Turbo Star 432

[Larry]

$400.. !... not even a KSO

Admittedly, it does appear in excellent condition. I've got a couple of
boxes for these things, and the "4mhz" tape on the upper right corner
is not on either of them.
Note the price sticker, $549, that's in Australia. Anyone here remember
how much they were in your country? By comparison the Super Connie,
Novag's equivalent, cost $325. Yes, no wonder the Turbo Star was rare.
I remember the advertising of the Turbo Star... it beats Super Connie,
so the ad read. Well ok, on tournament time controls, but at blitz the
Super Connie would have a good plus score against TS.
nice day all...
Larry

[Steve B]

$400.. !... not even a KSO

Admittedly, it does appear in excellent condition. I've got a couple of
boxes for these things, and the "4mhz" tape on the upper right corner
is not on either of them.
Note the price sticker, $549, that's in Australia. Anyone here remember
how much they were in your country? By comparison the Super Connie,
Novag's equivalent, cost $325. Yes, no wonder the Turbo Star was rare.
I remember the advertising of the Turbo Star... it beats Super Connie,
so the ad read. Well ok, on tournament time controls, but at blitz the
Super Connie would have a good plus score against TS.
nice day all...
Larry

Im guessing there should be a link to the auction up there somewhere?
Squinting Regards
Steve

[Larry]

Im guessing there should be a link to the auction up there somewhere?
Squinting Regards
Steve

Oh, yeah...

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/scisys-turbo ... 2933056915

Note he has dropped the price to $200, a bit more realistic, now if
he halves it again he might get a nibble.
Larry
PS One thing I've noticed about these things. The red cover on the upper
right side of this machine, it can be seen in grey on some of them. Is
there any difference to the machines other than this color? Both my
TS432's have a red cover, same as in the picture.

[Steve B]

PS One thing I've noticed about these things. The red cover on the upper
right side of this machine, it can be seen in grey on some of them. Is
there any difference to the machines other than this color? Both my
TS432's have a red cover, same as in the picture.

I just now dusted of my T432
the grey cover is the Kasparov KSO module..built in
Scisys eventually released the T432 upgraded with the KSO module built in so it has the grey cover..not removable..the box also indicates it has the KSO built in
owners of the regular T432 could remove the Red cover and insert the KSO eprom

as to your question about the price
my sales invoice from 1986 shows $179.10


Color Coordinated Regards
Steve

[SirDave]

PS One thing I've noticed about these things. The red cover on the upper
right side of this machine, it can be seen in grey on some of them. Is
there any difference to the machines other than this color? Both my
TS432's have a red cover, same as in the picture.

I just now dusted of my T432
the grey cover is the Kasparov KSO module..built in
Scisys eventually released the T432 upgraded with the KSO module built in so it has the grey cover..not removable..the box also indicates it has the KSO built in
owners of the regular T432 could remove the Red cover and insert the KSO eprom

as to your question about the price
my sales invoice from 1986 shows $179.10


Color Coordinated Regards
Steve

Roundabout the time you were opening your new T432 (1986), for the first time, I was watching the new Miami Vice series with glorious stereo sound on my new MTS-capable TV...

Nostalgic Ancient History Regards,
Dave

[Steve B]

PS One thing I've noticed about these things. The red cover on the upper
right side of this machine, it can be seen in grey on some of them. Is
there any difference to the machines other than this color? Both my
TS432's have a red cover, same as in the picture.

I just now dusted of my T432
the grey cover is the Kasparov KSO module..built in
Scisys eventually released the T432 upgraded with the KSO module built in so it has the grey cover..not removable..the box also indicates it has the KSO built in
owners of the regular T432 could remove the Red cover and insert the KSO eprom

as to your question about the price
my sales invoice from 1986 shows $179.10


Color Coordinated Regards
Steve

Roundabout the time you were opening your new T432 (1986), for the first time, I was watching the new Miami Vice series with glorious stereo sound on my new MTS-capable TV...

Nostalgic Ancient History Regards,
Dave

I have been spending every spare dollar i have on chess computers since 1977
never really had anything left over for other electronic gadgets like TV's or Stereos
Tell Me..are TV's still in black and white or have they progressed to color displays?


Slightly Behind The Times Regards
Steve

[Larry]

I have been spending every spare dollar i have on chess computers since 1977
never really had anything left over for other electronic gadgets like TV's or Stereos
Tell Me..are TV's still in black and white or have they progressed to color displays?


