Excalibur electronic LCD CHESS User's Manual
Contents
1. LCD Chess Computer uses 3 AAA batteries Weak batteries should be replaced immediately Before changing batteries turn the unit off Do not attempt to recharge non rechargeable batteries Remove rechargeable batteries from the unit before charging them Charge rechargeable batteries only under adult supervision Use only batteries of the same type and equivalency Remove exhausted batteries from the unit Do not short circuit supply terminals Keep the packaging it contains important information progress Limited One Year Warranty EXCALIBUR ELECTRONICS INC warrants to the original consumer that its products are free from any electrical or mechanical defects for a period of ONE YEAR from the date of purchase If any such defect is discovered within the warran ty period EXCALIBUR ELECTRONICS INC will repair or replace the unit free of charge upon receipt of the unit shipped postage prepaid and insured to the factory address shown at right The warranty covers normal consumer use and does not cover damage that occurs in shipment or failure that results from alterations accident mis use abuse neglect wear and tear inadequate maintenance commercial use or unreasonable use of the unit Removal of the top panel voids all warranties This warranty does not cover cost of repairs made or attempted outside of the factory Any applicable implied warranties including warranties2. LCD Chess gives you the White pieces the ones at the bottom of the board White always moves first For the complete rules of chess see the Lets Play Chess brochure included in this package You re ready to play Make your first move with your choice of two methods In both methods it s very important to understand that making a move is made up of two parts choosing a from square and a fo square EXCALIBUR S LCD CHESS IS DESIGNED SO THAT IT CAN BE HELD COMFORTABLY AND USED WITH ONE HAND MOVING WITH THE DIRECTION ROCKER The first method makes the most of the central DIRECTION rocker The eight direction rocker button may be difficult to use at first It is different from some video game controllers because it allows diago nal movement For up down left and right move ments it helps if you push the but ton straight out away from the cen ter of the rocker Do not press in the center of the rocker because you may cause a diagonal movement to occur 1 Push the DIRECTION rocker in any direction and the White queen s rook the piece on the bot tom left will flash on and off The top of the display will read 01 FROM Then move the circular rocker button to the right left or diagonally until the piece or pawn you want to move flashes on and off 2 Push the OPTIONS MOVE but ton immediately above the circular DIRECTION rocker 3 Push the DIRECTION rocker to move the piece to the squa
3. of merchantability and fitness are hereby limited to ONE YEAR from the date of purchase Consequential or incidental damages resulting from a breach of any applicable express or implied warranties are hereby excluded Some states do not allow limitations on the duration of implied warranties and do not allow exclusion of incidental or consequential damages so the above limitations and exclusions in these instances may not apply AUTHORIZED SERVICE FOR Your LCD COMPUTER CHESS The only authorized service center in the United States is EXCALIBUR ELECTRONICS INC 13701 SW 119TH AVE MIAMI FLORIDA 33186 U S A PHONE 305 477 8080 FAX 305 477 9516 Ship the unit carefully packed preferably in the original carton and send it prepaid and adequate ly insured Include a letter detailing the complaint and including your daytime telephone number inside the shipping carton If your warranty has expired and you want an estimated fee for service write to the above address specifying the model and the 1 problem DO NOT SEND YOUR UNIT WITHOUT RECEIVING AN ESTIMATE FOR SERVICING WE CANNOT STORE YOUR UNIT Fran ais 13
4. of search number of moves LCD Chess is thinking ahead best move it is considering play ing and clock times These will be displayed while the computer is thinking at its higher levels CLRBR Use this option to clear the chess board for easier problem setup Then press SETUP to enter setup mode with the chess board cleared of all pieces except a White king SOUND Press this key to turn the sound on or off However error buzzes will sound even if sound is off SLEEP Adjust the automatic shut off time with this key Setting it to O will disable auto shut off altogether SETUP KEY Press this key to promote a pawn that reaches your opponent s back rank to a piece other than a queen The promotion to a queen is the most common so it is automatic You can also use this key to set up special positions so that you can use your LCD Chess to solve prob lems given in books and maga zines U E CONTRAST KEY Press this key repeatedly to adjust English the display contrast to one of eight setings This allows you to com pensate for differences in lighting and battery strength RATING KEY LCD Chess rates your play Use this key to view your current rating Also use it to enter game results for a new rating if the O symbol is on showing you played a ratable game with no hints or take backs OPTIONS key with RATING While viewing your rating with the Q symbol on this bu
