Many years ago i was treated to my first taste of a computer chess opponent. It was designed for monochrome XT systems, which i'd wager would make it a program from the early 80's. Technologically stone aged, i remember it for its ability to take longer to make a move than me, but also for its ability to tell me, unfaultingly, exactly how many moves it would take for it to beat me. I think i played my last game against it when it had the audacity to tell me "mate in 8 moves" or something stupid.
If anyone can help me, i'd like to locate this program. We got unfinished business, that program and me...
Originally posted by SeverOuch, that's not much of a description to go on. Of course, I'm not very familiar with a lot of the early programs (except for Rexchess), so I might not be of any help to you anyway. But a better description, if possible, might help others pinpoint the one.
Many years ago i was treated to my first taste of a computer chess opponent. It was designed for monochrome XT systems, which i'd wager would make it a program from the early 80's. Technologically stone aged, i remember it for its ability to take longer to make a move than me, but also for its ability to tell me, unfaultingly, exactly how many moves it would take ...[text shortened]... an help me, i'd like to locate this program. We got unfinished business, that program and me...
I can give an Ed Shroeder link with a number of older freeware programs. If you want to spend some time hunting, and if you can get them going in your OS (might have to use DosBox? ) , you just might get lucky. And even if you can't find your old nemesis, maybe just pick another one to hate? 🙂
http://www.top-5000.nl/cp.htm
Thanks for the link. I've already looked on a few old freeware sites, but i'll check that one too.
A bit more info on the program: It didn't have a fancy name (or else i might have remembered it). Niether did it have any theme to it. It was just a straight chess program, nothing else, but it did seem like it was a polished product for its time. Maybe even something that was pre-bundled with systems. Something that might have been quite common/popular.
Originally posted by SeverSo it was definitely running on some early version of DOS? That would probably rule out any semi-fancy Windows program. And did it actually announce mate-in-whatever via audio, or was it text?
Thanks for the link. I've already looked on a few old freeware sites, but i'll check that one too.
A bit more info on the program: It didn't have a fancy name (or else i might have remembered it). Niether did it have any theme to it. It was just a straight chess program, nothing else, but it did seem like it was a polished product for its time. Maybe even s ...[text shortened]... thing that was pre-bundled with systems. Something that might have been quite common/popular.
BTW, I was just reading a recent interview that Don Dailey gave to Frank Quisinsky. Don was the author of the RexChess program that I played years ago. In the interview, Don said that there's a TimeRef timing loop in RexChess that causes a divide-by-zero error on fast modern computers. So if you try to run it on modern PCs, it will crash. I confirmed that last night. 🙁 I don't know if you can get around that with DosBox, but I'm not sure it's worth wasting time on.
Edit - I did get RexChess running in DosBox. Ah, memories. 🙂
Yes, it was definitely a DOS program. I do not expect to be able to run it without DOSbox, but i'm familiar with that so i don't predict any troubles. I just gotta find it.
Edit: Text only, no audio. There was nothing flashy about it. No animations, basic graphics. There was an info box top-right where it actually showed the coords of the best moves , as well as a numerical value representing the strength of that move, as it was cycling through them. If it had a mate sequence, it would say so there.
Holy cow! I beat Fritz! 😀 Well, on friend mode anyway. It was a pretty ugly kind of game and i was down on material for most of it, but Fritz ended up resigning. If anyone is familiar with Fritz 5, can you please let me know if there's any way of recording the game (besides manually writing the moves on notepad)? I have never ever beaten a computer at chess before, so this is an important game for me and i'd like to record it. 🙂
Originally posted by SeverI used to have Fritz 5 on my PC, but I dumped it because all the menus were in German. I don't remember if you can save games. If nothing else, take a screen shot with a screen capture program right now, or even grab a pencil and write down all of the moves. 🙂
Holy cow! I beat Fritz! 😀 Well, on friend mode anyway. It was a pretty ugly kind of game and i was down on material for most of it, but Fritz ended up resigning. If anyone is familiar with Fritz 5, can you please let me know if there's any way of recording the game (besides manually writing the moves on notepad)? I have never ever beaten a computer at chess before, so this is an important game for me and i'd like to record it. 🙂
Friend mode? I'm not sure, but doesn't friend mode try to match the program's strength with your strength? Seems it wouldn't be too hard to win some games in that mode.
Originally posted by Mad RookI've gone through the whole game a few times now, and yes, i can see a few moves made by the computer which were friendly indeed. It's taken the icing off the cake, for sure. 🙁
Friend mode? I'm not sure, but doesn't friend mode try to match the program's strength with your strength? Seems it wouldn't be too hard to win some games in that mode.
Edit: How do i post that virtual board thingy that i've seen here so often? I might as well record it here (and then all can laugh at my "win"😉.
Originally posted by SeverFAQ
I've gone through the whole game a few times now, and yes, i can see a few moves made by the computer which were friendly indeed. It's taken the icing off the cake, for sure. 🙁
Edit: How do i post that virtual board thingy that i've seen here so often? I might as well record it here (and then all can laugh at my "win"😉.
Originally posted by SeverIt appears to have something to do with move 18. maybe Black's 18...Qd6 is an illegal move?
[pgn] 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 f6 3. Nf3 e5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. a3 Bf8 6. d5 Nce7 7. g3 d6 8. Bb5+ c6 9. Bf1 Bg4 10. Bg2 Rc8 11. O-O c5 12. Na4 g5 13. b4 Rb8 14. bxc5 dxc5 15. Nc3 Bd7 16. a4 Qa5 17. Bd2 Nc8 18. Nb5 Qd6 19. Rb1 g4 20. Na3 gxf3 21. Rxb6 fxg2 22. Kxg2 Nxb6 23. Qh5+ Kd8 24. a5 c4 25. axb6 Bxa3 26. bxa7 Ra8 27. Be3 Bd6 28. Ra1 Ne7 29. Qe2 b5 30. Rb1 Nc8 31. Ra1 B ...[text shortened]... g7 69. c5 Kh7 70. c6 Ne7+ 71. Kg4 Ng6 72. Kf5 [/pgn]
Can anyone spot why this isn't working?
I'm guessing you meant 18...Qb6 ?
Originally posted by Mad RookAh, thankyou. Qb6 is the correct move.
It appears to have something to do with move 18. maybe Black's 18...Qd6 is an illegal move?
I'm guessing you meant 18...Qb6 ?
Edit: Gah! Is there perhaps some utility which can test these pgns and highlight errors?