Old chess computers nostalgia

[Rubinus]

Emulator
[Event "Cest_Asus_2023, Blic:15'+10""] [Site "Cest_Asus_2023"] [Date "2024.08.01"] [Round "1"] [White "Stockfish dev-20231120"] [Black "Mephisto Modular MM1-A"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B21"] [PlyCount "77"] [TimeControl "900+10"] 1. e4 {B 0 Černý mimo knihovnu} c5 {0.01/0 1} 2. d4 {B 0} cxd4 {0.01/0 18} 3. c3 {B 0} dxc3 {0.01/0 14} 4. Nxc3 {B 0 Bílý mimo knihovnu} e5 {0.01/0 41} 5. Nf3 {0.44/37 221} Nc6 {0.01/0 9} 6. Bc4 {0.39/33 20} Bb4 {0.01/0 6 (Jf6)} 7. Ng5 {0.76/29 18} Bxc3+ {0.01/0 5 (Jh6)} 8. bxc3 {1.27/29 18} Nh6 {0.01/0 0} 9. O-O {1.28/34 45} O-O {0.01/0 1 (De7)} 10. Qd6 {1.18/34 58} Qe7 {0.01/0 17 (Ve8) } 11. Qxe7 {1.30/32 18} Nxe7 {0.01/0 4} 12. f4 {1.39/33 21} Ng6 {0.01/0 36} 13. f5 {1.24/34 49} Nh8 {0.01/0 29 (Jf4)} 14. h3 {3.14/30 20} Re8 {0.01/0 30 (Vd8)} 15. Rd1 {3.49/30 22} Rb8 {0.01/0 13 (b6)} 16. a4 {4.10/30 18} Ra8 {0.01/0 13 (b6)} 17. Ba3 {4.88/30 23} g6 {0.01/0 12 (d6)} 18. f6 {5.42/33 21} a6 {0.01/0 9 (Jf5)} 19. a5 {5.86/30 18} Rb8 {0.01/0 20 (d6)} 20. Bd6 {6.59/31 19} Ra8 {0. 01/0 21} 21. Bd5 {6.91/28 18} Rd8 {0.01/0 21 (Ve6)} 22. c4 {7.42/29 25} Ra7 { 0.01/0 30} 23. Rab1 {7.74/30 27} Re8 {0.01/0 12} 24. c5 {7.98/26 19} Rd8 {0.01/ 0 0 (Va8)} 25. g4 {8.50/31 102} Ra8 {0.01/0 29} 26. Kf2 {8.49/25 14} Re8 {0.01/ 0 45} 27. Ke3 {8.70/27 21} Rd8 {0.01/0 34 (Va7)} 28. Nf3 {8.86/25 22} g5 {0.01/ 0 7} 29. Nxg5 {9.24/25 28} Ng6 {0.01/0 27} 30. Nf3 {9.46/24 25} Kh8 {0.01/0 0} 31. g5 {10.14/25 20} Ng8 {0.01/0 0} 32. h4 {10.68/26 29} Nf4 {0.01/0 15 (Ve8)} 33. Nxe5 {#11/43 15} Nxd5+ {0.01/0 4 (Jg2+)} 34. Rxd5 {#10/44 18} Nxf6 {0.01/0 0 (Vf8)} 35. gxf6 {#6/121 18} Rf8 {0.01/0 0 (h6)} 36. Rg1 {#4/245 3} b5 {0.01/ 0 13 (h6)} 37. Bxf8 {#3/245 1} h5 {0.01/0 0 (h6)} 38. Nxf7+ {#2/245 1} Kh7 {0. 01/0 0} 39. Rxh5# {#1/245 1} 1-0
The MMI book only contains 500 halfmoves, but I'm still surprised he doesn't have anything on Morra-gambit since he already plays Sicilian occasionally. I once pulled the whole thing out of him, he only has 17 variants that he plays for both sides. Unfortunately the write-up didn't survive my move, she was otherwise a pretty solid book, for the size.

