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Expert Travel Chess
Instructions
Bedienungsanleitung
Mode d’emploi
Istruzioni d’uso
Handleiding
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+ + + + QUICK START To play a game right away, without reading the entire manual first, simply follow these Quick Start steps! Open the battery cover in Enter moves by making 4 x AA/AM3/R6 the base of the unit, slide them on the board, 1 5 the cover in the direction pressing the pegged of arrow to open it, and chess pieces down gently insert four“AA” (AM3/R6) into the holes of the from – – – – alkaline batteries. Make and to squares for each sure to observe the move. correct polarity! Then, rein
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W H I T E 1 2 3 4 KEYS AND FEATURES 1. PIECE STORAGE AREA: For piece storage and captured pieces. 2. BATTERY COMPARTMENT: In base of unit. Uses four “AA” (AM3/R6) alkaline batteries. 8 3. SENSORY CHESSBOARD: Each square contains a sensor that automatically registers piece movement. Certain squares can also 7 be pressed to select playing levels and game options. 6 4. DISPLAY WINDOW: Used to show moves and move information during a game. Also used for level and option selection, piece 5 verificati
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5.1 Operation Mode Options (Squares A1-H1) 5.2 Playing Mode Options (Squares A2-H2) TABLE OF CONTENTS 5.3 Rotating Display Options (Squares A3-H3) QUICK START 5.4 Bronstein Clock Options (Square A4) KEYS AND FEATURES 6. VERIFYING/SETTING UP POSITIONS INTRODUCTION 6.1 Verifying Positions 1. LET’S GET STARTED! 6.2 Changing and Setting Up Positions 1.1 First, Install the Batteries 7. TECHNICAL DETAILS 1.2 Ready to Play? Here’s How to Move! 7.1 The ACL Function 1.3 Now It’s the Computer’s Turn 7.2 C
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discharge may cause it to lock up), use a paper clip or another sharp object to press down into the hole marked ACL in the base of the unit MAKING THE COMPUTER’S MOVE: for at least one second. This will reset the computer. AN EXAMPLE Tip: To conserve energy and extend battery life, turn on the Auto After the computer moves, it’s up to you to make its move on the Power Down option (see Section 5.1). board. Here, the display indicates the computer wants to move its Black pawn (]!) from d7 to d5. P
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gently on the indicated square, and the computer shows you where that piece came from by flashing that display and using board lights to point to that square. Press the piece down on the from square to complete NEED HELP CHOOSING A LEVEL? the take-back. Repeat this as often as you’d like, taking back up to 50 SOME TIPS FOR YOU individual moves (or 25 moves for each side). To continue playing at any • Are you a beginning player? You have lots of choices! point, just make another move on the boar
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the board! When the computer promotes a pawn, the display shows 2.5 Interrupting the Computer’s Search both the pawn and the promoted piece. Don’t forget to replace the Think the computer is taking too long to move? You can interrupt it computer’s pawn with its new piece. any time! Simply press ENTER while the computer is thinking, and it will stop and play the best move it has found so far. This feature can be 2.3 Illegal Moves handy on the higher levels, where the computer can take a long time
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the time you are taking for your move to think ahead and plan its own computer and exit Level Mode. strategies. It tries to guess the move you are likely to make, and then •To select a level by pressing board squares: As shown in the calculates its responses for that particular move while you are still Level Chart, each of the 64 squares corresponds to one level. After thinking. If the computer has guessed right, there’s no reason for it to entering Level Mode by pressing LEVEL, take a chess pie
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USE THIS CHART TO SELECT 30 sec. Infinite 40 moves 90 min. *8 sec. Mate in 8 ply Self- per move Level in 3:00 per game per move 8 moves search adaptive 8 A PLAYING LEVEL! L 0:30 9:99;99 3:00;40 1:30;99 Fun: 8 =in: 8 PLY: 8 Adt: 8 A8 B8 C8 D8 E8 F8 G8 H8 20 sec. 10 min. 50 moves 60 min. 7 sec. Mate in 7 ply Self- 1. Press LEVEL to enter Level Mode. per move per move in 2:00 per game per move 7 moves search adaptive 7 L 0:20 L10:00 2:00;50 1:00;99 Fun: 7 =in: 7 PLY: 7 Adt: 7 A7 B7 C7 D7 E7 F7 G7 H
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When you choose one of the Normal Playing Levels, you are select- 3.4 Blitz Levels (Squares D1-D8) ing an average response time for the computer. Note that the times are LEVEL TIME PER GAME DISPLAY averaged over a large number of moves. In the opening and endgame, D1 .................... 5 minutes...................0:05;99 the computer tends to play faster, but in complicated middlegame D2 .................. 10 minutes...................0:10;99 positions, it may take longer to move. D3 .........
