MCGE against the Magellan

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Re: Good support from Millennium!

Post by Steve B »

Yarc wrote:
Hi,

After having problems with a black night not being recognised by the MCGE, I contacted Millennium and they are sending me a replacement
\But then more piece recognition strangeness occured!
The H8 square was not recognising a white Rook, but other Rooks and pieces were being recognised on it!? I thought I had another piece failure, but the same Rook worked on all other squares! I then started to think the board was at fault. Then, everything worked again including the original black Knight!! :roll:

I have been in contact with Millennium and receiving very good service. They have identified a possible connection problem and have asked me to send my MCGE back offering to refund the postage! They are then going to send me a new MCGE! :D

:shock:
WOW
i dont know which is the more rare and unusual occurrence
the problems you are having with your MCGE
OR
the fantastic customer service by Millennium

Twilight Zone Regards
Steve
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Yarc
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Re: Good support from Millennium!

Post by Yarc »

Steve B wrote:
i dont know which is the more rare and unusual occurrence
the problems you are having with your MCGE
OR
the fantastic customer service by Millennium

Twilight Zone Regards
Steve
I know what you mean. I feel a little confused myself. I like the good service and I like that Millennium want to get to the bottom of the problem for quality control, but at the same time I feel really disappointed that I ended up with a faulty unit. Definitely Twilight zone, especially trying to understand what was going on with the pieces.

Pulling my hair out Regards
Ray
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Post by Yarc »

Well, Millennium are going to send me a whole new MCGE and I can keep the current one until it arrives. Now that is very good service indeed!

Strangely my current MCGE is behaving with piece recognition working. Millennium believe there could be a lose connection inside which they want to investigate for quality control.

In the meantime I have been able to continue with the 10 game match against the Magellan at 40m/2h using MCGE's Master book and Magellan set to using its tournament book. This is game 2:

They played the Scotch Gambit, Dubois-Reti Defence.

[Event "40m/2h MCGE v Magellan Master book"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.01.03"]
[Round "2"]
[White "MCGE"]
[Black "Magellan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C55"]

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.e5 d5 6.Bb5 Ne4 7.Nxd4 Bd7 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.O-O Be7 10.f3 Nc5 11.f4 Ne4 12.Nc3 Nxc3 13.bxc3 c5 14.Nf3 Bb5 15.Re1 O-O 16.Nd2 Rb8 17.c4 dxc4 18.Bb2 Qd7 19.Bc3 Qf5 20.Rf1 Rfd8 21.Rb1 Ba4 22.Rxb8 Rxb8 23.Nxc4 Qxc2 24.Qxc2 Bxc2 25.Rc1 Bd3 26.Na5? c4 27.Kf2 Rb6 28.Ke3 Kf8 29.Bd4 c5 30.Bc3 g5 31.Rd1 gxf4+ 32.Kxf4 f6 33.Rd2 fxe5+ 34.Bxe5 Kf7 35.Kg4 Kg6 36.h4 h5+ 37.Kg3 Re6 38.Bf4 a6 39.a3 Re4 40.Kf3 Kf5 41.Bg5 Bxg5 42.hxg5 Rd4 43.Ke3 Kxg5 44.Nb7 Rd5 45.Rd1 Kg4 46.Rc1 Kg3 47.Na5 Rd4 48.Nb7 Re4+ 49.Kd2 Re2+ 50.Kc3 Re5 51.Na5 Kxg2 52.Nxc4 Bxc4 53.Kxc4 h4 54.Rc2+ Kg3 55.Rc3+ Kg4 56.Rc2 h3 57.Kb3 Rf5 58.Ka4 Rh5 59.Rc4+ Kf3 60.Rc3+ Ke4 61.Rc4+ Ke3 62.Rc1 h2 63.Kb3 h1=R 64.Rc2 Kd3 65.Rc3+ Kd4 66.Rc4+ Kd5 67.Rg4 R5h3+ 68.Ka4 Ra1 69.Rg5+ Kd6 70.Rg6+ Ke7 71.Ka5 Rb3 72.Rg7+ Ke6 73.Rg4 Raxa3+ 74.Ra4 Kd6 75.Rxa3 Rxa3+ 76.Kb6 Rb3+ 77.Ka7 Kc7 78.Kxa6 Rb4 79.Ka5 Kc6 80.Ka6 Ra4# 0-1