[Event "Cest_Asus_2023, Blic:15'+10""] [Site "Cest_Asus_2023"] [Date "2024.08.01"] [Round "1"] [White "Stockfish dev-20231120"] [Black "Mephisto Modular MM1-A"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B20"] [PlyCount "47"] [TimeControl "900+10"] 1. e4 {B 0 Černý mimo knihovnu} c5 {0.01/0 1} 2. b4 {B 0} cxb4 {0.01/0 18} 3. a3 {B 0 Bílý mimo knihovnu} bxa3 {0.01/0 52} 4. d4 {-0.26/35 128} d5 {0.01/0 35 (g6)} 5. exd5 {-0.01/36 19} Qa5+ {0.01/0 3 (Jf6)} 6. Bd2 {1.06/31 18} Qxd5 { 0.01/0 17} 7. Nxa3 {1.10/29 20} Qxd4 {0.01/0 6 (Sd7)} 8. Nf3 {1.80/29 20} Qe4+ {0.01/0 4 (Dd8)} 9. Be2 {2.98/30 20} Nc6 {0.01/0 1 (Sd7)} 10. Nb5 {4.99/30 19} Rb8 {0.01/0 26} 11. Ng5 {5.18/31 23} Qf5 {0.01/0 0} 12. Nc7+ {5.28/28 23} Kd8 { 0.01/0 12} 13. Bf4+ {5.29/30 30} Bd7 {0.01/0 13} 14. Bg4 {5.33/30 20} Qxg4 {0. 01/0 0} 15. Nce6+ {5.34/32 24} Qxe6+ {0.01/0 0} 16. Nxe6+ {5.33/32 31} fxe6 { 0.01/0 0} 17. Bxb8 {5.43/31 20} Nxb8 {0.01/0 0 (Ke8)} 18. Qf3 {5.42/31 20} Ke8 {0.01/0 53} 19. Qxb7 {5.55/32 25} Nc6 {0.01/0 0 (Kf7)} 20. Rd1 {6.00/29 22} Nf6 {0.01/0 18} 21. Rxd7 {6.18/28 21} Nd8 {0.01/0 0 (Ja5)} 22. Rxd8+ {8.33/25 22} Kxd8 {0.01/0 2 (Kf7)} 23. Qc6 {9.89/30 25} Ne8 {0.01/0 84 (Jd7)} 24. O-O {#7/ 98 20 čas} 1-0

[Event "Cest_Asus_2023, Blic:15'+10""] [Site "Cest_Asus_2023"] [Date "2024.08.01"] [Round "1"] [White "Stockfish dev-20231120"] [Black "Mephisto Modular MM1-A"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C33"] [PlyCount "65"] [TimeControl "900+10"] 1. e4 {B 0 Černý mimo knihovnu} e5 {0.01/0 1} 2. f4 {B 0} exf4 {0.01/0 0} 3. Bc4 {B 0} Qh4+ {0.01/0 18} 4. Kf1 {B 0} Nf6 {0.01/0 23} 5. Nf3 {B 0} Qh6 {0.01/ 0 18} 6. Nc3 {B 0} Bb4 {0.01/0 8} 7. e5 {B 0} Bxc3 {0.01/0 8} 8. dxc3 {B 0 Bílý mimo knihovnu} Ng4 {0.01/0 21} 9. Qd4 {0.35/39 55} Nc6 {0.01/0 25 (Je3+)} 10. Qxf4 {0.96/31 23} Qh5 {0.01/0 0 (Dxf4)} 11. h3 {2.25/34 24} Nh6 {0.01/0 0 (d5)} 12. g4 {3.12/30 25} Qg6 {0.01/0 7} 13. Rh2 {3.20/27 24} Nd8 {0.01/0 43 (Je7)} 14. Nd4 {3.59/30 28} c5 {0.01/0 25 (Jg8)} 15. Nb5 {4.04/31 23} O-O {0. 01/0 15} 16. Nd6 {4.21/29 29} Ne6 {0.01/0 0} 17. Qf3 {4.31/30 29} f5 {0.01/0 0 (f6)} 18. Rf2 {4.83/30 26} f4 {0.01/0 12 (Kh8)} 19. Bxf4 {5.66/29 23} Rb8 {0. 01/0 18} 20. Qg3 {5.57/33 29} Rxf4 {0.01/0 12 (b5)} 21. Qxf4 {9.02/27 28} Nf7 { 0.01/0 0} 22. Qxf7+ {9.38/25 24} Qxf7 {0.01/0 15} 23. Rxf7 {9.70/27 26} b5 {0. 01/0 45 (h5)} 24. Bxe6 {10.28/26 31} dxe6 {0.01/0 0} 25. Kg1 {10.63/28 43} a5 { 0.01/0 47 (h5)} 26. Raf1 {#27/56 22} Ba6 {0.01/0 7 (h5)} 27. Re7 {#10/45 25} h6 {0.01/0 75 (b4)} 28. Rff7 {#9/47 23} Kh7 {0.01/0 13 (Kh8)} 29. Rxg7+ {#5/245 20 } Kh8 {0.01/0 0} 30. Ne4 {#4/245 1} b4 {0.01/0 6} 31. Rh7+ {#3/245 1} Kg8 {0. 01/0 0} 32. Nf6+ {#2/245 1} Kf8 {0.01/0 0} 33. Rhf7# {#1/245 1} 1-0
This is what I wanted to see, he plays the gambit pretty well, that's why I sometimes have trouble pushing him, I can't do it like Stockfish.

