list of our chess computers , let's share it

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Larry
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Location: Gosford, NSW Australia

Post by Larry »

Hi all,
I just ran my eye through my own collection from over three years ago,
and thought I would give the group a rundown on what I've added since,
also arranged according to manufacturer:

Fidelity
'12'
'12B' Both these machines complete and excellent. A pleasure to
play against. Unique in that they have a metallic pressure sensory playing
surface.
Champion Sensory Chess Voice Challenger. I really neat machine. The
voice should have an on/off switch on the control panel to stop annoying
other people in the room, but I guess in those days they wanted to
advertise their product any way they could.
Openings module CB16. I got this one for the '9' level machine, which
came standard with an opening reportoire way too deep and not nearly
wide enough for it's rating group. However, it is supposed to fit the Elegance
and '12' and '12B' machines too. I wish Fidelity had made an endgame
module.

Excalibur
Igor
DeLuxe

Novag
Diamond
Star Diamond
Universal Chess Board

Mephisto
Atlanta
Montreux
Master

Saitek
Cosmos
Travel Champion 2100
RISC2500 V1.03 2mb
RISC2500 V1.04 128 kb
RISC2500 V1.04 2mb I know what you're thinking. Larry made
a pig of himself with these ones. You're right, I did. They are a neat machine
programmed by Johan de Koning. I'm not strong enough to be able to
tell the difference between versions.

Scisys
Turbo King
Stratos with endgame module.
Sensor Chess + module Super Classical
+ module Super Hyper Modern

I've got a small assortment of other small units barely worth a mention,
mostly cheapies I found locally.

When you're down here deep in the southern hemisphere, shipping costs
are a real factor to be considered. That's why I'm short on big wooden
boards.
nice day all....
Larry
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Steve B
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Post by Steve B »

Good Stuff Larry
nice to see you have some computers rated lower then 2000
i had you pegged as the "high-end only " type.. interested only in the strongest computers like most of the .INFO guys

1500 Elo Rulez Regards
Steve
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ricard60
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Location: Puerto Ordaz

Post by ricard60 »

Chessmaster Ireland wrote:
Novag let me log onto their server to upgrade my Citrine software.

Do this upgrade makes the citrine software stronger?

regards
Ricardo
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Bryan Whitby
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Location: England

Post by Bryan Whitby »

Hi Ricardo
No it doesn't make the Citrine software any stronger (you will have to wait for the Star Citrine for that) but it did remove the opening book bugs.
Regards
Bryan
Larry
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Location: Gosford, NSW Australia

Post by Larry »

ricard60 wrote: Do this upgrade makes the citrine software stronger?
Ricardo, these Novag people are in business. They don't give
away playing strength, they sell it. :wink:
LH
Kostea
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Post by Kostea »

Hi Bryan,

Did you have to open up the Citrine and make some jumper configurations on the circuit board before you flashed the memory with the new version of software?
Do you still have any contacts at Novag, or that changed when the new company took over?

Best regards,
Kostea
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Bryan Whitby
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Post by Bryan Whitby »

Hi Kostea
Yes I did have to jumper the Citrine. Eventually after various attempts at downloading the new software (Novag engineer actually emailed me wrong proceedure at first and I was left with a dead Citrine) I got a message saying that the download had been successful but my Citrine wouldn't switch on. I repeated the process again and still nothing. So my Citrine sat there for over a week totally dead. Then I thought about pressing the reset button and low and behold it sprang to life minus the opening book bugs.
Yes I am in contact with Solar Wide.
Regards
Bryan
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ricard60
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Post by ricard60 »

Hi Bryan,
When i conect the citrine to the pc i get the following version 1.07. I check the opening and is free from the opening book bugs but i know that there are still a newer version like 1.09. What this new version has? , is there a newer one?.

best regards
Ricardo
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Bryan Whitby
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Post by Bryan Whitby »

Newer versions don't add any strength to the program they just remove bugs.
HarryPottery
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Level Setup for Kasparov Saitek Advanced Talking Chess Board

Post by HarryPottery »

Hi all,
I just recently, last week, uncovered my old magnetic talking computer chess board to practice for playing people online at gameknot.com, which i just got into last month.
I don't remember what the levels are and the best way to set it up for gameplay and I was hoping one of you still had a manuel with your boards or would remember.
The options are A-1 through H-8. I assume it goes A-1 is easiest, then A-2.....B-1, B-2....H-8. Would that be correct? Sadly, I am having trouble winning unless it is on easy mode (handicap).

Also, what are the tournament openings?

