Collector's Corner..2007 Annual Physicals ..Continue..

[Steve B]

it is a true beauty Fern

made from the finest Teak wood from the far reaches of Madagascar..or was it Timbuktu?

let me know when the inmates in the jailhouse are allowed visitors..
i will bring the Deluxe 9 with me to your cell and allow you to stretch through the bars and touch it,,but just barely

Anything For A Friend Regards
Steve

[Steve B]

Only ever spoken about in whispers and secret meetings..the legendary Fidelity Excellence Deluxe is known as the "Yeti" of dedicated chess computers

some claim to have caught fleeting glimpses of it in daylight and some claim it does not even exist
the ED does not come from the normal specie of Excellence chess computers
even though its brains are a normal Excellence 6080 running at 3 Mhz the outer skeleton is not made from plastic but from ..Wood
years of and mass production of Hundreds of thousands of Excellences have yielded a single mutation
a mutation from the English Countryside laboratories of Sir Bryan Whitby(a reclusive collector currently thought to be "woodifying" other hapless computers)
classified biologically as from the species..Homo Gardenshedus Eruptus...the ED was due for its annual physical..

rated at 1755 Elo i pitted it against the closet rival i could find on Hallsworth Selective Search Rating lists
this turned out to be the Mephisto MMII Which was also long overdue for a checkup
the MMII was rated 1759 and sports a program from Ulf Rathsmann.i also loaded up the HG240 add-in Book
module to play along side the MMII but this does not raise its rating very much..at least not for my purposes

MMII had the white pieces ...time control ..30 sec/avg per move

in the game MMII was first to leave book at move 14
both computers searched typically 5 ply and in the endgame 7-8 ply

the Mephisto MMII and HG240 Add-In Book Module:
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/cpaa2@sbcgl ... 6815929/14


http://new.photos.yahoo.com/cpaa2@sbcgl ... 6778150/15

the Legendary and Mythical ..Fidelity Excellence Deluxe:

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/cpaa2@sbcgl ... 841069/123

[White "Mephisto MMII"]
[Black "Fidelity Excellence Deluxe"]
[TimeControl "30sec/move avg."]
[Result "0-1"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.e3 c6 6.Nf3 Qa5 7.Nd2 Bb4 8.Qc2
O-O 9.Be2 dxc4 10.Bxf6 Nxf6 11.Nxc4 Qc7 12.O-O Rd8 13.a3 Be7 14.Ne4 Nxe4
15.Qxe4 Bd7 16.Bd3 f5 17.Qe5 Qxe5 18.Nxe5 Be8 19.f4 c5 20.e4 fxe4
21.Bxe4 cxd4 22.Rab1 Rab8 23.Rbc1 Bb5 24.Bd3 Bxd3 25.Nxd3 Rbc8 26.Rfe1
Rxc1 27.Rxc1 Bd6 28.a4 Kf7 29.Kf2 Kf6 30.h3 Kg6 31.g4 Rf8 32.Kg3 Bb8 33.Re1 Kf6 34.Nc5 Re8 35.Re4

[D] 1b2r3/pp4pp/4pk2/2N5/P2pRPP1/6KP/1P6/8 b - - 0 35

It is interesting to note here that even though White is down a pawn it does not consider its position worse
here and in the moves that follow it returns PV's of between 0.00 and -.30
not until its knight is exchanged for blacks bishop at move 44 do we see the pv reach -1.00

35.e5 36.Kf3 Kf7
37.Nd7 d3 38.fxe5 Bc7 39.Ke3 Re7 40.Nc5
Bb6 41.b4 Rc7 42.e6+ Ke7 43.Kxd3 Bxc5 44.bxc5 Rxc5 45.Re2 Rc6 46.Rb2 b6
47.Re2 Rxe6
[D] 8/p3k1pp/1p2R3/8/P5P1/3K3P/8/8 b - - 0 48
48.Rxe6+??

I really dont blame the MMII for this blunder
the search depths needed are just too high to realize that White
will now be tied up on the Queen side preventing a passed pawn for Black and
Black need only march his K to the King side to capture the black pawns and promote his own pawns
clearly the only hopes for a draw are to keep the rooks on the board
still the Excellence handles its part of the insuring endgame flawlessly showing the strength once again of the Spracklens endgame programming heuristics
48. Kxe6 49.Kc4 a6 50.h4 Ke5 51.g5 g6
52.Kb4 Kf4 53.Kc4 Kg4 54.Kd5 Kxh4 55.Kc6 Kxg5 56.Kd5 a5 57.Ke4 Kg4
58.Ke3 Kg3 59.Ke2 Kg2 *

FINAL POSITION

[D] 8/7p/1p4p1/p7/P7/8/4K1k1/8 w - - 0 60

MM II was showing -9.11 here so i resigned for it

Short Sighted Regards
Steve

[fern]

Steve:
Just between you and me....don't you think the dress of excellence by our pal is somewhat heavy? It reminded me of the bed of my grandfather.