Final position:
[fen]8/8/K1k5/2p5/r7/8/8/8 w - - 5 81[/fen]

The first win for the Magellan which steadily outplayed the MCGE in this gambit. Possibly the first questionable move was MCGE's at move 26 where it moved its knight from c4 to a5:
[fen]1r4k1/p1p1bppp/8/N1p1P3/5P2/2Bb4/P5PP/2R3K1 w - - 3 26[/fen]
The Knight is far less effective here. However, there were no blunders and this is probably just one of those openings that was not so good for the MCGE.

Current score 1-1 Regards
Ray
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Post by Yarc »

Here is game 3 of my 10 game match. In this game the Sicilian, Taimanov (Bastrikov) variation was used.

I have incorrectly being saying that the MCGE is using the “Master book” when it is actually called the “Champion book” but I think you know I meant the HIARCS book. How many names does it have? :lol:

[Event "40m/2h MCGE v Magellan Champion book"]
[Date "2018.01.05"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Magellan"]
[Black "MCGE"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B47"]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 c5 3.Nf3 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be2 Nf6 7.Ndb5 Qb8 8.Bg5 Bc5 9.O-O O-O 10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.Na4 Be7 12.Nbc3 Kh8 13.Qd2 Rg8 14.f4 d6 15.Rad1 b6 16.Nb5 Rd8 17.Rfe1 d5 18.exd5 Bb4 19.c3 Rxd5 20.Qe3 Rxd1 21.Rxd1 Be7 22.Bf3 Bb7 23.Rd7 Bc8 24.Bxc6 Bxd7 25.Bxd7 Qb7 26.Bxe6 fxe6 27.Qxe6 Rd8 28.Nd4 Rd5 29.Nc6 Rd1+ 30.Kf2 Rd2+ 31.Ke1 Rxg2 32.Nxe7 Rg1+ 33.Kd2 Qg2+ 34.Kd3 Qf1+ 35.Ke4 Qe2+ 36.Kf5 Qg4+ 37.Kxf6 Qxf4+ 38.Qf5 Qh4+ 39.Ke6 Re1+ 40.Kd5 Qxe7 41.h3 Rg1 42.Qe5+ Qxe5+ 43.Kxe5 Rh1 44.c4 Rxh3 45.Nc3 Kg7 46.a3 h5 47.Kf5 Rg3 48.Ne4 h4 49.c5 bxc5 50.Kf4 Rb3 51.Ng5 c4 52.Kg4 Rxb2 53.Ne4 Re2 54.Nc5 c3 55.Kxh4 c2 56.Nd3 Re3 57.Nc1 Re1 58.Nb3 a5 59.Kg4 a4 60.Nc1 Rxc1 61.Kf3 Re1 62.Kg4 c1=Q 63.Kf3 Qe3+ 64.Kg4 Rg1+ 65.Kf5 Rg5# 0-1

Final position:
[fen]8/6k1/8/5Kr1/p7/P3q3/8/8 w - - 6 66[/fen]

The first questionable move was by the Magellan with 14.f4?
[fen]rqb3rk/pp1pbp1p/2n1pp2/8/N3PP2/2N5/PPPQB1PP/R4RK1 w - - 0 14[/fen]
This exposes the King! That said, I think Black’s King is a little insecure.

I thought Blacks move of 15…. B6 was good. White’s Knight is now stuck on the edge and remains here for much of the game!
[fen]rqb3rk/p3bp1p/1pnppp2/8/N3PP2/2N5/PPPQB1PP/3R1RK1 w - - 0 16[/fen]

The first blunder appears in my mini match. In the following position White(Magellan) plays 42.Qe5+?? This forces an exchange of queens losing White all chances of anything!
[fen]7k/p3q2p/1p6/3KQ3/N7/2P4P/PP6/6r1 w - - 2 42[/fen]

From here onwards it was a walk in the park for the MCGE! Bringing the current score to

MCGE 3 – Magellan 1 Regards
Ray
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Post by Yarc »

Oops the current score is 2-1 to the MCGE :oops:

Game 4 is in progress Regards
Ray
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Post by Yarc »

Well, this is game 4:

Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defence, Rubinstein Attack, according to HIARCS Chess Explorer.