[Event "Cest_Asus_2023, Blic:15'+10""] [Site "Cest_Asus_2023"] [Date "2024.08.01"] [Round "1"] [White "Mephisto Modular MM1-A"] [Black "Stockfish dev-20231120"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E92"] [PlyCount "94"] [TimeControl "900+10"] 1. Nf3 {0.01/0 0 Bílý mimo knihovnu} Nf6 {B 0} 2. d4 {0.01/0 30} g6 {B 0} 3. c4 {0.01/0 1} Bg7 {B 0} 4. Nc3 {0.01/0 1} d6 {B 0} 5. e4 {0.01/0 0} O-O {B 0} 6. Be2 {0.01/0 1} e5 {B 0 Černý mimo knihovnu} 7. dxe5 {0.01/0 1} dxe5 {0.00/53 50 } 8. Bg5 {0.01/0 72} Qxd1+ {0.00/47 23} 9. Rxd1 {0.01/0 20} Na6 {0.00/49 23} 10. O-O {0.01/0 38 (Se3)} Nc5 {0.00/45 23} 11. Bxf6 {0.01/0 11 (Jd2)} Bxf6 {-0. 51/32 23} 12. Nd5 {0.01/0 0 (b4)} Bd8 {-0.46/36 34} 13. Nxe5 {0.01/0 0 (Jc3)} Nxe4 {-0.64/33 24} 14. f3 {0.01/0 16 (Sf3)} Nc5 {-0.84/32 22} 15. Rfe1 {0.01/0 10 (b4)} c6 {-1.35/33 26} 16. Nf4 {0.01/0 12 (Jc3)} Ba5 {-2.50/32 26} 17. Rf1 { 0.01/0 8} Re8 {-2.91/31 24} 18. Ng4 {0.01/0 5 (Jed3)} Bxg4 {-4.72/29 23} 19. fxg4 {0.01/0 0} g5 {-4.74/34 24} 20. Nd3 {0.01/0 18} Bb6 {-4.94/36 23} 21. Rf2 {0.01/0 6} Nxd3 {-4.99/35 22} 22. Bxd3 {0.01/0 25} Rad8 {-5.06/34 26} 23. Kf1 { 0.01/0 0} Bxf2 {-5.09/31 30} 24. Kxf2 {0.01/0 0} Kg7 {-5.12/35 31} 25. h3 {0. 01/0 0} Rd4 {-5.18/36 29} 26. b3 {0.01/0 0 (Se2)} Rf4+ {-6.78/32 24} 27. Kg1 { 0.01/0 15} Rd8 {-7.10/38 55} 28. Bc2 {0.01/0 0 (Se2)} Rxd1+ {-7.24/41 16} 29. Bxd1 {0.01/0 0} Rd4 {-7.27/35 27} 30. Bf3 {0.01/0 0} Rd2 {-7.40/34 33} 31. a3 { 0.01/0 0 (Kf1)} Rd3 {-8.00/30 22} 32. b4 {0.01/0 26} Rxa3 {-8.36/30 26} 33. Be2 {0.01/0 16 (b5)} Rb3 {-9.90/33 108} 34. b5 {0.01/0 0} a5 {-10.40/33 16} 35. bxa6 {0.01/0 20 (c5)} bxa6 {-10.59/31 32} 36. c5 {0.01/0 10 (Kf1)} a5 {-12.31/ 25 20} 37. Kh2 {0.01/0 57} a4 {-199.02/31 46} 38. Bc4 {0.01/0 0 (Sd1)} Rb4 { -#14/43 13} 39. Ba2 {0.01/0 11} Rb2 {-#12/45 19} 40. Bc4 {0.01/0 33} Rc2 {-#11/ 45 18} 41. Bd3 {0.01/0 26} Rc1 {-#10/48 18} 42. Be4 {0.01/0 16 (h4)} a3 {-#8/ 72 18} 43. Bxc6 {0.01/0 5 (Kg3)} a2 {-#6/245 20} 44. Kg3 {0.01/0 48} a1=Q {-#5/ 245 6} 45. Kh2 {0.01/0 140 (Se4)} Rh1+ {-#3/245 1} 46. Kg3 {0.01/0 1} Qe1+ { -#2/245 1} 47. Kf3 {0.01/0 0} Rf1# {-#1/245 1} 0-1
I decided to torment him with more whites. I want to see some gambit, Albin, Budapest, Volga, Blumenfeld, Latvian, Jänisch... By the way, I took over this King's Indian from him at one time.

[Rubinus]

