On.. A Day In The Life Of the Hardcore Collector

[Steve B]

sometimes the Collector summons up enough courage to actually play a game himself against the old computers
losses are of course immediately forgotten but the rare win are forever memorialized in diaries ,discussions with fellow collectors and postings all over the Internet

OK
one more crushing win against a dedicated computer from my vast archives of wins(total ..3 wins lifetime)

this game features the Novag Constellation Expert which
when released for sale in 1985 was marketed as the Chess Monster
it was the first all wooden auto sensory board Novag ever released for sale and rated low 1800's Elo
it had no display screen but could be connected to a clock and chess printer
after the Connie Expert.. Novag released the Super Experts which did have the display screens



TC was 60 seconds per move
your faithful reporter took white and i opened with the Queens Gambit
at this level the CE typically searched 6-7 ply
the CE was out of book first at move 6

[White "Steve B"]
[Black "Novag Conny Expert"]
[Time Control - 60 sec/Avg.]


1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 c5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bd3 cxd4

[d] r1bqkb1r/pp3ppp/2n1pn2/3p4/2Pp4/2NBPN2/PP3PPP/R1BQK2R w KQkq - 0 7
Conny is now out of book and rates herself ahead +.53

7.Nxd4 Bb4 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.Bd2 O-O 10.a3 Bd6 11.O-O Ba6 12.Qe2 Qb8 13.cxd5Bxd3 14.Qxd3 Bxh2+

[d] rq3rk1/p4ppp/2p1pn2/3P4/8/P1NQP3/1P1B1PPb/R4RK1 w - - 0 15
a typical mistake of the early programs is this bishop capture with check
typically the bishop gets trapped by whites pawns if it is does not quickly retreat back to whence it came
15.Kh1 cxd5 16.g3 Ng4 17.Qe2 f5 18.f3 Qxb2

[d] r4rk1/p5pp/4p3/3p1p2/6n1/P1N1PPP1/1q1BQ2b/R4R1K w - - 0 19
Conny is up two pawns here and is very happy with her position boasting an eval of +.87
however upon closer inspection we see she has her bishop trapped .. her Knight is En prise.. and to make matters worse.. her queen just swallowed a poisoned pawn......
19.fxg4 Bxg3 20.Rfb1
[d] r4rk1/p5pp/4p3/3p1p2/6P1/P1N1P1b1/1q1BQ3/RR5K w - - 0 20
only a few moves later but the grim face of reality rears its ugly head..the black queen is trapped
if 20..Qc2 then 21.Ra2
White will be ahead a Q+KN for R+PPP....so overwhelming a material advantage that even i could not bollix up the win from here..
Conny scores herself down -3.10

20..Rab8 21.Rxb2 Rxb2 22.gxf5 Rxf5 23.Rb1 Rxb1+ 24.Nxb1 Kf7 25.Qg4 Bd6 26.Bb4 Bc7 27.Nc3 a5 28.Bc5 Bb8 29.Nb5 h5 30.Qh3 Be5 31.Nd6+ Bxd6 32.Bxd6 Kf6 33.Bc7 Kf7 34.Bxa5 d4 35.Bd2 dxe3 36.Qxe3 g5 37.a4 g4 38.a5 h4 39.a6 Rf1+ 40.Kg2 Ra1 41.Qf4+ Ke8 42.Qxg4 Rxa6 43.Qxh4 Ra2 44.Qh5+ Kd7 45.Qg5 Kd6 46.Kf3 Ra3+ 47.Kg4 Rb3 48.Bf4+ Kc6 49.Qe7 Kb5 50.Qxe6 Rc3 51.Qd5+ Rc5 52.Qb7+ Kc4 53.Be3 Ra5 54.Qc7+
[d] 8/2Q5/8/r7/2k3K1/4B3/8/8 w - - 0 54
a nice finesse
if Black tries to save her rook with 54..Kb5 its Mate in Three starting with 55.Qc5+
54..Kd3 55.Qxa5 Kxe3 and Resigns

Kramnik Next Regards
Steve
P.S.. A Conny Expert on Ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0296078383

[Jaimes Conda]

that will depend on the module in the board Matt
the Mephisto boards were made to accept different modules of varying playing strength unlike the Fidelity boards which had the engine fixed inside the computer on an Eprom and not really interchangeable