But of course nothing is written about tastes regards
Fernando
(keep me informed abut your health problem)

[Steve B]

yes it is a thick heavy wood
like a butchers block for cutting raw meat
flown in from the distant shores of the Himalayan mountain top
for my opinion .. the more wood surrounding a chess computer the better

i need the wood..the wood is life itself

Wooden Cane Regards
Steve

[fern]

I suppose we will have enough wood around us one of these days, you know... I mean, those days when your collection will be lying in the grass, in front of house door, with your widow waiting for the next guy interested in getting the Elite for $1,20

Coffin awaits us ith lot of wood regards...or she will use plastic for saving some?

Fernando

[Steve B]

I suppose we will have enough wood around us one of these days, you know... I mean, those days when your collection will be lying in the grass, in front of house door, with your widow waiting for the next guy interested in getting the Elite for $1,20

Coffin awaits us ith lot of wood regards...or she will use plastic for saving some?

Fernando

you are a very cruel man my friend

Cruel i tell you

Regards
Steve

[Steve B]

I havent tested an Excalibur in some time (other then the DTTC which i play on and off) so i made an appointment with the Karpov 2294 to come in for its annual physical

the unusual name for the computers derives from the fact that Excalibur entered it for a CRA Rating(USCF) and it came in with a rating of 2294 after 40 rated games
the computer is in reality the Novag Emerald Classic Plus but with an Excalibur Badge and it is really about 1960 Elo in strength
one thing i like about the packaging of the 2294 is that it was sold with a nice wooden piece set(similar to the Citrine pieces but smaller) and a nice leather pouch for the pieces..i always appreciate little extra's like that

i escorted the 2294 into the examination room asked it to undress and then bend over across the examination table
donning my proctological examination gloves ..i removed the battery compartment cover and inserted 6 new fresh C batteries

In the Exam room next door was the similarly rated Tiger Grenadier(also 1960ish)
the Tiger brand name is not held in very high regard by collectors but the Grenadier is a bit special because it contains the only program Chrilly Donninger(Of Hydra and Nimzo fame)ever wrote for a dedicated chess computer

also interesting about the Grenadier is that it has an "action chess" button which if pressed immediately sets up a game to be played at Blitz 30 minutes

having the button right in front of me i decided to play the game at that time control and give the G the first move

In the Game the G was out of book by move 3!
both computers reached typical search depths of 7 ply with the G searching about 4000 positions per second


[White "Tiger Grenadier"]
[Black "Excalibur Karpov 2294"]
[TimeControl "Game 30 Min"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Nd5 Bc5 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Bd3 d6 7.O-O Nxd5
8.cxd5 Nb4 9.Bc4 Bf5 10.a3 Nd3 11.Qb3 Nxc1 12.Raxc1 Bg4 13.d4 Bb6 14.Bd3

[D] r2q1rk1/ppp2ppp/1b1p4/3Pp3/3P2b1/PQ1BPN2/1P3PPP/2R2RK1 b - - 0 14

Whites last move was one diagonal too short
in fact i double checked its display screen to make sure it hadn't played 14Be2 instead
from here on in Black decimates the White King side and gobbles up several pawns

Bxf3 15.gxf3 Qg5+ 16.Kh1 exd4 17.Rg1 Qh4 18.Kg2 dxe3 19.fxe3 Qg5+ 20.Kh1
Qxe3 21.Rgf1 Rae8 22.Rc3 Qd2 23.Qc2 Qh6 24.Qg2 Re3 25.Be4 Rxc3 26.bxc3
Re8 27.Qg4 Qe3 28.Qf5 g6 29.Qg4 Qxc3 30.Qd7 Kf8 31.Qa4 f5 32.Qc2 Qxa3
33.Bd3 Qa5 34.Qb2 Qxd5 35.Qh8+ Kf7 36.Qxh7+ Kf6 37.Bb1 Qc4 38.Qh3 Kg7
39.Rd1

[D] 4r3/ppp3k1/1b1p2p1/5p2/2q5/5P1Q/7P/1B1R3K b - - 0 39

Karpov is just up 4 pawns for nothing here
this game reminds me of the Hydra-Adams match two years ago in which Adams was beaten like a small child
the difference here of course is that the Grenadier is not running on 1000+ processors