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2024.08.02"] [Round "7"] [White "Mephisto MMI, level 6"] [Black "Lexibook Chessman Elite, level B2"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B30"] [PlyCount "81"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 {last theo} 3. Bb5 {last theo} Nf6 4. d3 a6 5. Bxc6 {0,37} dxc6 6. O-O Be6 7. e5 Ng4 8. h3 Nh6 9. Bxh6 {Yeah, well, he couldn't resist doubling the pawns} gxh6 10. Nc3 {1,40} Rg8 11. Kh2 c4 12. Qe2 cxd3 13. cxd3 h5 14. Qe4 Rg6 15. Ne2 {1,39} Bh6 16. Nh4 Rg7 17. Nf5 $11 Bxf5 18. Qxf5 Qd5 19. Rg1 Rg6 (19... Rg5) 20. d4 {1,33} c5 (20... h4) 21. dxc5 Qxc5 22. f4 (22. Rad1) 22... Qe3 23. Rge1 Rd8 24. Rad1 $4 {Such a huge chance, Mephisto got caught on the horizon effect.} Rxd1 25. Rxd1 {-2,41 And judging by the reviews, they can already see that} e6 {But the opponent, to his detriment.} (25... Rxg2+ 26. Kh1 e6 27. Qd3 Qxd3 28. Rxd3 Rxe2 $19) 26. Qxh5 Bxf4+ 27. Nxf4 Qxf4+ 28. Kh1 Qf2 29. Rg1 Qxb2 30. Qxh7 {0,08} Qxe5 {He did throw away the chance, but it's still a heavy piece ending with an extra pawn. That shouldn't be lost if it's not going to be won...} 31. Rb1 Qg5 32. Qh8+ Rg8 33. Qb2 b5 34. Rc1 Qg3 35. Qd2 {0,20} Ke7 36. Rc6 Qa3 $4 {The horizon effect, on the other hand, does not see mate, and the deductions for the king position alone are clearly not enough.} 37. Rc7+ Kf6 38. Qf4+ Kg7 39. Qxf7+ Kh6 40. Qf6+ Kh5 41. Rh7# 1-0
Lexibook threw away a chance to win and eventually lost the tie. It reminds me of a hockey video where a player misses an empty net during the playoffs, the opponent equalizes on the counterattack and eventually wins.

[Rubinus]

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2024.08.04"] [Round "8"] [White "Lexibook Chessman Elite, level B2"] [Black "Mephisto MMI, level 6"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D31"] [PlyCount "112"] 1. c4 {last theo} e6 {last theo} 2. Nc3 Bb4 3. d4 d5 4. c5 Nf6 5. Nf3 O-O {-0, 31} 6. Qd3 b6 7. cxb6 axb6 8. Bf4 Ba6 9. Qc2 c5 10. a3 Ba5 {-0,95} 11. e3 cxd4 12. exd4 Bxf1 13. Rxf1 Qe7 (13... Ne4) 14. Ke2 Bxc3 15. Qxc3 Nbd7 {-0,87} 16. Qb4 Qxb4 17. axb4 Rac8 18. Bd6 (18. Kd3) 18... Rc2+ 19. Nd2 $2 Ne4 $2 {Both sides blind} (19... Rxd2+) 20. Bf4 $2 (20. Bxf8 Rxd2+ 21. Ke3 Kxf8 22. f3 $11) 20... Rxb2 {-1,87} 21. f3 Nc3+ 22. Kd3 Na2 23. b5 Rc8 24. Rfb1 Rc3+ (24... Rbc2 ) 25. Ke2 Rbc2 {-2,02} 26. Bd6 h6 (26... f6) 27. Re1 $2 (27. Kd1 $15) 27... Rb3 28. Rf1 $2 Rcb2 29. h4 f5 (29... Nf6) 30. Rh1 Nc3+ {-3,36} 31. Ke1 Rxb5 32. Rc1 Na4 $2 (32... Ra5) 33. Rc8+ $11 {And a new chance for rescue. A weak but dramatic game.} Kh7 34. Ke2 $2 {Well, yes. It's called "the ending of unequal players".} (34. Rc7 Rb1+ 35. Nxb1 Rxb1+ 36. Ke2 Rxh1 37. Rxd7 $11) 34... Nf6 ( 34... Ra2) 35. Rhc1 Kg6 {-3,06} 36. Kd3 Ra2 37. Ke2 Nh5 $2 (37... Rbb2) 38. g4 $17 fxg4 $6 (38... Nf6) 39. fxg4 $11 Nf6 40. Rg1 $4 (40. h5+ Kg5 41. Kf3 $1 Nxg4 42. Bf4+ Kf5 43. Rf8+ Nf6 44. Nf1 Rf2+ 45. Kxf2 Kxf4 46. Rc7 $11) 40... Rbb2 {-4,11} 41. Bf4 Ne4 {To close the net, or at least perpetual check, White lacks tempo.} 42. h5+ Kf6 43. Rf1 b5 $4 {And another chance for White. Mephisto sees trouble there, so he makes room for a possible Nb6, but...} ( 43... Nxd2 44. Bxd2+ Ke7 $19) 44. Bxh6+ Ke7 45. Rc7+ Ke8 {-2,92} 46. Rxg7 $4 { Definite mistake. The Black King may have to run, but he has a place to hide.} (46. Rff7 Rxd2+ 47. Bxd2 Rxd2+ 48. Kf1 Rd1+ 49. Kg2 Rd2+ $11) 46... Nxd2 47. Rg8+ $6 ({I'm sure it was more hopeful} 47. Bxd2 Rxd2+ 48. Ke3 Nb6 {because of the free pawns on the wing}) 47... Kd7 48. Rf7+ Kc6 49. Rc8+ Kb6 50. Rb8+ Ka5 { -2,81} 51. Ra8+ Kb4 52. Rg8 Ne4+ 53. Kd1 Rb1+ 54. Bc1 Nac3+ 55. Ke1 Re2+ {ha ha } 56. Kf1 Rxc1# 0-1
A weak but dramatic play. Lexibook got several chances to save a losing position, but - he would need a deeper calculation to do so.