Slightly Behind The Times Regards
Steve

As a piece of trivia, I grew up in Australia's deep north, in a town not
big enough, and too isolated, to warrant a TV station, so up until 1970, when I was in
Vietnam, all we had was a couple of boring radio stations. Plenty of booze
got consumed in those days, no breath testing for drivers, no radar speed
checks, and sure as hell no chess computers. I dropped by up there a few
years ago, and they've got their act together now, though. In those days
if you wanted to see a fight, you just went down the local bar, nowadays
you have to watch mock fights like rock 'n' roll wrestling.
....to my innocent and long lost youth...
Larry

[Steve B]

I haven't played the TS432 in a dog's age and since i have already hauled it up from the Subterranean vaults i thought
i would put it to work against a computer close in strength
i choose the Fidelity EAG 2100 rated 1829(Selective Search)
SS rates the TB432 1791
Since the T432 has the KSO opening book module built in i thought it only fair to equip the EAG with the
5 volume ECO book module set
the EAG 2100 along with the EAG Mobile Master are the only two EAG's to have the voice feature..announcing all the moves in that eerie metallic voice
they eliminated the voice in all of the other higher rated EAG's
i actually like the voice ..so how weird am i ..i ask you?
dont answer that..


Time control is 1 Min/Avg
EAG took white

In the Game..TB432 was out of book first at move 4
EAG started out with the EOA module and at move 4 it called for the EOD module
Replacing ECO modules is a bit of a pain..
you have to unplug the computer..remove one module..insert the new one and then plug the computer back on

T432 sacks a pawn out of the opening and then goes on to lose the exchange
the game looks bleak for the T432 when it wins back the exchange to even up the position
then at move 59 it rejects a 3 fold draw and actually achieves an endgame Table base win when the EAG makes the mistake of allowing the Q's to be exchanged off the board
EAG hunkers down and plays the best possible moves to let the T432 go wrong
sure enough it does not find the right moves and the game ends in a draw
all in all an impressive game for the TS432

[Date "2012.1.14"]
[White "EAG 2100 ECO"]
[Black "TurboStar 432 KSO"]
[TimeControl "1 Min./Avg."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.g3 f6 6.Qa4 Bc5 7.Bg2 Qd7 8.exf6
Nxf6 9.O-O O-O 10.e3 Qd8 11.exd4 Bxd4 12.Nxd4 Nxd4 13.Nc3 c6 14.Bf4 Bf5
15.Rad1 Rf7 16.c5 Rd7 17.Bd6 Ne6 18.Rfe1 Rf7 19.Qc4 Qc8 20.Ne2 Qd7
21.Nf4 Re8 22.Nxe6 Bxe6 23.Qd4 Bxa2 24.Qa4 Bd5 25.Qxa7 Bxg2 26.Kxg2 Qf5
27.Rxe8+ Nxe8 28.Bf4 Qe4+ 29.Kg1 Qe2 30.Qa1 Qf3 31.Re1 Rxf4 32.Qa2+ Kf8
33.gxf4 Qg4+ 34.Kf1 Qh3+ 35.Ke2 Qxh2 36.Qc4 Nc7 37.Qb4 Ne6 38.Ke3 Qh5
39.Rc1 Qd5 40.Qc4 Qf5 41.f3 Kg8 42.Qe4 Qf6 43.Qe5 Qf7 44.Ra1 h6 45.Ra8+
Kh7 46.Ke4 Nc7 47.Ra4 Qb3 48.Qf5+ Kg8 49.Rd4 Qc2+ 50.Rd3 Qe2+ 51.Kd4
Qxb2+ 52.Ke3 Nd5+ 53.Rxd5 cxd5 54.Qxd5+ Kh7 55.Qe4+ g6 56.f5 Qa3+ 57.Ke2
Qb2+ 58.Ke3 Qa3+ 59.Ke2 Qa6+ 60.Kf2 gxf5 61.Qxf5+ Qg6
62.Qe4 Qxe4 63.fxe4 Kg6 64.Kg3 Kf6 65.Kf4 h5 66.Kf3 Ke5 67.Ke3 h4 68.Kf3
Kd4 69.Kf4 Kxc5 70.e5 Kd5 71.Kf5 h3 72.e6 Kd6 73.Kf6 h2 74.e7 h1=Q
75.e8=Q Qf3+ 76.Kg7 Qc3+ 77.Kf7 Qc7+ 78.Kf6 Qb6 79.Qe5+ Kc6 80.Qe4+ Kb5+
81.Kg7 Qc7+ 82.Kf8 Qc8+ 83.Kg7 Qc3+ 84.Kh7 Qc7+ 85.Kh8 Qd8+ 86.Kg7 Qd7+
87.Kf8 Qd6+ 88.Kg8 Qb8+ 89.Kf7 Qc7+ 90.Kf8 Qd8+ 91.Kg7 Qb8
92.Kf7 Qc8 93.Kg7 Qc3+ 94.Kh7 *