[Event "40m/2h MCGE v Magellan Champion book"]
[Date "2018.01.05"]
[Round "4"]
[White "MCGE"]
[Black "Magellan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D64"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 O-O 6.e3 Nbd7 7.Rc1 c6 8.Qc2 h6 9.Bh4 b6 10.Bd3 Ba6 11.Qa4 dxc4 12.Qxa6 cxd3 13.Qxd3 c5 14.O-O cxd4 15.Qxd4 Qb8 16.Rfd1 Rd8 17.Qa4 Nc5 18.Qc2 Qb7 19.h3 Rac8 20.Rxd8+ Rxd8 21.a3 Ncd7 22.Ne4 a6 23.Nd4 Qxe4 24.Qxe4 Nxe4 25.Bxe7 Re8 26.f3 Rxe7 27.Rc8+ Kh7 28.Nc6 Nd6 29.Rd8 Re8 30.Rxd7 Nc4 31.Rxf7 Nxb2 32.Ra7 a5 33.Ne5 Rc8 34.e4 Rc3 35.Nd7 Kg6 36.Nxb6 Rxa3 37.h4 Nd3 38.h5+ Kxh5 39.Rxg7 Rc3?? 40.Nd7 Ne5 41.Nxe5 Ra3 42.Kh2 Ra2 43.Nd7 Rxg2+ 44.Rxg2 a4 45.Nf6+ Kh4 46.Rg4# 1-0

Final position:
[fen]8/8/4pN1p/8/p3P1Rk/5P2/7K/8 w - - 3 46[/fen]

Another victory for the MCGE. It looked very equal for a long time until the Magellan made a blunder 39.... Ra3-Rc3??
[fen]8/6R1/1N2p2p/p6k/4P3/2rn1P2/6P1/6K1 w - - 1 40[/fen]

This was siezed upon by the MCGE which saw a winning advantage by moving it's Knight to d7! Now White has a powerful Rook and a Knight just a stone's throw away threatening all sorts of trouble. Which it did!

Current score is now 3-1 to the MCGE Regards
Ray
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Post by Yarc »

Game 5.

The Magellan is not going to be a complete push over and manages a draw, the first one in the match:

They opened with the Sicilian, Accelerated Fianchetto, Maroczy bind.

[Event "40m/2h MCGE v Magellan Champion book"]
[Date "2018.01.08"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Magellan"]
[Black "MCGE"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B36"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 d6 7.Be2 Bg7 8.O-O Nxd4 9.Qxd4 O-O 10.Qe3 Bd7 11.Rb1 Qc7 12.b4 a5 13.a3 Rfc8 14.Bb2 axb4 15.axb4 Be6 16.Rfc1 Qd7 17.Nd5 Bxd5 18.exd5 b5 19.Bxf6 Bxf6 20.cxb5 Rxc1+ 21.Rxc1 Bb2 22.Rc6 Ra1+ 23.Bf1 Qg4 24.Qd2 Rd1 25.Rc8+ Qxc8 26.Qxd1 Qc3 27.Qe2 Qxb4 28.Qxe7 Bd4 29.Qe2 Qc5 30.Qf3 Kf8 31.g4 Kg7 32.h4 Kf8 33.Bd3 Qc3 34.Kg2 Qc5 35.h5 Kg7 36.Be2 Kf8 37.h6 Qc2 38.Qf4 Qxe2 39.Qxd4 Qxb5 40.f4 Ke7 41.Kf2 Qc5 42.Ke3 Qc1+ 43.Kf3 Qh1+ 44.Kg3 Qc1 45.g5 Qe1+ 46.Kf3 Qf1+ 47.Qf2 Qh1+ 48.Qg2 Qb1 49.Qe2+ Kf8 50.Qa6 Qh1+ 51.Ke3 Qxd5 52.Qc8+ Ke7 53.Qc7+ Ke6 54.Qc8+ Ke7 55.Qc7+ Ke8 56.Qc8+ Ke7 1/2-1/2

Final position after draw by 3-fold repetition:
[fen]2Q5/4kp1p/3p2pP/3q2P1/5P2/4K3/8/8 w - - 10 57[/fen]

Score 3.5 - 1.5 to the MCGE Regards
Ray
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Post by Yarc »

Here is game 6 of my 10 game match.