39.c6 40.Qg3 Qe2 41.Rc1 Bf2 42.Qg2 Bd4 43.Qg3 Qe3 44.Rd1 Be5 45.Qg2
Rh8 46.h3 Rh5 47.Bd3 d5 48.Be2 Qh6 49.Bf1 Qe3 50.Be2 Qh6 51.Bf1 Qf4
52.Rd3 Qc1 53.Rb3 b6 54.Rd3 Rh8 55.Kg1 Re8 56.Rd2 Qc5+ 57.Kh1 a5 58.Re2
Qd4 59.Rc2 Qa4 60.Re2 Qh4 61.Rc2 c5 62.Re2 Re6 63.Rd2 d4
64.Re2 g5 65.Kg1 Qf4 66.Kh1 c4 67.Rf2 d3 68.Rd2 Bc3 69.Rd1 Re3 70.Rb1
Rxf3 71.Qg1 Bd4 72.Qg2 g4 73.hxg4 Be5 74.Re1 Qh6+

[D] 8/6k1/1p5q/p3bp2/2p3P1/3p1r2/6Q1/4RB1K w - - 0 75

here the 2294 announces a Mate In 4
75.Qh3 Rxh3+ 76.Kg1

Rh1+ 77.Kg2 Qh3+ 78.Kf2 Qg3# 0-1

FINAL POSITION

[D] 8/6k1/1p6/p3bp2/2p3P1/3p2q1/5K2/4RB1r w - - 0 79

after seeing this game perhaps its a good thing that Donninger

Wrote a Chess Program For Only One Dedicated Computer Regards
Steve

[Steve B]

And Finally to end this round of testing we turn back the clock over 25 years to a time long forgotten
a Golden Age where chess computers were released with alarming regularity

into the examination tables walks the Destiny GGM Steinitz Edition 4
sadly the very last computer released by the proud Applied Concepts company which soon went out of business after its release
rated 1496 Elo it was one of the few computers released by the company that could indicate a position evaluation and it had user adjustable time controls

its opponent is the Ultra Rare Scisys Courier V
so rare that i know of only one other collector that owns one
so rare in fact that i do not even remember how i acquired it
little is known about this computer and i cannot find anything in the literature about it
what is known is this....
it had the same housing as the Travel Mate II(Indeed the casing is marked as such)
it could not ponder on the opponents move
it had 8 rather unusual levels such as 6 seconds per move and 35 minutes per move

trying to match these two is not easy as the levels offered by both are not very similar
i choose level 3 for Herr Steinitz which is 1 min per move Avg,while the Courier V was set to level 4 which was an odd 50 seconds per move average

in the Game S was out of book at move 3 and typically reached search depths of 4 Ply
the CV had White

a word of caution..the chess that follows is not pretty..but it should be remembered that even the worlds fastest Olympic Athletes stumbled and fell when they first learned to walk.
this was the early days of commercial chess programming and without baby steps like these we would not have today the plethora of screaming number crunching chess engines running on dual core quad Opteron computers all rated 4000 Elo or better that everyone now takes for granted

The Steinitz Edition 4 Module:
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/cpaa2@sbcgl ... 6809994/52

the Great Game Machine(GGM )housing:
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/cpaa2@sbcgl ... 6845863/34

The Scisys Courier V:

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/cpaa2@sbcgl ... 6870943/37

the first recorded game for the Scisys Courier V on the net(and perhaps anywhere):

[White "Scisys Courier V"]
[Black "Destiny Steinitz"]
[TimeControl "about 1 minute per move-"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nbd2 Nc6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Ne5 Nxe5 6.dxe5 Ng4
7.Bb5+ c6 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxg4 Bxc2 10.Qd4 Qb6 11.Qf4 e6 12.O-O Bd3 13.Rd1
Qb4 14.Qg5 h6 15.Qf4 Qxf4 16.exf4 Bc5 17.Nb3 Bc2 18.Rd2 Bxb3 19.axb3 a5
20.h4 b6 21.h5 O-O-O 22.Ra2 Kb7 23.g3 d4 24.Ra1 d3 25.g4 Bb4 26.Rd1 d2

[D] 3r3r/1k3pp1/1pp1p2p/p3P2P/1b3PP1/1P6/1P1p1P2/R1BR2K1 w - - 0 27
A brutal position for the Courier V..the pawn thrust to the second rank is like a knife thrust in the neck
Herr Steinitz was showing a PV of +4.54 here



27.Kh2 dxc1=Q 28.Raxc1 Bd2 29.Ra1 Bxf4+ 30.Kh1 Bxe5 31.Rxd8 Rxd8 32.Kg2
Rd3 33.b4 axb4 34.Ra2 Rd2 35.Kf3 b3 36.Ra3 Rxb2 37.Ke3 Bd6 38.Ra4 Bc5+
39.Kf4 Rxf2+ 40.Kg3 b2

