Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!lll-crg!lll-lcc!styx!twg-ap!amdahl!kim From: kim@amdahl.UUCP (Kim DeVaughn) Newsgroups: net.micro.amiga,net.games.chess Subject: Re: Places in Vancouver? Really Chess programs. Message-ID: <3890@amdahl.UUCP> Date: Tue, 7-Oct-86 21:10:54 EDT Article-I.D.: amdahl.3890 Posted: Tue Oct 7 21:10:54 1986 Date-Received: Wed, 8-Oct-86 07:48:50 EDT References: <2440@garfield.UUCP> <363@ur-cvsvax.UUCP> Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Lines: 114 Xref: mnetor net.micro.amiga:5140 net.games.chess:539 [ "Send lawyers, guns, and money ..." ] Sorry if you've seen this before, but it did not *appear* to get posted when I tried earlier. But then, who knows how news programs REALLY work :-) ... I'm also crossposting this to net.games.chess, as there may be some interest/comments in this topic from that news.group: In article <363@ur-cvsvax.UUCP>, jea@ur-cvsvax.UUCP (Joanne Albano) writes: > We have been holding our breath for an AMIGA chess program. > Are these programs generally available for purchase? > Are there any PD chess programs? Do either of these programs > play a challenging game? We have not previously heard of either. I don't know about "Pawn", but yes, "Chessmaster 2000" is available. I picked it up a couple of weeks ago at a local Amiga dealer for about $40. It's published by EA (sorry, I don't remember who developed it), and seems to be VERY good. Their advertising claims it is currently the Champion for microcomputer chess programs, having beaten Sargon III. I am a moderately good player (no USCF rating though), and it gives me a good game at the mid-range levels of difficulty ... haven't really tried the higher levels, but I suspect it can beat me fairly regularly in that range, which is what I want out of a chess program (that's how we learn, right?) It is very feature laden, has *excellent* graphics, and is fully menu driven (but can use "shortcut" keys, too). Some of its features include: o 2-D or 3-D display (with board rotation available for 3-D). o Optional Chess Clocks. o Quite a few "Levels" (don't remember how many). o Seperate control to enable/disable its "thinking" while waiting for you to move. o Large number of "Book" openings (can be disabled). o Ability to save/resume games. o 100 pre-saved Championship games (including 2 of its matches against Sargon III), to which you can add others. o All the usual "bells and whistles" like "take back", "suggest a move", "mate in two", "problem mode", "replay a game", "change sides" (anytime), etc. ... o Change colors of board for each side; change color of chessmen on each side. o "Wooden" or "metalic" chessmen. o Algebraic notation or abbreviated algebraic notation. o Watch while it "thinks". o Always make the "best" move, or sometimes pick the 2nd choice on a random basis. o Printing of the game (at the end, or on a move by move basis). o Speech, music, or a beep can be selected for cueing you when it is your turn, on captures, etc. (You can also select silence.) o Lots, lots more I can't recall right now! Criticisms: It *is* copy protected [boo, hiss], but can easily be "fixed" with Maurader-I's standard copy (parms = 0,0). Doesn't seem to allow multi-tasking (no front/back gadgets), though there may be a way I haven't tried yet. The 3-D perspective is a little too "foreshortened", though I don't see how it could be improved very much. Pieces never get totally "hidden", fortunately. I wish there were some approximation of its difficulty levels to the USCF ratings ... anyone know what Sargon III is rated at? It works just fine with a 68010, with an extra megabyte, with GRABBiT resident, and under1.2. It can be run from the WorkBench or the CLI. It comes with very good documentation, as well as a good chess history and tutorial. All in all, I think it's a GREAT buy! /kim Of course, I have no connection with Electronic Arts or with Discovery Software (the Maurader/GRABBiT folks) ... just reporting my perceptions. -- UUCP: {sun,decwrl,hplabs,pyramid,ihnp4,oliveb}!amdahl!kim DDD: 408-746-8462 USPS: Amdahl Corp. M/S 249, 1250 E. Arques Av, Sunnyvale, CA 94086 CIS: 76535,25 [ Any thoughts or opinions which may or may not have been expressed ] [ herein are my own. They are not necessarily those of my employer. ]