[Ras]

Here a popular, emulated unit of old against the CT800 in the dedicated unit Cortex-M4 microcontroller version at 30 min / game.

[White "London 030 66MHz"] [Black "CT800 V1.46 145% OC"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B02"] 1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.exd5 Nxd5 4.Bc4 e6 5.Nf3 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.Ne4 c5 8.d3 Nc6 9. Bg5 Bxg5 10.Nfxg5 f5 11.Qh5 h6 12.Qg6 hxg5 13.Nxg5 Nf6 14.Bxe6+ Bxe6 15.Nxe6 Qd7 16.Nxf8 Rxf8 17.Rac1 f4 18.Rfe1 f3 19.gxf3 Nd4 20.Qg2 Nd5 21.Kh1 Nxf3 22. Re4 Qd6 23.Rg4 Qf6 24.c3 Ne7 25.Rd1 Nc6 26.Qg3 Nce5 27.Ra4 Qc6 28.Rxa7 Qd5 29. d4 Nh4+ 30.f3 Rxf3 31.Ra8+ Kf7 32.Qg2 Nxg2 33.Rg1 Rxc3 34.Rd8 Qf3 35.Rd7+ Nxd7 36.bxc3 Nf4+ 37.Rg2 Qxg2# 0-1

[Ras]

The even more bizarre rematch:
[White "CT800 V1.46 145% OC"] [Black "London 030 66 MHz"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A09"] 1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 d4 3.b4 f6 4.Ba3 e5 5.e4 dxe3 6.dxe3 Qxd1+ 7.Kxd1 Nc6 8.c5 a5 9. b5 Nb4 10.Nbd2 Bxc5 11.Rc1 Bb6 12.Nc4 Nxa2 13.Nxb6 cxb6 14.Rc7 g6 15.Nd2 Be6 16.Rxb7 Nc3+ 17.Ke1 Na4 18.Ne4 O-O-O 19.Rg7 Bd5 20.Nd6+ Kb8 21.h4 Nc3 22.Bd3 Bxg2 23.Rg1 Ba8 24.e4 Nh6 25.Bc2 Na2 26.Nc4 Nb4 27.Bxb4 axb4 28.Nxb6 Rd6 29. Nd7+ Kc8 30.Nc5 Rb6 31.Bd3 f5 32.f3 fxe4 33.fxe4 b3 34.Nxb3 Rb7 35.Rxb7 Bxb7 36.Ke2 Rf8 37.Rc1+ Kb8 38.Nc5 Rf7 39.b6 Ng4 40.Bc4 Rf4 41.Rd1 Bc8 42.Rd8 Rf2+ 43.Ke1 Rb2 44.Be6 Rxb6 45.Rxc8+ Ka7 46.Bxg4 Rb1+ 47.Bd1 Rc1 48.Kd2 Ra1 49.Nd3 Ra2+ 50.Rc2 Ra4 51.Rc7+ Kb8 52.Rxh7 Rxe4 53.Bf3 Rd4 54.Ke3 Ra4 55.Nxe5 Ra3+ 56. Kf4 Kc8 57.Bb7+ Kd8 58.Rd7+ Ke8 59.Bc6 Ra6 60.Rb7+ Rxc6 61.Nxc6 g5+ 62.Kxg5 Kf8 63.Kg6 Ke8 64.h5 Kf8 65.Rb8# 1-0

[Rubinus]