In this game they played the Ruy Lopez, Exchange, Alekhine variation. It looked very much as though it was going to end in a draw until move 41 when the Magellan made a big blunder! See below.

[Event "40m/2h MCGE v Magellan Champion Book"]
[Date "2018.01.09"]
[Round "6"]
[White "MCGE"]
[Black "Magellan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C68"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d4 exd4 6.Qxd4 Qxd4 7.Nxd4 Bd7 8.O-O O-O-O 9.Bg5 Be7 10.Bxe7 Nxe7 11.Rd1 Bg4 12.Rd2 Rd6 13.b4 Rhd8 14.c3 b6 15.f3 c5 16.bxc5 bxc5 17.Nb3 Be6 18.Rxd6 cxd6 19.N1d2 Nc6 20.Rb1 c4 21.Nc1 d5 22.exd5 Rxd5 23.Rb2 Ne5 24.Ne2 Nd3 25.Rc2 Rb5 26.Nd4 Re5 27.Nf1 Kd7 28.Re2 Rxe2 29.Nxe2 g6 30.Ne3 f5 31.f4 Kd6 32.Kf1 Nc5 33.Ke1 Ne4 34.Kd1 Kc5 35.Kc2 Bd5 36.Nd4 Nf2 37.Kd2 Be4 38.Ne6+ Kd6 39.Ng5 Bd3 40.Ke1 Ne4 41.Nxe4+ fxe4?? 42.g4 Ke6 43.h3 a5 44.Kd2 Kf6 45.Nd5+ Ke6 46.Nc7+ Kd6 47.Nb5+ Kd5 48.Nd4 Bf1 49.h4 Bh3 50.Nc2 Kc5 51.Ne3 h5 52.gxh5 gxh5 53.f5 a4 54.a3 Kc6 55.Ke2 Kd7 56.Kf2 Bg4 57.Kg3 Be2 58.Kf4 Bd3 59.Kg5 Ke7 60.Kg6 Kf8 61.f6 Kg8 62.f7+ Kf8 63.Kf6 Bb1 64.Nf5 e3 65.Nd4 Bf5 66.Nxf5 e2 67.Ne7 e1=Q 68.Ng6# 1-0

For quite a while in this game the MCGE was showing a negative score. The Magellan seemed to be doing okay. But the MCGE was able to fight off the attack making it look very much like it would end in a draw. However, on move 41 the Magellan blunders:

Blacks move 41…. fxe4??
[fen]8/7p/p2k2p1/5p2/2p1NP2/2PbN3/P5PP/4K3 w - - 0 41[/fen]
This clears the path for White’s Pawn on f4!

By move 61 the MCGE announced mate in 7!

The speed of the MCGE is quite impressive. Before the mate was announced but in the end game stage the Magellan at best was looking 14 ply ahead whereas the MCGE was managing 17. Well, it does have a 300Mhz processor compared to the Magellan’s 20Mhz. I know they are different processors, but obviously there is a big difference here.

I have to say, the MCGE is a very nice machine and so far does not seem to be blundering moves. Obviously, the likes of Stockfish are going to pick up on inferior moves when it’s looking 30+ moves ahead!

It seems to wait for the opponent to make a mistake and then pounces on it!

Current score 4.5 – 1.5 to the MCGE Regards
Ray
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Post by Yarc »

Current match on hold as have been waiting for the replacement MCGE. The first one had a strange piece recognition issue and Millennium decided to send me a replacement. All well and good until the new one turned up today damaged! Not in transit but obviously during manufacturing. The wood has been chipped/split on one corner and varnished over. It's not immediately noticeable but does not look good as compared to my first unit which is spotless. :x

I have emailed Millennium asking if I can have the (possibly?) faulty MCGE repaired rather than accept the replacement unit.