[D] 8/1k3pp1/1pp1p2p/2b4P/R5P1/6K1/1p3r2/8 w - - 0 41

My Chess master 5500 tells me this is a mate in 7 ..while the Steintz does not announce this,encouragingly it does make all correct mating moves

41.Ra2 b1=Q 42.Rxf2 Qe1 43.g5 Qxf2+ 44.Kg4 Bd6 45.gxh6 Qg3# 0-1

FINAL POSITION
[D] 8/1k3pp1/1ppbp2P/7P/6K1/6q1/8/8 w - - 0 46

Testing Over For Now...Regards
Steve

[fern]

What a pleasure to see a win by one of my collector's pieces! Steinitz is so a pretty machine, even elegant. It is one of my favorites at the very side of Champion Chess Challenger.

My collection in mass send his saltes
Fernando

[Steve B]

thank you Fern

and now for another Golden Oldie...

The Scisys Chess Champion Mark V needs no introduction.indeed no self respecting chess computer collector is without one
Programmed by Taylor and Broughton it won the 1981 Micro Chess Computer Championship and was rated in the low 1500's Elo
it had LCD pieces in which the computer would indicate its moves in the display screen

an unusual feature was the ability for the computer to play and hold 12 different games in its memory for simultaneous play
there was one upgrade for the Mark V called the Philidor Module/Mark VI ..this brought a larger opening book and another 20 or so Elo
the Philidor Module also had a driver to operate the Auto-Sensory board which could be attached to the computer allowing ease of play for the owner... and eliminated the need to input the moves or look at the display screen
while the Computer itself is not considered rare...a working Auto-Sensory board attachment is rare

continuing the annual testing i decided that the strength of the Philidor was low enough(1550ish Elo) for your faithful reporter to have a go at it himself..


the Mark V :

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/cpaa2@sbcgl ... 56808225/5

Philidor(Mark VI) Upgrade Module:

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/cpaa2@sbcgl ... 6844311/11

Auto-Sensory Board Attachment:

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/cpaa2@sbcgl ... 6818238/12

In the Game ...
i attached the Auto-Sensory board ..set the level to 30 seconds per move and gave Philidor the White pieces
P was out of book at move 4

[White "Scisys Mark VI"]
[Black "Steve B"]
[TimeControl "30 Sec./Avg"]
[Result "0-1*"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 d6 7.O-O Bg4
8.Bf4 a6 9.Be2 dxe5 10.Nxe5 Bxe2 11.Qxe2 e6 12.Rad1 Qf6 13.Nxc6 bxc6
14.Qe4 Rc8 15.Rfe1 Be7 16.Be5 Qg6 17.Qxg6 hxg6 18.Bxg7

[D] 2r1k2r/4bpB1/p1p1p1p1/2p5/8/2P5/PPP2PPP/3RR1K1 b k - 0 18

my position is a mess being down a pawn,saddled with doubled pawns and now no chance to Castle
however..i thought i could pull off a swindle here
if i played Rg8 here the P would simply move its Bishop away and i would have nothing
instead i play Rh5 hoping the P would be lulled into a false sense of security regarding its Bishop

play continues..
19.Rh5 19.h3??

[D] 2r1k3/4b1B1/p1p1ppp1/2p4r/8/2P4P/PPP2PP1/3RR1K1 w - - 0 20
.19.f6 !
the Bishop is trapped!
it simply takes too many ply look ahead for the P to realize the Bishop must fall


20.Rxe6 Kf7 21.g4 Rh7 22.Rde1 Bd8 23.Bxf6 Bxf6 24.R6e3

[D] 2r5/5k1r/p1p2bp1/2p5/6P1/2P1R2P/PPP2P2/4R1K1 b - - 0 24

while its true that the material is even (i have the B for 3 pawns) i knew if i got the Rooks off the board i would win the endgame

24. Rhh8 25.a4 Rb8 26.b3 Rhe8 27.c4 Rxe3 28.Rxe3 Re8 29.Kg2 Rxe3 30.fxe3 Ke6 31.Kf3 Ke5
32.Kg3 Ke4 33.Kf2 Bg5 34.a5 Bxe3+ 35.Ke2 g5 36.c3 Bf4 37.b4 cxb4 38.cxb4
Kd4 39.b5 cxb5 40.cxb5 axb5 41.Kf3 b4 42.Kf2 b3 43.a6 Bb8 44.Ke1 b2
45.Kd2 *

FINAL POSITION

[D] 1b6/8/P7/6p1/3k2P1/7P/1p1K4/8 b - - 0 45

here the Philidor flashes the COMMENT message in the display screen
this alerts the owner to press the COMMENT button in order to read the message that will appear in the special message area of the display screen
when i did so the comment was...

I RESIGN OK?

OK Regards
Steve