[Event "Blic:15'+10""] [Site "?"] [Date "2024.08.03"] [Round "9"] [White "Lexibook Chessman Elite, level B2"] [Black "Mephisto MMI, level 6"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D31"] [PlyCount "113"] [TimeControl "900+10"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 {last theo} c6 {last theo} 4. e4 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Bb4+ {-0,33} 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. Bf4 O-O 8. Nge2 Na6 9. c5 Bd7 (9... Nd5) 10. a3 Ba5 {-0,59} 11. Qd3 Ng4 $2 {A childish foray to which weaker programs are sometimes tempted.} (11... Bc7) 12. h3 Nf6 13. Bd6 Re8 14. g4 {It looks weird, but maybe Stockfish would play it. Space!} Nd5 15. Bg2 Nxc3 {-0,71} 16. bxc3 Qh4 $2 {He obviously doesn't know what he's supposed to be playing.} (16... Bc7) 17. O-O Bc7 18. Rfb1 {The second rook certainly better} Rab8 19. Ra2 $2 {It makes sense, but it could have waited.} (19. Ng3) 19... Qf6 $2 (19... Bxd6 20. cxd6 h5 $16) 20. a4 $2 (20. Bxc7 Nxc7 21. Rab2 $18 ) 20... Red8 $2 (20... Bxd6 21. cxd6 e5 $14) 21. Be4 $2 (21. Rab2) 21... Qh4 $2 (21... Bxd6) 22. a5 $2 (22. Qe3) 22... Bxd6 23. cxd6 Be8 $2 {It is, of course, a very uncomfortable position for such a computer.} (23... Bc8) 24. Rab2 f5 $2 {A bit of a horizon effect, using the move to postpone the problem to a time where he can no longer see.} (24... Rxd6 25. Rxb7 Rxb7 26. Rxb7 Nc5 27. Rb8 $18 ) 25. gxf5 Qg5+ {0,45 Even Mephisto is beginning to understand that something is wrong with the position.} 26. Qg3 Qxg3+ 27. Nxg3 exf5 28. Nxf5 Rd7 (28... g6 ) 29. Ne7+ (29. c4) 29... Kh8 {The king will be absent from the center.} 30. Bd3 Ra8 {2,66} 31. Rxb7 Rxb7 32. Rxb7 Nb8 33. a6 Bd7 34. Kg2 g6 35. Bc4 g5 36. Kg3 Kg7 {3,92} 37. Nxc6 Nxc6 38. Rxd7+ Kh8 39. Bd3 Nd8 40. Be4 Rc8 41. Rc7 Rb8 {7,35} 42. Rxh7+ Kg8 43. Rxa7 Kf8 44. Rd7 Nf7 45. a7 Re8 {9,99 A value of -9. 99 from Mephisto's point of view can be considered a surrender according to the manual. But for the weaker computers, it is always good to see if they can even give a mat...} 46. a8=Q Rxa8 47. Bxa8 Ke8 48. Bc6 Kf8 49. Bd5 Nh6 50. Be6 Ng8 51. Rd8+ Kg7 52. Rxg8+ Kf6 53. d7 Kxe6 54. d8=Q g4 55. Kxg4 Kf7 56. Qe8+ Kf6 57. Rg6# 1-0
Goal! It's in. Honorable mention to Lexibook. He seems to have a slightly better chance in the closed position, where Mephisto can beat him.

[Rubinus]

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2024.08.04"] [Round "10"] [White "Mephisto MMI, level 6"] [Black "Lexibook Chessman Elite, level B2"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D39"] [PlyCount "77"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 {last theo} 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 {last theo} dxc4 {Lexibook probably only has the theory in some specified variants. So if the opponent chooses a different turn order, he can't access his knowledge anymore. So you'd expect trouble.} 5. Bg5 {-0,13} Bb4 6. e4 {Mephisto has a library by position, so if he swaps moves into the book, he'll use it again. So here's a move by the book, but only one. Whether the computer has a theory according to variants or according to positions can be checked by experiment - 1.e3 e6 2. Ne2 Ne7 3.e4 e5 4.Ng1 Ng8 - if you now give ENT, Mephisto will play according to his theory 5.Bc4.} Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 h6 8. Bxf6 Qxf6 9. Qa4+ Bd7 10. Qxc4 {0,36} Nc6 11. Bd3 O-O 12. e5 Qf4 13. O-O g5 $4 {Again a horizon effect, because of the possibility to insert other moves he failed to calculate that he just clogged the queen.} 14. Rfe1 g4 15. g3 {1,48} Qxf3 16. Be4 Nxe5 17. dxe5 Bb5 18. Qb3 Qe2 19. Rxe2 Bxe2 20. Qxb7 {5,90} Bf3 21. Bxf3 gxf3 22. Qxc7 { Unnecessary complication with checkmate guarding on the 1st row.} Rac8 23. Qa5 Rfd8 24. Rc1 Rd7 25. Qb4 {5,87} Rd3 26. c4 Rcd8 27. Qa4 R8d7 28. c5 R3d4 29. Qb3 {c6 is also coming out.} Rd3 30. Qb1 {6,45 I'm sure it could have been easier, but he handled it quite well, now mate is covered and the pawn advance forces Black to surrender material.} Kg7 31. c6 Rd8 32. c7 R3d7 33. cxd8=Q Rxd8 34. Qe4 Rd5 35. Qg4+ {9,99} Kf8 36. Rc8+ Ke7 37. Qh4+ f6 38. Qxf6+ Kd7 39. Qd8# 1-0
Score 9:1. Lexibook's going back in the box, I won't bother him anymore. Next Wednesday, MMI takes on another opponent. I plan to try Mephisto Mirage, Novag Constellation 3.6 and maybe a little more. I'm considering DGT Centaur (level friendly), some personality from chess.com (about 1600 ELO) and some level from Chess Titans from Windows. No more playing ten games, just two games and two more on a tie. When I finish the MMI memory test, MMII is next, followed by Supermondial.