Exasperated Regards
Ray
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Post by Yarc »

Yarc wrote:Current match on hold as have been waiting for the replacement MCGE. The first one had a strange piece recognition issue and Millennium decided to send me a replacement. All well and good until the new one turned up today damaged! Not in transit but obviously during manufacturing. The wood has been chipped/split on one corner and varnished over. It's not immediately noticeable but does not look good as compared to my first unit which is spotless. :x

I have emailed Millennium asking if I can have the (possibly?) faulty MCGE repaired rather than accept the replacement unit.

Exasperated Regards
Ray
Update:
I am shipping back the damaged MCGE and again keeping my original unit until a new one is shipped to me. This time, Millennium are going to thoroughly check the replacement before sending. Then, once I get the new replacement will send back the faulty unit. The cost of returns is high, but Millennium are going to refung the postage costs, so that is good!

Hopefully third time lucky Regards
Ray
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Post by Steve B »

Yarc wrote:
Yarc wrote:Current match on hold as have been waiting for the replacement MCGE. The first one had a strange piece recognition issue and Millennium decided to send me a replacement. All well and good until the new one turned up today damaged! Not in transit but obviously during manufacturing. The wood has been chipped/split on one corner and varnished over. It's not immediately noticeable but does not look good as compared to my first unit which is spotless. :x

I have emailed Millennium asking if I can have the (possibly?) faulty MCGE repaired rather than accept the replacement unit.

Exasperated Regards
Ray
Update:
I am shipping back the damaged MCGE and again keeping my original unit until a new one is shipped to me. This time, Millennium are going to thoroughly check the replacement before sending. Then, once I get the new replacement will send back the faulty unit. The cost of returns is high, but Millennium are going to refung the postage costs, so that is good!

Hopefully third time lucky Regards
Ray
Hi Ray
sometimes there is just no luck when it comes to a certain computer

most of my computers were bought back in the 1980's from basically one retailer..the vast majority of my purchases went fine..., ..if there was an occasional glitch(some small defect) the retailer would take care of it right away...
but i remember very well the Fidelity Travel Master released in 1991
a nice ..travel ..fold over ...pressure sensory computer with a Morsch program
first one i received was dead on arrival
second one would not recognize move input on the E-H files
third one ..display not working
i think it took something like 5 shipments to finally get one that worked...

Sometimes it just.....

Bad Karma Regards
Steve
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Yarc
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Post by Yarc »

Steve B wrote: Hi Ray
sometimes there is just no luck when it comes to a certain computer

most of my computers were bought back in the 1980's from basically one retailer..the vast majority of my purchases went fine..., ..if there was an occasional glitch(some small defect) the retailer would take care of it right away...
but i remember very well the Fidelity Travel Master released in 1991
a nice ..travel ..fold over ...pressure sensory computer with a Morsch program
first one i received was dead on arrival
second one would not recognize move input on the E-H files
third one ..display not working
i think it took something like 5 shipments to finally get one that worked...

Sometimes it just.....

Bad Karma Regards
Steve
Hi Steve,

that was bad luck with the Fidelity Travel Master, but you persisted and ended up with a good one, which is exactly what I intend to do with the MCGE. This time Millennium are going to thoroughly check the replacement before sending. Just as well because it's not cheap sending these machines from the UK to Germany, especially with insurance. Fortunately, they are going to reimburse me.

I am still impressed by the MCGE despite being unlucky. I just think they have a quality control issue which I know they want to address. So this episode should only help to improve things.

I will get a good MCGE, I will! Regards
Ray
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Post by Reinfeld »

Dave C wrote this:
when you consider Millennium's soon to be released addition of the King program by de Konig
Where are you finding this information? I've looked on the chesseval.com site and the Millennium site, and I don't see anything. Links?

- R.
"You have, let us say, a promising politician, a rising artist that you wish to destroy. Dagger or bomb are archaic and unreliable - but teach him, inoculate him with chess."
– H.G. Wells
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Post by Reinfeld »

"You have, let us say, a promising politician, a rising artist that you wish to destroy. Dagger or bomb are archaic and unreliable - but teach him, inoculate him with chess."
– H.G. Wells
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Post by Yarc »

The replacement MCGE has been dispatched from Germany, tracking info shows it waiting at Koln Airport so will probably get it later in the week. I can then hopefully continue my match. In the meantime have posted back the damaged unit, and when the new one arrives will then post back the original faulty MCGE.

This brings a new meaning to postal chess Regards
Ray
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