5. EXCALIBUR ELECTRONICS INC 13701 SW II9TH AVE MIAMI FLORIDA 33186 U S A PHONE 305 477 8080 J FAX 305 477 9516 Www EXxCALIBURELECTRONICS COM English Fran ais Deutsch Espa ol Nederlandse ad aaa sir ae Bii 2 oA got Pik s R m f Seal oo gt Lg LCD COMPUTER CHESS OPERATING MANUAL Congratulations on your purchase of Excalibur Electronics innova tive LCD Chess You ve purchased both your own personal chess train er and a partner who s always ready for a game and who can improve as you do Install the Batteries Using a small Phillips screwdriver remove the battery compartment panel screw on the back of LCD Chess Then remove the panel by pulling gently from the top Install three fresh alkaline AAA batteries making sure to follow the diagram in each battery slot so that the polarity or of the batter les is 2 correct Replace the battery compartment panel by first fitting the two bottom tabs into their receptacles When replacing the screw secure it gen tly Do not force or over tighten it Play a Game Right Away After you have installed the batteries the display will show the chess board with all the pieces on their starting squares The LCD will also show 01 CHESS This indicates you are at the first move of the game and ready to play chess If it doesn t display 01 CHESS press MODE and then NEW GAME Unless you instruct it otherwise
6. ORE THE GAME STARTS OPEN Select one of 30 book opening lines of play See below page 6 GAME Select one of 16 Great Games See below MATE Select one of 31 mate in 2 problems Problem 32 is a mate in 3 problem If you can t find the solution make LCD Chess show you the correct moves to a problem by setting the level to 73 and then pressing the MOVE key twice TRAIN Select one of eight train ing positions Positions with the Black king in the middle give you practice in checkmating the Black king OPTIONS DURING THE GAME TOTAL Your LCD Chess nor mally shows the time taken for each move While in the TOTAL option you can instead choose to have the total game time displayed Choose On TOTAL SCORE Your display normally shows the number of the current move If instead you want to see the piece score of your current posi tion select On SCORE The scoring totals the following values Pawns 1 Knights 3 Bishops 3 Rooks S and Queen 9 PLAYR Select between 1 Human vs Computer 2 Human vs Human O Computer vs Computer THRT When THRT is turned on the threatened square will flash during the game to warn you HELP When this option is turned on and a hint is available the hint from square will flash on every move INFO When turned on this option will display the score depth
7. ars on the screen you are being warned that one of your pieces is threatened with capture This is similar to the friendly en garde warning sometimes used by human players when they are attacking an opponent s queen Levels of Play Generally the higher the level you select the better your LCD Chess will play and the longer it will think during its moves With over 1 000 level setting combinations incorporating options such as FAST RANDOM INFO HELP and the train ing modes to choose from you can learn and grow with this chess computer The first four levels 1 2 3 and 4 are beginner levels and take approximately 4 8 12 and 16 sec onds per move respectively Level 5 is a fixed 1 ply one half move search Levels 6 through 72 take about 1 second per level number so level 6 will average about 6 sec onds per move The amount of time taken will vary depending on the position the stage of the game and whether or not the FAST level option is on See Options pages 4 amp 5 Level 73 is an infinite level LCD Chess will take as long to move as you want it to or until it finds a mate position in its search Level 73 is good for problem solving like the MATE problems available under OPTIONS or it can be used to play against When you are tired of waiting press the MOVE key while the computer is thinking and the computer will stop thinking and play the best move it s found so far Setup You
8. ey MODE ON This is a special key so both its upper and lower labels are blue Use this key to turn on LCD Chess Also use it to select the secondary function mode of the other keys See Secondary Functions below page 4 You can even use it as a clear or escape key to exit English Your Excalibur LCD Chess is packed with features Each key has two labels To activate the feature named below the key just press the button To enjoy the feature given above the key first press MODE ON and then the button any of the special modes like OPTIONS SETUP LEVEL RAT ING and CONTRAST HINT Press this key if you want to get hints from your LCD Chess part ner If the threat warning is on see Options During the Game the display shows THRT and the threatening move is flashed Press HINT once more to view a tip on how to avoid the danger If LCD Chess sees a hint for you it displays HINT and flashes a rec ommended move on the screen To make the HINT move just press the MOVE key Or press NEXT PIECE or LAST PIECE to select a different piece to move TAKE BACK This key lets you take back a move or moves you ve decided against Press this key repeatedly to contin ue taking back moves After you take back a move you can use the MOVE key to replay the taken back move LAST PIECE This key is used in one method of moving the pieces Pressing it makes it scan left of the flashin
