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Looking for a chess program.

Looking for a chess program.

Only Chess

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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...

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Originally posted by Sever
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...
Ouch, 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.

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? ๐Ÿ™‚

http://www.top-5000.nl/cp.htm

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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.

1 edit
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Originally posted by Sever
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.
So 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?

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. ๐Ÿ™ 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. ๐Ÿ™‚

2 edits
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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.

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Holy cow! I beat Fritz! ๐Ÿ˜€ 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. ๐Ÿ™‚

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Originally posted by Sever
Holy cow! I beat Fritz! ๐Ÿ˜€ 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. ๐Ÿ™‚
I 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. ๐Ÿ™‚

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.

1 edit
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Originally posted by Mad Rook

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.
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. ๐Ÿ™

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"๐Ÿ˜‰.

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Originally posted by Sever
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. ๐Ÿ™

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"๐Ÿ˜‰.
FAQ

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Sargon.

6 edits
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1.e4Nc6
2.d4f6
3.Nf3e5
4.Nc3Bb4
5.a3Bf8
6.d5Nce7
7.g3d6
8.Bb5c6
9.Bf1Bg4
10.Bg2Rc8
11.O-Oc5
12.Na4g5
13.b4Rb8
14.bxc5dxc5
15.Nc3Bd7
16.a4Qa5
17.Bd2Nc8
18.Nb5

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      Can anyone spot why this isn't working?

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      Originally posted by teacher1
      Sargon.
      Nope. That one has graphics, tutorials, sound (presumably) and other fancy stuff. The one i'm looking for is stone aged. Early 80's or late 70's.

      3 edits
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      Originally posted by Sever
      [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?
      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 ?

      2 edits
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      Originally posted by Mad Rook
      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 ?
      Ah, thankyou. Qb6 is the correct move.

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      1.e4Nc6
      2.d4f6
      3.Nf3e5
      4.Nc3Bb4
      5.a3Bf8
      6.d5Nce7
      7.g3d6
      8.Bb5c6
      9.Bf1Bg4
      10.Bg2Rc8
      11.O-Oc5
      12.Na4g5
      13.b4Rb8
      14.bxc5dxc5
      15.Nc3Bd7
      16.a4Qa5
      17.Bd2Nc8
      18.Nb5Qb6
      19.Rb1g4
      20.Na3gxf3
      21.Rxb6fxg2
      22.Kxg2Nxb6
      23.Qh5Kd8
      24.a5c4
      25.axb6Bxa3
      26.bxa7Ra8
      27.Be3Bd6
      28.Ra1Ne7
      29.Qe2b5
      30.Rb1Nc8
      31.Ra1

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          Edit: Gah! Is there perhaps some utility which can test these pgns and highlight errors?

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          Originally posted by Sever
          Ah, thankyou. Qb6 is the correct move.
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          1.e4Nc6
          2.d4f6
          3.Nf3e5
          4.Nc3Bb4
          5.a3Bf8
          6.d5Nce7
          7.g3d6
          8.Bb5c6
          9.Bf1Bg4
          10.Bg2Rc8
          11.O-Oc5
          12.Na4g5
          13.b4Rb8
          14.bxc5dxc5
          15.Nc3Bd7
          16.a4Qa5
          17.Bd2Nc8
          18.Nb5Qb6
          19.Rb1g4
          20.Na3gxf3
          21.Rxb6fxg2
          22.Kxg2Nxb6
          23.Qh5Kd8
          24.a5c4
          25.axb6Bxa3
          26.bxa7Ra8
          27.Be3Bd6
          28.Ra1Ne7
          29.Qe2b5
          30.Rb1Nc8
          31.Ra1Bc7
          32.Qf3Rf8
          33.Bc5Bd6
          34.Be3Ne7
          35.Bh6Rf7
          36.Qc3Ng8
          37.Be3f5
          38.Qa5Bc7
          39.Qa6f4
          40.Qb7fxe3
          41.Qxa8Bc8
          42.fxe3Ne7
          43.Rb1Rf6
          44.Rxb5Ra6
          45.Rb8Kd7
          46.Rb4c3
          47.Rc4Rb6
          48.Rxc7Kxc7
          49.d6Kxd6
          50.Qb8Rxb8
          51.axb8QKe6
          52.Qb6Kd7
          53.Qa7Ke6
          54.Qc7h5
          55.Qxc3Bd7
          56.Qb3Kd6
          57.c3Bc6
          58.Qc2Ke6
          59.Kh3Ng6
          60.g4h4
          61.g5Ke7
          62.Kg4Ke6
          63.h3Bd7
          64.Kh5Be8
          65.Qb3Ke7
          66.Qb7Kf8
          67.c4Bf7
          68.Qb8Kg7
          69.c5Kh7
          70.c6Ne7
          71.Kg4Ng6
          72.Kf5

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