image

Although it says King version 2.55, the ROM itself is labeled King2.54. So this is as close as you get to playing a Tasc Chessmachine when you play it.

Image

The nice thing about Tascbase is that you can actually play against the King Chess Program with plenty of level settings. This is something that you cannot do with Chessbase.

Well the King needed a strong opponent to play against therefore here is another DOS oldie.

Rebel 10 - Ed Schroeder - October 1998

Image

That is the Rebell 10 download screen.

Image

Rebel 10 has a Benchmark test that lets you test the strength of the program on your computer hardware. I don't know how accurate it is. The above rating of ELO 2506 was through DOSBox with Auto + Max setting.

Image

The rating Benchmark for DOSbox Dynamic + Max setting came out at ELO 2531.

Here is a Test game between the two. I should have really set Tascbase King 2.54 at 60/30 but instead I let it play at 30 minutes/game. Rebel 10 played at 30 seconds per move average time setting.

[Event "Test Match"]
[Site "Alabama"]
[Date "2017.04.16"]
[Round "1"]
[White "DB Tascbase King 2.54, 30M."]
[Black "DB Rebel 10, 30S."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A26"]
[WhiteElo "2550"]
[BlackElo "2550"]
[Annotator "Spacious_Mind"]
[PlyCount "106"]
[EventDate "2017.04.16"]
[EventRounds "2"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. e4 h5 {DB Tascbase King 2. 54 out of book} 7. h3 h4 8. Nf3 {DB Rebel 10 out of book} hxg3 9. fxg3 Bd7 10. Bg5 Qc8 11. Qb3 a5 12. g4 f5 13. gxf5 gxf5 14. Nd5 Nce7 15. Rc1 a4 16. Qc3 fxe4 17. dxe4 Nxd5 18. cxd5 Bxh3 19. Rxh3 Rxh3 20. Qxc7 Qxc7 21. Rxc7 Rg3 22. Kf2 Rxg2+ 23. Kxg2 Bf6 24. Rxb7 Rc8 25. Kg3 Bxg5 26. Nxg5 Nf6 27. Rf7 Nd7 28. Rh7 Rc1 29. Nf7 Rg1+ 30. Kf2 Rg6 31. Nh6 Nf6 32. Rh8+ Kd7 33. Kf3 Kc7 34. Nf5 Rg4 35. Rh7+ Kb6 36. Rh4 Rxh4 37. Nxh4 Kc5 38. Nf5 Ne8 39. Ke3 Nc7 40. Kd3 Ne8 41. Ne7 Nc7 42. Nc6 Kb5 43. Na7+ Kb4 44. Kd2 Kc4 45. Nc6 Ne8 46. Kc2 Nf6 47. b3+ axb3+ 48. axb3+ Kb5 49. Kd3 Nd7 50. Ke3 Nc5 51. Nd8 Kb4 52. Nf7 Nb7 53. Nh6
Kxb3 1/2-1/2

Final Position

[fen]8/1n6/3p3N/3Pp3/4P3/1k2K3/8/8 w - - 0 54[/fen]

Well they are both very strong and also quite equal in their playing strength.

Best regards
Nick
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Fernando
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Post by Fernando »

and now tell me...where I can get the Tasc thing?
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BenRedic
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Re: Classic DOS Chess Games

Post by BenRedic »

spacious_mind wrote:Browsing through some old 3.1/2" Floppy Disks, I came across this one, which surprisingly works with DOSBox! :)

M-Chess 1.41 - Marty Hirsch - 1991
I've seen 3.5 at abandonware sites, and it works fine in DOSbox. I have not come over versions older than 3.5, though.
Thank you for an interesting game.
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Post by BenRedic »

spacious_mind wrote:Here is another rarity. Thanks to a chess friend I managed to finally get a working copy of this one.

Hiarcs Master 2.1 - Mark Uniacke - 1993 World Microcomputer Chess Champion

Image
Version 1 is available at http://www.hiarcs.com/freechess.htm. The GUI looks quite different in your version 2.1.
Thank you for an interesting game.
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Tibono2
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Post by Tibono2 »

Fernando wrote:and now tell me...where I can get the Tasc thing?
Here Fernando.
Tibono
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Post by BenRedic »

Tibono2 wrote:Here
Now, I don't know much spanish, but that thread is gold. Gracias :-)
Thank you for an interesting game.
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