9. fense The moves and explanations of these famous openings are given in many books on chess CON AWAWH 5 Great Games At the beginning of the game you may select one of sixteen of the world s greatest chess games by 10 pressing MODE then OPTIONS to display GAME and then press ing the LAST PIECE or NEXT PIECE key to select a game num ber Along with the game number you will see the position of the game after the first two moves were played Press the MODE ON key to return to normal play starting at move three You take the winning side The display will show your total great game score in two digits zero at the start on the left On the right the display also shows the amount of points you will win if you play the correct next great game move If you don t play the correct great game move an error buzz will sound and the points for this move will be divided in half If the bonus goes to zero the correct move will automatically flash Most moves start with 4 bonus points but some brilliant moves start with 8 points The players location and date of the great games are 1 Anderssen A vs Kieseritsky L London 1851 The Immortal Game 2 Anderssen A vs Dufresne J Berlin 1852 Evergreen Game 3 Morphy P vs Duke Karl amp Count Isouard Paris 1858 4 Steinitz W vs Von Bardeleben C Hastings 1895 5 Alekhine A vs Tenner O Cologne 1911 6 Gaudersen vs Pau
10. g piece to find another piece If there is no piece to the left it scans down one rank and starts scanning from the right to the left NEXT PIECE Use this key along with the LAST PIECE key to move pieces It scans right from the flashing piece to find another piece for you to move If there is no piece to the right it moves up one rank and starts scanning from left to right MOVE Press this key to register your move or press it twice before you register your move to switch sides colors with your computer Between presses the display will read FLIP Also use MOVE to replay moves in the TAKE BACK mode see TAKE BACK above OFF This turns the unit off automatical ly saving a game in progress Use the ON key to turn the unit back on If it is not thinking LCD Chess will automatically turn OFF after a period of time saving your game position Use the ON key to resume the game Below are the features available to you through the secondary func tions To access any of these fea tures you first press the MODE key and then press the indicated button looking at the blue label above the key Secondary Functions Press the MODE key and then the indicated key below Also press MODE to stop using a secondary function OPTIONS KEY Pressing the OPTIONS key repeat edly will display all selectable options To select or change an option use the LAST PIECE or the NEXT PIECE key OPTIONS BEF
11. l Melbourne 1928 7 Lasker Ed vs Thomas G London 1910 8 Steinitz W vs Mongredien A London 1862 9 Nimzowitsch A vs Alapin S Riga 1913 10 Capablanca J vs Steiner H Los Angeles 1933 II Botvinnik M vs Keres P The Hague 1948 12 Banas J vs Lukacs P English Trnava 1986 13 Karpov A vs Korchnoi V Moscow 1974 14 Spassky B vs Petrosian T Moscow 1969 15 Fischer R vs Fine R New York 1963 16 Portisch L vs Johannessen S Havana 1966 These famous games by some of the most brilliant chess masters of all time can be found along with explanations in many books on chess Excalibur Electronics reserves the right to make technical changes without notice in the interest of S special Care Avoid rough handling such as bumping or dropping Avoid moisture and extreme tempera tures Store away from windows andother direct sources of heat and cold such as heat ing air vents or direct sunlight For best results use between the temperatures of 39 and 100 Fahrenheit 4 and 38 Celsius h Do not use cleaners with chemical agents Clean using only a slightly damp cloi 11 Battery Information Do not mix old and new batteries Do not mix alkaline amp standard carbon zinc or rechargeable nickel cadmium batteries Install batteries so that the polarity and matches the diagrams in the battery compartment Your
12. may change any piece on the board by using SETUP The display will show SETUP Use the DIRECTION button to move the piece around the board When setup starts the setup piece is an empty square shown by the black color figure To place this piece on a square press MOVE To change the setup piece use the NEXT PIECE and LAST PIECE keys To change the piece s color use the Q M key When you are finished with setup press the MODE key When you first enter setup mode you may also change the color of the side to move by pressing the C I key Auto Play If you would like to watch the com puter finish a game for you auto matically push the MODE key then press OPTIONS until the option PLAYR is showing Use the LAST PIECE key to change the number of players to zero Press MODE to exit the OPTIONS mode Now press the MOVE key and watch the game play itself You may stop auto play at any time by pressing the MOVE key Doing so will set the number of players back to one Book Opening Trainer LCD Chess makes it easy for you to learn the same openings that world chess champions play At the English beginning of a game you may choose to learn one of 30 popular book openings ways to begin the game used by chess masters Press MODE then OPTIONS to display OPEN and then press the LAST PIECE or NEXT PIECE keys to select the number of the opening you want to learn See below Then press the MODE key
