The dedicated chess computer thread

Discussion of anything and everything relating to chess playing software and machines.

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reflectionofpower
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Re: The dedicated chess computer thread

Post by reflectionofpower »

Those were the golden years, like it was a magic device that you could play against. I owned three of them in my lifetime. The Chess Challenger 3,NOVAG Constellation 3.6MHz, & the Mach III. The Mach III was particularly strong.
"Without change, something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken." (Dune - 1984)

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CRoberson
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Re: The dedicated chess computer thread

Post by CRoberson »

I have these and last I looked they all still work.
Fidelity CC 8, Fidelity Excellence 4 MHz, CXG SuperCrown, Fidelity Budapest, Excalibur Karpov 2294, Novag Citrine and Novag Saphire II.

ACCA will hold a memorial tournament in the fall which will allow dedicated units. I recall Ian Osgood has a way of connecting Novags to online Chess servers.
Henk
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Re: The dedicated chess computer thread

Post by Henk »

reflectionofpower wrote:Those were the golden years, like it was a magic device that you could play against. I owned three of them in my lifetime. The Chess Challenger 3,NOVAG Constellation 3.6MHz, & the Mach III. The Mach III was particularly strong.
Is the magic gone if you run Stockfish on your computer. And if so why do you think ? Maybe because everybody has a home computer ?
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jsgroby
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Re: The dedicated chess computer thread

Post by jsgroby »

reflectionofpower wrote:Those were the golden years, like it was a magic device that you could play against. I owned three of them in my lifetime. The Chess Challenger 3,NOVAG Constellation 3.6MHz, & the Mach III. The Mach III was particularly strong.
I had a chess machine I bought in the late eighties that was pretty impressive at the time. I have looked for it on eBay and elsewhere, but I cannot find it. It was bought at Sears. It was a touch sensitive board with LEDs in each of the squares, no screen or readout. To select a level when you turned it on you pressed a specific square and then started playing. I lost it but would love to find one to purchase again. This is where my love affair with chess computers began...

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Terry McCracken
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Re: The dedicated chess computer thread

Post by Terry McCracken »

Steve B wrote:How Ironic

one of the very few posts about dedicated chess computers to be made here in years...
and from all the possible topics...
Thor discusses a modified computer

Sigh Regards
Steve
You take what you can get. At least he mentioned almost every author of dedicated units.

It would be more interesting had he not modified a Designer Mach III to a Mach IV, just get the Mach IV or the Designer Mach IV. Didn't Fidelity come out with the Designer 2400 or was it cancelled? I thought I saw one advertised back in 1993 or 94? It used the Motorola 68040 32bit, replacing the 68020 and bypassing the in-between 68030. I believe Fidelity clocked the 68020 at 20 MHz the 30 @33 MHz and the 40 @25 MHz and the 16bit 68000 @16 Mhz, what a dog. :) The Fidelity 68000 or Mach I and Mach II a mere 12 Mhz, snail. :P
Terry McCracken
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reflectionofpower
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Re: The dedicated chess computer thread

Post by reflectionofpower »

Henk wrote:
reflectionofpower wrote:Those were the golden years, like it was a magic device that you could play against. I owned three of them in my lifetime. The Chess Challenger 3,NOVAG Constellation 3.6MHz, & the Mach III. The Mach III was particularly strong.
Is the magic gone if you run Stockfish on your computer. And if so why do you think ? Maybe because everybody has a home computer ?
No. I usually do not use Stockfish. Lately I have just been using Vitruvius because of it's positional leanings,.
"Without change, something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken." (Dune - 1984)

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reflectionofpower
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Re: The dedicated chess computer thread

Post by reflectionofpower »

CRoberson wrote:I have these and last I looked they all still work.
Fidelity CC 8, Fidelity Excellence 4 MHz, CXG SuperCrown, Fidelity Budapest, Excalibur Karpov 2294, Novag Citrine and Novag Saphire II.

ACCA will hold a memorial tournament in the fall which will allow dedicated units. I recall Ian Osgood has a way of connecting Novags to online Chess servers.
The Novag Citrine is a very nice high-end dedicated and it is strong enough to beat the majority of humanity.
"Without change, something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken." (Dune - 1984)

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CRoberson
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Re: The dedicated chess computer thread

Post by CRoberson »

reflectionofpower wrote:
CRoberson wrote:I have these and last I looked they all still work.
Fidelity CC 8, Fidelity Excellence 4 MHz, CXG SuperCrown, Fidelity Budapest, Excalibur Karpov 2294, Novag Citrine and Novag Saphire II.

ACCA will hold a memorial tournament in the fall which will allow dedicated units. I recall Ian Osgood has a way of connecting Novags to online Chess servers.
The Novag Citrine is a very nice high-end dedicated and it is strong enough to beat the majority of humanity.
My real joy with the Novag Citrine is that I can connect it to the PC and play any PC engine via a real board. I like using SCID as the interface, because it can announce the PC engine's moves audibly.
Steve B
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Re: The dedicated chess computer thread

Post by Steve B »

Terry McCracken wrote: Didn't Fidelity come out with the Designer 2400 or was it cancelled? I thought I saw one advertised back in 1993 or 94?

Fidelity never actually released it
although they did advertise it,calling it the Master 2400

in reading the posts after yours I see this one thread in months perhaps years(?)about dedicated chess computers has degenerated into discussing dedicated computers and how to connect them to PC's
I guess the urge to stick in PC's into every thread is just overwhelming

Hopeless Cause Regards
Steve
Last edited by Steve B on Tue Aug 19, 2014 1:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Modern Times
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Re: The dedicated chess computer thread

Post by Modern Times »

Steve B wrote:
Fidelity never actually released the Designer 2400
But maybe you somehow have one in your collection ?