[Rubinus]

The next opponent will be Mephisto Mirage. A program by the same authors, a year newer, but from today's point of view it was a blind development branch. Today, according to wikipedia, it has a slightly worse ELO than the older MMI. Since I played three games with emulators before, it always had the same progress. MMI gained the advantage, probably winning, but Mirage eventually defended itself. So worse mid game, but better end game.
Mephisto Mirage - spaciousmind A pretty nasty idea is to evaluate the position in the hexadecimal system, perhaps to speed up the valuation function. I created an excel for this, the correct formula is perhaps:

Code: Select all

=(HEX2DEC(Mirage_position_value)-8*16*16*16)/256

- at least that's how I understood the manual.
I didn't own it before, but it's interesting to me because in 1985 it competed in the Open tournament in Prague, where it played I think 5/11 - people didn't know how to play with such computers back then, so it looked stronger than it really was. Novag Constellation 3.6 also played there with the result 4,5/11.
[Event "test"] [Site "?"] [Date "2024.08.08"] [Round "?"] [White "Mephisto Mirage, level C6"] [Black "Mephisto MMI, level 6"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E24"] [PlyCount "118"] [TimeControl "900+10"] {768MB, C30-39-LC0.ctg, Cest_Asus_2023} 1. c4 e6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 d6 6. f3 {last theo} Nh5 7. Nh3 e5 {last theo} 8. Nf2 O-O 9. e4 { 7FAE -0,32} c5 {-0,03} 10. d5 Qh4 $2 {Again, such a childish lunge by a lady when the machine doesn't know what to play.} 11. Bd3 (11. g3) 11... Na6 12. Rb1 (12. g3) 12... Nf4 13. O-O $2 {Thus the black is pardoned. It creates a closed position, which these old machines really can't do. Bit of a lottery to see who can screw it up first...} (13. Bf1) 13... Nxd3 14. Nxd3 {8020 0,13} f5 {0, 16} 15. Qe2 fxe4 16. Qxe4 Qxe4 17. fxe4 Rxf1+ 18. Kxf1 Kf7 19. Rb2 {804A 0,29} Nc7 {0,07} 20. Bg5 Kg6 $2 {White gets a second chance, tying the pieces to defend the weakness on d6 would probably be enough even for average players.} ( 20... Ke8) 21. Be7 Ne8 22. Kf2 $2 {OMG. I didn't understand what made him do that at all, everyone understands that the black king should have been cut off. } (22. Rf2 $18) 22... b6 23. Re2 $2 {Consequence of the previous mistake, he should have given a pawn, but that is far beyond the horizon of his calculation.} (23. Kg3 Ba6 24. Rf2 Bxc4 25. Ne1 {With sufficient compensation for pawns}) 23... Bg4 $2 {And brings White back into the game.} (23... Kf7) 24. Re3 {8020 0,13} Bh5 {-0,15} 25. Rh3 Rc8 26. Ke3 h6 27. Bxd6 $4 {This positional sacrifice for the pawn centre is a crucial error. It is probably the result of overestimated positional criteria combined with poor calculation. White will not get a chance to advance his pawns further and so they will be picked off quite easily in the end.} Nxd6 28. Nxe5+ Kg5 29. Rg3+ {800A 0,04} Kf6 {-0,83} 30. Nd7+ Ke7 (30... Kf7) 31. Rxg7+ Bf7 {The only move that wins, black found.} 32. Ne5 Kf6 33. Rxf7+ Nxf7 34. Nxf7 {7F42 -0,74} Kxf7 {-1,33} 35. Kf4 Rf8 36. Ke5 Ke8 37. a4 Rf2 38. g4 Rxh2 39. Ke6 {7DB6 -2,29} Rh3 {-4,23} 40. d6 Rxc3 41. Kd5 Kd7 42. e5 Re3 43. a5 Rd3+ 44. Ke4 {7D44 -2,27, Stockfish -#14} Rd4+ {-9,08} 45. Kf5 bxa5 46. Kf6 Rf4+ 47. Kg6 Rxg4+ 48. Kf5 Rxc4 49. e6+ { 76B8 -9,28} Kxd6 {9,99} 50. e7 Kxe7 51. Ke5 a4 52. Kd5 Rc3 53. Kc6 a3 54. Kd5 a5 55. Ke5 a2 56. Kd5 a1=Q 57. Kc6 Rb3 58. Kxc5 Qe5+ 59. Kc4 Rc3# 0-1
One of those experiments with emulators is actually on YouTube, level 7 and x10 acceleration was used.