13. oved and no exchanges for 50 moves When either of these situa tion takes place the rules of chess state that a player can claim a draw If you wish you can ignore the message and continue the game When a stalemate is reached the display will read STALE Game Ending Messages LCD Chess will announce mate in two MAtE2 and mate in three MAtES It will display NMIAtE when executing a check mate When you checkmate LCD Chess it will display LOSE When you want to claim a win draw or want to resign press the MODE key and then NEW GAME You have your choice of two methods of moving your pieces LCD Chess automatically makes its own moves Special Features and Function Keys Your LCD Chess partner is packed with valuable special features that can help you learn to play better and better chess and to have a lot of fun Features are controlled by the func tion keys the black buttons on your LCD Chess But there are more special features than there are keys So each one has two labels one above and one below The black label below each key shows the primary function of the key The blue label above the key shows its secondary function Below are the features available to you through the primary functions Remember to access any of these features you simply push the prop er button looking at the black label below the key Primary Functions Simply push the indicated k
14. re you want You ll see your piece flashing on possible fo squares as you move it at the same time it continues to flash on its from square English Note Press MODE twice and it will act as a clear key For example use it to stop a square from flashing in 3 above 4 Push the OPTIONS MOVE but ton again to finalize your move The second method of moving uses the DIRECTION rocker in only one step 2 MOVING WITH THE NEXT PIECE AND LAST PIECE KEYS 1 Select the piece you want to move by pressing the NEXT PIECE or LAST PIECE key until the piece you want to move flashes 2 Then use the center DIREC TION rocker button to move the flashing piece where you want it 3 Finally press the MOVE key to register your move After you make your move LCD Chess will reply with its move automatically You ll see the piece flash on its from square and move to its to square Throughout the game the display at top keeps track of the move number and the elapsed time for each move Playing the Black Pieces When you want to play the Black pieces to let LCD Chess move first press the MOVE button twice before you make your first move as White See Special Features and Function Keys below You ll see the White and Black pieces switch places immediately Draw Messages During the game your LCD Chess will display the word DRAW if a three time repetition of position occurs or if there has been no pawn m
15. to return to normal play Now play a move If your move is not the correct opening move an error buzz will sound To learn the correct move press HINT When the computer comes back with its move you will briefly see the word OPEN on the screen if you have another opening move to make If the word OPEN does not appear you may continue normal play You have completed the training for that opening line Computers can sometimes lock up due to static dis charge or other elec trical disturbances If this should happen use a slim pointed object to press the button marked RESET The names of the openings are Ruy Lopez Exchange Variation Ruy Lopez Closed Defense Ruy Lopez Open Defense Ruy Lopez Archangel Defense Giuoco Piano Scotch Game Four Knights Petroff Defense Vienna Game IO Sicilian Defense 11 Sicilian Accelerated Dragon 12 Sicilian Rossolimo Attack 1 13 Sicilian Dragon Variation 14 Sicilian Rossolimo Attack 2 15 Caro Kann Defense 16 French Defense 17 French Classical Variation 18 French Tarrasch Variation 19 Queen s Gambit Accepted 20 Queen s Gambit Declined 21 Queen s Gambit Semi Slav Defense 22 Queen s Gambit Tarrasch Defense 23 Queen s Gambit Slav Defense 24 Nimzo Indian Rubinstein 25 Nimzo Indian Classical 26 Queen s Indian Defense 27 Queen s Indian Petrosian 28 Bogo Indian Defense 29 Gruenfeld Defense 30 King s Indian De
16. tton shows WIN DRAW or LOSS WIN If you won the game press the RATING key to see your new rating Or press OPTIONS DRAW If you drew the game press the RATING key to see your new rating Or press OPTIONS LOSS If you lost the game press the RATING key to see your new rating Or press OPTIONS LEVEL KEY Use this key to set the level of play for more information see Levels of Play at right Use the DIREC TION button to change the level by one by pushing on the right or by ten by pushing at the top Also use the LEVEL key to enter level option mode OPTIONS key with LEVEL When the level is displayed press ing the OPTIONS key shows FAST Uses a more selective search for thinking In this mode LCD Chess will play faster and look more deeply into the position Press NEXT PIECE to turn FAST on or off Or press the OPTIONS key again to show RAND Allows the computer to randomly choose between two good moves so that you get to prac tice and play against different responses Press the NEXT PIECE key to turn RANDom on or off Or press the MODE key Additional Information and Features Screen Symbols When a appears on the screen it is a reminder that you are in check When an appears on the screen the game you are playing can be rated When an appears it indicates you are in two player mode And lastly when an P appe
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