Mephisto boards sell on Ebay all the live long day with different modules in them

you can see here on this site ..the prices the Mephisto boards sold for on many past auctions on Ebay
click on "Exclusive" and on pg.5 "Munchen":

http://www.elpeon.com/index.php?mod=mephisto

but if your prefer something still available as new today
the Novag Citrine is really nice
came out about two years ago and the board seems very solid although a bit smaller then full tournament sized
full auto-sensory wood with wooden pieces
ELO about 2050

lots of threads here about the Citrine
these babies go for about $350 Shipped

the Citrine can actually be hooked up to your PC and with Arena you can play with any engine that can be played in Arena

but now we are straying a bit outside of my area of knowledge



http://www.chessusa.com/Merchant2/merch ... ct_Count=3
Best Regards
Steve

Would Excalibur be a reliable board? What is your opinion of the overall system?

Actually I have an Excalibur Grandmaster and I am pleased with it.
Unfortunately however it is the silver & black model. The green and white is much better in my opinion.
The board is a heavy plastic and tournament size. The pieces are nicely weighted.

This unit is not the Cadillac of dedicated chess machines but for the price new of $199.00 well worth it. I purchased mine about two years ago from a friend and it is still working.
It is rated 1845 and the programmer is Ron Nelson.

Read at the link below.

http://translate.google.com/translate?s ... e%5fSeiten

Go to chess computer on the left hand side. Then scroll down to Excalibur Grandmaster.

Jaimes

[Steve B]

Actually I have an Excalibur Grandmaster and I am pleased with it.
Unfortunately however it is the silver & black model. The green and white is much better in my opinion.

can i ask you Jaimes why you say the Normal GM(green and white) is better then the Platinum GM(silver & black )??
Aside from the color scheme they are identical computers

Color Blind Regards
Steve

[Jaimes Conda]

Actually I have an Excalibur Grandmaster and I am pleased with it.
Unfortunately however it is the silver & black model. The green and white is much better in my opinion.

can i ask you Jaimes why you say the Normal GM(green and white) is better then the Platinum GM(silver & black )??
Aside from the color scheme they are identical computers

Color Blind Regards
Steve

Steve,
Hello. Yes,I see I was a little vague.
Simply,in my opinion.looking at the green & white board would be easier on the eyes. Or rather my eyes. Nothing more than that.

Jaimes

[mhull]

that will depend on the module in the board Matt
the Mephisto boards were made to accept different modules of varying playing strength unlike the Fidelity boards which had the engine fixed inside the computer on an Eprom and not really interchangeable

Mephisto boards sell on Ebay all the live long day with different modules in them

you can see here on this site ..the prices the Mephisto boards sold for on many past auctions on Ebay
click on "Exclusive" and on pg.5 "Munchen":

http://www.elpeon.com/index.php?mod=mephisto

but if your prefer something still available as new today
the Novag Citrine is really nice
came out about two years ago and the board seems very solid although a bit smaller then full tournament sized
full auto-sensory wood with wooden pieces
ELO about 2050

lots of threads here about the Citrine
these babies go for about $350 Shipped

the Citrine can actually be hooked up to your PC and with Arena you can play with any engine that can be played in Arena

but now we are straying a bit outside of my area of knowledge



http://www.chessusa.com/Merchant2/merch ... ct_Count=3
Best Regards
Steve

Would Excalibur be a reliable board? What is your opinion of the overall system?

Actually I have an Excalibur Grandmaster and I am pleased with it.
Unfortunately however it is the silver & black model. The green and white is much better in my opinion.
The board is a heavy plastic and tournament size. The pieces are nicely weighted.

This unit is not the Cadillac of dedicated chess machines but for the price new of $199.00 well worth it. I purchased mine about two years ago from a friend and it is still working.
It is rated 1845 and the programmer is Ron Nelson.

Read at the link below.

http://translate.google.com/translate?s ... e%5fSeiten

Go to chess computer on the left hand side. Then scroll down to Excalibur Grandmaster.

Jaimes

Thank you, Jaimes and Steve.

[fern]

Great you clarified that, otherwise me, that received as gift a silver GM Excalibur, would be compelled to trash it over the head of the donor....


ungrateful regards
Fern

[Jaimes Conda]

Great you clarified that, otherwise me, that received as gift a silver GM Excalibur, would be compelled to trash it over the head of the donor....


ungrateful regards
Fern

Le Marquis Jaimes de Conda