[Rubinus]

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2024.08.09"] [Round "2"] [White "Mephisto MMI, level 6"] [Black "Mephisto Mirage, level C6"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E51"] [PlyCount "85"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd2 O-O 5. e3 d5 {last theo} 6. Nf3 {last theo } Nc6 {Sure, it's not optimal, but confusing the opponent and getting him out of learned patterns is often worth it. Of course, many program authors have struggled with blocking the c-pawn in closed games.} 7. Bd3 (7. a3) 7... dxc4 8. Bxc4 Na5 (8... Bd6) 9. Bd3 c5 10. O-O $11 {0,12} (10. a3) 10... c4 $2 {800C -0,05 That's not good. White now has a chance at the pawn center, he can go bad with the battery against h7, and the c4 pawn itself will also be weak.} ( 10... cxd4) 11. Bc2 Bd7 (11... Be7) 12. Rc1 (12. e4 $18) 12... Ng4 $2 {Again, such a childish swipe that will only give White an extra tempo.} (12... Bc6) 13. h3 Nf6 14. e4 Bc6 15. Qe2 {0,30} Qb6 {7FF6 0,04} (15... b5) 16. Qe1 $6 (16. a3) 16... Rad8 (16... Rfe8 {This would give Black the opportunity to reinforce his defence with Bf8, g6 and Bg7}) 17. e5 $6 {Premature, although White will eventually profit from the plots here.} (17. a3) 17... Bxf3 18. exf6 Qxd4 19. Bg5 $4 {Watching the lot, I thought of that possibility too, but it's not good. Black now even has a chance to gain an advantage.} (19. Be3) 19... Bc6 $4 { Last chance lost.} ({Completely out of range for such an old machine is great} 19... Rd5 $3 20. Qe3 (20. fxg7 Rxg5 $3 {-#12 The main thing would be to calculate this confusion. I wonder how DOS stars like Genius 5 or M-Chess Pro 6 would handle it...}) 20... Qxe3 21. Bxe3 Bxc3 22. bxc3 Be2 23. fxg7 Ra8 24. Rfe1 Bd3 $15) 20. Rd1 {0,98} Qc5 {7F7A 0,52} 21. fxg7 Qxg5 22. gxf8=Q+ Rxf8 23. Ne4 {Spectacular, but plain Be4 was more effective.} Qb5 24. a4 Qb6 $2 {That already leads to checkmate, but the computers of the time didn't have the necessary depth of calculation. You could certainly see that.} 25. Nf6+ {2,17} Kh8 {7E42 1,74} 26. Qe5 Qc5 27. Qf4 ({A move in a game doesn't spoil anything, but much better was} 27. Nd5+ f6 28. Qc7 f5 29. Qe5+ Kg8 30. Qxe6+ Kg7 31. Qe5+ {Again, it lacked the necessary depth, but here I believe the 90s PCs would have found the pull.}) 27... Kg7 28. Nxh7 Re8 (28... f5) 29. Qf6+ Kg8 30. Ng5 Qxg5 31. Qxg5+ Kf8 32. Rd8 (32. Qf6 {#6}) 32... Rxd8 33. Qxd8+ Be8 34. Qb8 (34. Qf6) 34... a6 35. h4 f5 36. h5 Ke7 (36... Nc6) 37. Qc7+ Kf6 38. h6 Bg6 39. Qg7+ Kg5 40. f4+ Kh5 41. Bd1+ Kh4 42. Qf6+ Kg3 43. Qg5# 1-0

I didn't want to believe it too much, but it seems that the older MMI is actually more powerful than the newer Mirage. If there's a plot twist in the game, the Mirage loses the material! Probably some kind of search bug. Perhaps it's because I played many games with MM back in 1984, whereas I didn't start playing against Mirage occasionally until some three years ago when Franz Huber provided an emulator. Incidentally, Mirage did quite well at the 1985 tournament I mentioned, too; as I recall, the company had a demonstration room in one of the lounges there, and I lost one game to Mirage there then. However, I was a pretty weak junior in 1984, and even with that MMI at home I worked pretty hard - 11:10=3 games with a level 5 (to meet the 2h/50moves playing pace introduced in our country at that time).
Resuming on Sunday or maybe Monday and Novag Constellation 3.6 will come in.

Position after 19.Bg5. I'd be quite interested to see how older programs would handle this. Maybe it's not that hard, Tiger 14 got it right away and Fritz 5.32 in 1s. But the DOS stars would have to be tried. I didn't notice it while watching the game, but I was doing something else.

8
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1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

3r1rk1/pp3ppp/4pP2/n5B1/1bpq4/2N2b1P/PPB2PP1/2R1QRK1 b - - 0 19

[Rubinus]

Position after 19.Bg5. I'd be quite interested to see how older programs would handle this. Maybe it's not that hard, Tiger 14 got it right away and Fritz 5.32 in 1s. But the DOS stars would have to be tried. I didn't notice it while watching the game, but I was doing something else.

M-Chess Pro 8 in DOS-Box by Franz Huber:
22 minutes, depth 10, before the move appears. So another 4 minutes before it lists it as the main variant.
---> I don't think he'd make it on tournament time.
The question is, how slow is it in the DOS box? I'd say it probably wouldn't be any faster on the Pentium I of the time.

The colours are hideous, I'll have to retune them...

Probably quite an interesting position to practice calculus.