Thank you so much for anyone who can help!!

Since this seems like a good place to ask, I just bought my first book on chess entitled Modern Chess Openings. Could anyone point another book for a amateur/intermediate looking to take his game to the next level?

Thank you,
Larry
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Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 8:42 am
Location: Gosford, NSW Australia

Re: Level Setup for Kasparov Saitek Advanced Talking Chess B

Post by Larry »

HarryPottery wrote: Could anyone point another book for a amateur/intermediate looking to take his game to the next level?

Thank you,
Hi Harry, I can do no better than to refer you to a book by International
Master Jeremy Silman called "Reassess Your Chess". To take your game
to the 'next level', as it were, you have to include strategy and endgame
knowledge as well as a modicum of opening knowledge.
all the best to you,
Larry
HarryPottery
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Re: Level Setup for Kasparov Saitek Advanced Talking Chess B

Post by HarryPottery »

Larry wrote:
HarryPottery wrote: Could anyone point another book for a amateur/intermediate looking to take his game to the next level?

Thank you,
Hi Harry, I can do no better than to refer you to a book by International
Master Jeremy Silman called "Reassess Your Chess". To take your game
to the 'next level', as it were, you have to include strategy and endgame
knowledge as well as a modicum of opening knowledge.
all the best to you,
Larry
Thank you Larry!
I will check it out promptly.
All the best,
Harry
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Monsieur Plastique
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Re: list of our chess computers , let's share it

Post by Monsieur Plastique »

CraigNBarnes wrote:Hi Everyone,

I realize I'm a few years late adding to the "collectors" discussion but I thought I'd add a bit more history...

I'm Craig Barnes. I worked with Julio Kaplan for many years developing chess computers. He recruited me in 1980 as part of a small company called Teletape Productions to develop a chess game for Mattel.
Hi Craig,

I think in my collection I have a couple of machines that you authored. They are the Saitek Sensor XL (which I believe is an 8K program) and the currently available Saitek Maestro Handheld (which I believe is a 16K program).

The Sensor XL is actually one of my favourite machines despite the tiny ROM and therefore (apart from anything else) the tiny openings book. It plays a competant and solid (safe) game and I guess it is around the high 1400s ELO mark. It would not surprise me if this dedicated machine is the strongest up-to-8K machine ever marketed. There is one amusing bug in that tiny openings book - in a King pawn line it loses it's Queen as white.

In games against these two machines myself I have actually found the Sensor XL to be harder to defeat than the Maestro, which is a little suprising given it rates higher in the various ELO lists. But the Maestro seems to be a bit more speculative / aggressive / open in style whereas the Sensor XL is solid.

I also have a Saitek Bullet - again a machine that I imagine you had a heavy involvement in. This seems to be stronger than the Sensor XL and of the three, it is the toughest opponent. The voice function is excellent and I really like the physical appearance and styling of the machine.

Give your history I am guessing you may have had heavy involvement in the original Scisys Sensor Chess and the associated plug-in modules (strong-play, hypermodern and classical). Is that the case?

I owned that machine soon after it came out and it was my first chess computer to play what I consider to be a decent game without the obvious weaknesses of the earlier generation. The modules were fantastic fun - plugging in the classical and hypermodern modules made for a lot of fun. Sadly years later I traded it in on a more current machine and I still regret doing that. It's one of the few machines I really miss.

Here in Australia that Sensor Chess was still concurrently available with the later-model Companion II / Explorer program which was by Kaare Danielsen. We played a lot of games between these two machines and on pure results the Companion II was only very slightly stronger (55% result), though the Sensor Chess with it's modules was a better and much more interesting opponent for the human, since it's style was similar to the Sensor XL. and it's play much more human-like.
Chess is like painting the Mona Lisa whilst walking through a minefield.
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Monsieur Plastique
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Location: On top of a hill in eastern Australia

Post by Monsieur Plastique »

Chessmaster Ireland wrote:No it doesn't make the Citrine software any stronger (you will have to wait for the Star Citrine for that)
Star Citrine?

Does this mean there really will be new models from Novag? If so, I hope they do not just overhaul the top of the line program. Their 16K models really need a total refresh - they are still using a derivative of the program that began life as the Mentor 16 all those years ago. They really need a new program about 100 ELO stronger and less prone to making the ocassional, bizarre blunders for which the Star Opal / Carnelian II, etc have become infamous (at least in my household).
Chess is like painting the Mona Lisa whilst walking through a minefield.
TracySMiller
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Post by TracySMiller »

I'll just share the link to my inventory on Google Docs: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing
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