FINAL POSITION
[fen]8/1p5K/8/1k6/4Q3/2q5/8/8 w - - 0 94[/fen]

i called it a draw here
its an EGTB draw and the two computers would go on checking each other like this until the cows come home

Got Milk Regards?
Steve

[Larry]

This is one of my T432 boxes. Note on the bottom left corner there is
a big dot. It's gold in color and gives a blurb about the comp having
a KSO module included. Note also on the T432 in the picture the eprom
cover is red. Also, the "4mhz" is mention just under the "Turbostar432"
on the upper right, not on a diagonal strip. This is how we got them in
Australia. I've already mentioned how we got ripped off with the price..
$549 !!.. we more or less had only one chess comp importer back then
and he was making a pig of himself. Nowadays the world is more globalized
and the crooks are snookered.
Interesting is, if I set up positions for mate in 'x' for both the KSO and
non KSO T432's, the non KSO is consistently slightly faster at solving. I'm guessing that the program is still looking for an opening book move at any stage of the game, and only when it does not find one does it start
calculating.

[Steve B]

i happen to also have two TB432's
one with the red cover (slot is empty)..the box for this one does not have the gold seal which mentions the KSO module
my other one is with the Grey cover and KSO module and the box does have the seal(but the photo on the box still shows the red cover)

since you mention you have a KSO and non-KSO then one of them must have had the coveted KSO eprom installed
Kasparov Selected Openings Regards
Steve

[Larry]

since you mention you have a KSO and non-KSO then one of them must have had the coveted KSO eprom installed

Steve

Coveted?... well I have two of these things, the complete one in the
picture(note the grey eprom cover) and another one which is just the
eprom in it's original box. The KSO module adds a measly 15 or so elo,
but that would be probably in comp/comp matches. Since the extra
opening moves can transpose, the KSO version will give more variety, and
therefore a human will generally have a harder time beating it.
A KSE (Kasparov Selected Endings) module would have been more
beneficial in terms of elo, but those manufacturers were unlikely to raise
the bar for next year's model.
Larry

[Steve B]

Coveted?... well I have two of these things, the complete one in the
picture(note the grey eprom cover) and another one which is just the
eprom in it's original box. Larry

actually the KSO eprom is somewhat rare
the little Scisys box for the eprom is Ultra rare
never saw an original KSO Eprom box myself...the grey KSO module is the more common one of course
i wonder if the Eprom and the module play exactly the same?
i imagine they would

now.. talk about coveted modules
feast your eyes on this hard to find baby...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/110809247076

ARB Regards
Steve

[Steve B]

now.. talk about coveted modules
feast your eyes on this hard to find baby...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/110809247076

ARB Regards
Steve

it sells for nearly $400..just for a module..no chess computer ..no pieces
is this hobby alive and well or what?

Regards
Steve

[Larry]

is this hobby alive and well or what?


Steve

It's alive for the more expensive computers and add-ons, because
the increase in shipping costs nowadays don't factor in so much.
I recently sent a Mephisto Modena to the US, the shipping... $66 !
That was without insurance or a receiver's signature. No doubt the
cost of shipping even just across the Atlantic will become quite severe
also, as time goes by.
LH

[Steve B]

is this hobby alive and well or what?


Steve

It's alive for the more expensive computers and add-ons, because
the increase in shipping costs nowadays don't factor in so much.
I recently sent a Mephisto Modena to the US, the shipping... $66 !
That was without insurance or a receiver's signature. No doubt the
cost of shipping even just across the Atlantic will become quite severe
also, as time goes by.
LH

Your Probably right about the ridiculous shipping costs Larry
we should all be collecting shipping Co's Instead

Tongue In Cheek Regards
Steve