Chess
Challenging?
David Levy Many readers have inquired about the Chess Challenger, which is distributed in Britain by Spectrum Marketing at a retail Price of £139.95. The original version of this microprocessor chess player horrified me, when I won my first game against it by Playing two illegal moves in succession: 1 NKN1)-K5 P-Q3 2 P(KN2)xKBP mate! The manufacturers have eliminated this failing SO that the latest version, the Master Chess .Challenger, will no longer accept most Illegal moves, but it cannot make en passant Captures and it does not appear to 'know' that castling out of check is illegal. The level Of play of this machine would not challenge the average club player and it seems to be almost incapable of forcing mate with king, a queen and two rooks against a bare king.
I am more favourably disposed towards the idea of another of Spectrum's toys, the Electronic Chessboard Tutor. This device comes complete with a number of positions that can be set up on a magnetic board. The user studies each position and then makes the move which seems to him to be best. If he gets the move right then a light goes on; if the piece is correct but the square to which it is moved is wrong then a different light shines. The positions supplied with the machine are rather badly chosen but I feel that with more thought the manufacturers could have a really worthwhile chess teaching device in the Electronic Chessboard Tutor. The price of L45 is quite reasonable. The current World Computer Champion, CHESS 4.6, is being tuned up in preparation for its match against me at the end of August. Recently it scored 5 out of 5 in a weekend tournament in the States and it won against US Champion Walter Browne in a simultaneous exhibition. Here is the game, with notes by the program.
Previous page