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Try out all the Fun Levels—as you beat each one, go on to the next! By produces weaker play, giving beginners a better chance of winning. the time you reach Levels E7 and E8, your improved chess skills should make them much easier to handle. 3.8 Self-Adaptive Weak Levels (Squares H1-H8) LEVEL TYPE DISPLAY 3.6 Mate Search Levels (Squares F1-F8) H1 ............... Self-Adaptive 1 ............. Adt: 1 LEVEL PROBLEM DISPLAY H2 ............... Self-Adaptive 2 .............
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W W W W H H H H I I I I T T T T E E E E about the computer’s thought process. On request, it will show you the move it’s thinking of making, the line of play it expects after that move, INFO MODE AT A GLANCE its evaluation of the current board position, how deeply it is searching, and more. Studying this can help you learn so much more about chess! PRINCIPAL VARIATION INFO: • Move 1 (predicted line of play) Using Info Mode x1 •Move 2 (predicted line of play) How do you access all this game infor
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4.2 Search Information Press CLEAR to return to the normal clock display. Press INFO a second time to get information on the computer’s search. Press BLACK/+ repeatedly to cycle forwards the four displays: 4.5 Want a Hint? Just Ask! •Evaluation of the current position (based on a pawn being worth 1.0 In case you missed this feature when it was mentioned in Section 4.1, points; a positive number indicates White is ahead) we wanted to point it out again—if you ever need advice on a move, you •Two
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After you have made all your option selections from any or all of the • Play against a friend, with the computer acting as referee. It will option groups, press CLEAR to return to normal game play. monitor your game, checking all moves for legality and keeping Another method of selecting game options is by pressing the option track of the time for both sides. squares. As shown in the Options Chart, Squares A1-H1, A2-H2, A3- When playing against another person, if either side should need help, H3
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THE BASICS OF OPTION MODE: HERE’S HOW! x1 = OPERATION MODE (Auto...) 1. Press OPTION repeatedly to select a Mode. x2 = PLAYING MODE (SEL...) 2. Next, select your option(s), using x3 = ROTATING DISPLAY MODE (rd:1...) the Option Chart below. There are two ways to do this. x4 = BRONSTEIN CLOCK (bron...) • Cycle through the options within that mode: • Press BLACK/+ to cycle x5 = back to OPERATION MODE... forward. • Press WHITE/– to cycle backward. A5 • When your option is displayed, Bronstein press
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e. Ticking Clock (Square E1) On:+tic Off:-tic When you turn this option on, you activate a ticking sound that makes PLAYING BLACK FROM THE the computer’s clock sound like a real chess clock. Just imagine—you BOTTOM? ('&%$#"! can create the atmosphere of a championship chess tournament in your HERE’S THE POSITION very own living room! When the computer plays White from f. Countdown Clock (Square F1) the top (Section 5.1, Option G1), be sure
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c. Randomize Play (Square C2) option is selected, the Passive Book and Tournament Book options are On:+rand Off:-rand disabled. Turn this option on for greater variety of play. Instead of selecting one single best move, the computer will then choose one of the best moves h. Tournament Book (Square H2) to play by consulting its built-in Randomizer! On:+bk:tn Off:-bk:tn When you turn the Tournament Book option on, the computer is d. Book On/Off (Square D2) forced to always select the best possib
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• rd:E = an evaluation of the current position Maximum 20 sec. added after each move ........+b0:20 • rd:d = the computer’s search depth, and the number of moves Maximum 30 sec. added after each move ........+b0:30 examined so far in the game • rd:n = the number of nodes searched per second • rd:t = the amount of time the move has taken so far 6. VERIFYING/SETTING UP POSITIONS When requested information is not available, the display will show a 6.1 Verifying Positions series of dashes (–––––). F
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W H I T E N N TRY OUT POSITION MODE IT’S EASY TO VERIFY PIECES! 1. Press NEW GAME to reset the computer, and set up 1. Press NEW GAME to reset the computer, and set the pieces in their starting positions. up the pieces in their starting positions. Display: [ 0:00:00. Display: [ 0:00:00. 2. Press the KNIGHT Key. 2. Press POSITION to enter Position Mode. Display: [,@,b1 (the first White Knight). Display: -POS-. POSITION Board lights on: B+1. 3. Press the White pawn down on Square E2, and 3. Press
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when you want to set up a position with only a few pieces, where it 7.2 Care and Maintenance would be much easier to start out with an empty board. Your chess computer is a precision electronic device, and should not • Once you have changed the board position as described be subjected to rough handling or exposed to extreme temperatures or above, make sure the color indicator in the display is showing the moisture. Be sure to remove the batteries before cleaning the unit. Do correct color of the
